DCNS, a French naval submarine and nuclear technology group, has paid €14 million for a stake in the Irish tidal energy developer OpenHydro.

Paris-based DCNS, a state-owned specialist in naval defence and nuclear energy systems, is taking an eight per cent stake in OpenHydro for €14 million, valuing the Irish company at €175 million.

Magna International Inc., the world's most diverse automotive parts supplier, announced today the development of a new state-of-the-art facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

The announcement followed a meeting between Don Walker, CEO of Magna, and the President of Mexico Felipe Calderon at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The facility will be a division of Cosma International, an operating unit of Magna International Inc. and a leading global automotive body and chassis system supplier.

Europe’s biggest manufacturer of solar panels is to create 300 new jobs at a plant in the UK.

Sharp said the expansion in Wrexham, North Wales, follows the extension of its production facilities and will increase the workforce from 800 to 1,100.

The company anticipates that the enlarged factory, which was first announced in July last year, will almost double production capacity, manufacturing an additional 8,000 panels every day by March 2011.

After a poor 2009, and despite making another loss, Harley-Davidson has reported encouraging results for year ending 31 December 2010.

After losing $218 million in 2009, the iconic motorcycle maker reported a loss from continuing operations of $42.1 million last year, including a one-off early loan repayment of $85.2 million during the fourth quarter, without which it would have turned in a healthy profit.

Angola has officially announced the selection of Statoil as an operator and partner in several offshore pre-salt blocks.

Angola’s national oil company Sonangol organised a restricted public bid round for access to pre-salt acreage in the Kwanza Basin in Angola. Pre-salt blocks are blocks where the main prospective interval was deposited prior to underwater salt accumulation millions of years ago.

Sales and profits grew across all operating segments in 2010 for The Sherwin-Williams Company, which today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010.

Compared to the same periods in 2009, consolidated net sales increased $296.8 million, or 18.6 percent, to $1.90 billion in the quarter and $682.2 million, or 9.6 percent, to $7.78 billion in the year due primarily to higher paint sales volume, acquisitions, and selling price increases.

Toyota ended 2010 as the world's largest automaker despite suffering a series of recalls and safety issues.

Toyota overtook General Motors in terms of total vehicle sales in 2008, after GM had held top spot for nearly 80 years.

Toyota’s reputation for quality has suffered since, as it recalled over 10 million vehicles around the world for issues ranging from faulty floor mats to computer software faults. It hung onto to its #1 position however, with 2010 sales of 8.42 million vehicles, against GM’s 8.39 million.

Permission has been granted for construction of the final nine kilometres of the Corrib Gas Pipeline in Ireland.

The final stretch of the pipeline will bring gas onshore from the Corrib Gas Field, located 83 kilometres off Ireland’s north-west coast. The onshore section of pipeline will be underground along its entire route, linking the end of the offshore pipeline at Glengad to the gas terminal at Bellanaboy, County Mayo.

Permission was granted by Ireland’s planning board, An Bord Pleanála.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways has expressed “top level interest” in the UK airline Virgin Atlantic, according to reports.

According to the Sunday Times newspaper, the chief executive of Etihad has written to Deutsche Bank, who Virgin Atlantic hired last year to examine the aviation market and identify growth opportunities, to express his interest in acquiring the airline.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad has so far refused to comment on the reports.