Confectionery giant Mondelez International, the maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury chocolates, is reportedly in talks to acquire international brands sold by Campbell Soup Company. Citing people familiar with the matter and who did not want to be named, a Bloomberg article indicates that Mondelez is negotiating the final terms of a potential deal to buy Arnott’s Biscuits, the Australian maker of Tim Tam cookies, and Danish butter-cookie producer Kelsen Group for a combined price tag of around $2.5 billion.A KKR & Co.-led consortium and Ferrero SpA were earlier among other interested buyers, according to the people (as reported by Bloomberg). No official statement has come out yet from any of the parties related to the matter.

Private-equity behemoth Blackstone Group has reportedly pulled back from bidding for market research & TV-rating company Nielsen Holdings. The New York Post reported Thursday that Blackstone is no longer interested in making a final offer for Nielsen, due to what is perceived as the latter’s troubling balance sheet. The Post mentioned that Nielsen’s current stock price of $26.63 per share values the company at around $9.4 billion, but it’s debt of roughly $8 billion pushes the cost to upward of $17 billion.Nielsen is reportedly struggling to hike prices for its consumer research reports. Citing a source close to the situation, the Post mentioned that private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which has been reportedly kicking the tyres on Nielsen since late last year, is also apparently losing interest in bidding for the company. According to the Post, a Nielsen spokeswoman said that the company will continue to review strategic options, including  a

After being been on Campbell Soup’s board for almost 16 years, chairman and director Les C. Vinney is retiring. On Thursday, the canned soup maker announced that Vinney has decided to step down due to “other personal commitments."McLoughlin, age 62, has been a Campbell's director since 2015, and was its interim president and chief executive from May 2018 to January.

Morgan Stanley is lining up buyers for 4 million shares in Lululemon Athletica Inc. on behalf of its second-largest holder, people familiar with the matter said.Read More...

The first big U.S. technology listing of the year got off to a stellar start Thursday as Lyft Inc. sold more shares than expected at the top of an elevated price range.Read More...

Huawei’s revenue grew 19.5 percent in 2018, surpassing $100 billion for the first time, despite continuing political headwinds from around the world.Read More...

Shares of Lululemon soared more than 10% after the company disclosed its estimate beating fiscal fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday.Achieved a operating margin of 21.5% during the quarter, two years ahead of schedule. But the most exciting news for the quarter was its foray into the men’s wear segment proved to be highly successful. The company, which so far specialised in women wear, disclosed that its recent foray into men’s apparel has been the most exciting segment for the year.

Shares of automobile giant, Fiat Chrysler rose more than 3% on Wednesday following merger talks with French carmaker Renault, amidst analysts’ skepticism. Analysts are of the opinion that Fiat is a potential acquisition target for Renault, but only after the latter settles its recent disagreements with the Japanese car maker Nissan, its long-standing business associate.On the other hand, one other automaker has expressed interest in acquiring Fiat Chrysler and that the company’s controlling owners, the Agnelli family’s interest in the deal suggests the automaker is a potential target. But analysts believe that it is unlikely that the disputes between Renault and Nissan will be settled any time soon. The history of the automotive industry has ample evidence of dysfunctional mergers.

The second-largest pharmacy store chain of U.S., Walgreens will sell CBD or cannabis-based products like creams, patches, and sprays in over its 1,500 stores in select states of U.S. like Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vermont, South Carolina, Illinois and Indiana.The products so far will be limited to health and wellbeing services. Walgreens’s venture into CBD products is not unprecedented as rivals like CVS had already introduced CBD-containing topicals, including creams and salves, to stores in eight U.S. states earlier in March. Walgreens now joins retailers who are carefully evaluating the market for cannabis-based products. According to the company, the market is fairly nascent with much to test and explore.

China will sharply expand market access for foreign banks and securities and insurance companies, especially in its financial services sector, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, as senior U.S. officials arrived in Beijing for more trade talks.READ MORE...

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting labor market conditions remained solid, despite slowing job growth.READ MORE...

Stocks fell on Thursday as trade talks between China and the U.S. restarted while fears that the economy may be slowing down persisted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 32 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.READ MORE...

The Turkish lira dropped by as much as 5 percent against the dollar on Thursday morning, as the country gears up for elections this weekend. The greenback bought 5.569 lira at around 8:45 a.m. London time on Thursday morning, from a level of around 5.33 lira at the close of trade Wednesday.READ MORE...

It is hopeful that its online sales would catapult earnings to a level higher than expected for the full-year. For the three months ended February 3, the athletic apparel retailer reported earnings of $1.85 per share, which surpassed the Street estimates of $1.74.The company’s same-store sales increased +16% and its online shipments rose + 37%. For the full year, Lululemon predicts earnings in the range of $4.48 to $4.55 per share, almost a $1 higher compared to the high end of analysts' projection.  Lululemon shares traded +16.4% higher Thursday.

Thanks in large part to its cloud and digital services expansion, Accenture crushed earnings estimates for its fiscal second quarter, in addition to raising its full-year outlook. For the three months ended February, the global consulting company’s diluted earnings came in at $1.73 per share, surpassing analysts’ expectations of  $1.57.The group's gross margin increased 30 basis points to 29.2%. Accenture’s total revenues increased +5.44% year-over-year to $10.45 billion, also exceeding analysts' estimates of $10.3 billion.

On a year-over-year basis, however, growth inched closer to President Donald Trump’s vision. On Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product (GDP) grew +2.2% in Q4, compared to Q3.In 2017, Donald Trump’s administration had promised to push the annual growth of GDP to +3% while championing tax cuts. Nonresidential fixed investment, increased +5.4%, higher than the +2.5% growth in the third quarter.

Wells Fargo is cutting about 200 jobs in the bank’s consumer banking business payroll services.The laid-off employees will be granted severance and permit to be on the bank’s health plan temporarily. The bank aims to control costs through consolidating its operations, processes’ improvement through technology and mechanization, as well as the outsourcing of certain operations.

The numbers suggest labor market conditions remain solid, despite slowing job growth.  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 211,000 for the week ended March 23, the Labor Department said.Data for the prior week were revised to show 5,000 fewer applications received than previously reported. The unemployment rate is currently at 3.8%.

U.S.GDP growth slowed more than originally estimated in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the revised GDP numbers reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday. Read more...

A New Jersey jury on Wednesday cleared Johnson & Johnson of liability in a lawsuit brought by a man who said that asbestos in the company’s talcum powder products caused his mesothelioma. Read More...