foreign investment

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UK Sells a 500-Year-Old Institution to Foreign Investor

Czech billionaire is buying Royal Mail for $4.6B

(Newser) - Britain's government gave the go-ahead Monday for the sale of Royal Mail's parent company to a Czech billionaire, paving the way for the postal service to pass into foreign ownership for the first time in its 500-year history. Authorities confirmed Monday that the $4.6 billion takeover of...

N. Korea Loads Missiles, Hides Launchers: Report

Observers fear surprise launch: Yonhap

(Newser) - North Korea has installed two medium-range missiles on mobile launchers hidden close to its east coast, Yonhap News reports by way of South Korean military sources. One senior official describes them as Musudan missiles , which Yonhap notes were debuted in October 2010 and are believed to have a 1,865-mile...

North Korea Plans to Open Its Economy: Report

Kim Jong Un's regime hires economists for 'radical' change

(Newser) - Investors haven't exactly been dying to throw their money at North Korea—but soon they may have a chance. A German newspaper reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seeking "radical" economic change and wants to open the country to foreign investment, Der Spiegel reports. In...

Chinese Sow Stakes in French Wine Country

Foreign buyers retool prominent Chateaus for exports to China

(Newser) - Mao wouldn't likely approve on a couple of fronts, but Chinese investors looking to introduce their countrymen to the best in wine are buying up storied chateaus in the heart of French wine country, the Washington Post reports. Two companies paid several million dollars each to own Chateau Richelieu and...

Foreign Companies Cash In on Stable Iraq

Baghdad aggressively courts international investment

(Newser) - With security and stability on the rise, Iraq’s government is turning its attention, and its generous budget, toward reconstruction. That’s led to some big opportunities for Western businesses, which are scrambling to get a cut of the country’s $25 billion reconstruction budget. Iraq, which lacks the resources...

Petrodollars Snap Up Americana
Petrodollars Snap Up Americana

Petrodollars Snap Up Americana

Foreigners 'recycle' bucks with trophy buys like Chrysler Building

(Newser) - Foreign investors flush with dollars from the global commodities boom are using those greenbacks to buy flashy American properties, the New York Times reports. The government of Abu Dhabi bought a 75% stake in the Chrysler building Tuesday. Other recent "trophy" buys have included Donald Trump's Palm Beach mansion...

Foreign Investment in Iraq Up
 Foreign Investment in Iraq Up 

Foreign Investment in Iraq Up

American firms may miss early opportunities

(Newser) - European and Asian investors are taking advantage of the recently stabilized Iraqi business climate, USA Today reports. US firms still regard Iraq as too dangerous to invest in, but that attitude may cost them the best opportunities. The firms “who are getting in on the ground floor are not...

Canada Could Hurt Firms It Tries to 'Protect'
Canada Could Hurt Firms It Tries to 'Protect'
OPINION

Canada Could Hurt Firms It Tries to 'Protect'

Blocking US purchase of space division is 'significant risk'

(Newser) - A move last month by the Canadian government to block the country's top space-tech firm from selling one of its divisions to a US buyer illustrates a tricky balancing act, Christopher Sands writes in the American: How far should Ottawa go to appease nationalist sentiment if it eats into economic...

Japan Rebuilds Economic Walls
Japan Rebuilds Economic Walls

Japan Rebuilds Economic Walls

With firms ripe for takeover, gov't moves to make foreign investment tougher

(Newser) - Once, Japan was one of the world’s most closed economies, with near-impregnable barriers guarding against foreign investors. It's moving back in that direction, the Wall Street Journal reports. Companies are buying stakes in each other to complicate international takeover bids, and resurrecting the “poison pill” strategy America pioneered...

$1B Intel Plant Helps Vietnam Reinvent Itself

Chip maker's choice gives validation to nascent tech industry

(Newser) - Intel's choice of Vietnam for a massive superconductor plant surprised the tech world 2 years ago, but the firm's trailblazing has sparked a wave of high-tech investment that is transforming the country, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The plant is still more than a year away from completion, but...

Looking for a Real Recession? Try Japan

Once-booming economy stumbles, yet people are 'indifferent'

(Newser) - While economists squabble over a possible US recession, Japan has quietly slipped into one. The country’s postwar riches have all but vanished, the Washington Post reports, as its GDP tumbles from fourth to twentieth among the world’s countries and its share of the world’s economy dips from...

Foreign Buying Spree Reaches Deep Into US

With weak dollar driving acqusitions, lawmakers get skittish

(Newser) - As the dollar drops, foreign investors are buying up US enterprises large and small, from multi-billion-dollar stakes in Wall Street banks to ownership of chemical factories and construction companies in the likes of North Carolina. Canadian, British and German companies have been expanding their portfolios in the US for years,...

US Money Managers Look Abroad
US Money Managers
Look Abroad

US Money Managers Look Abroad

They hope to cash in as more foreign governments invest in the US

(Newser) - US money managers are looking overseas, where foreign governments, flush with cash and eager to spend it, are becoming increasingly involved in the US economy through investments in major Wall Street firms, real estate, and the stock market, reports the Wall Street Journal. Up to $200 billion annually could be...

Governments Spurn Foreign Investment

Officials fret over growth in what US sees as protectionism

(Newser) - Governments all over the globe are increasing restrictions on foreign investments, raising worries in the US that new limits will check international economic growth. The motivations for the newly imposed and impending limits are complex, mixing worries over national security, backlash against rampant globalization, and perhaps a measure of retaliation...

OPEC Members May Seek More Foreign Funding

Soaring world demand breaks down resistance to international deals

(Newser) - OPEC's new secretary-general says cartel members may be forced to attract more foreign investment to meet the world's expanding oil needs, the Wall Street Journal reports, a reversal of some countries' traditional opposition to cooperation with major Western producers. Oil-rich nations, currently riding high, may find themselves at a disadvantage...

Iraqi Cabinet Approves Deal to Divide Oil Revenues

Every region would get a share of profits based on population

(Newser) - The Iraqi cabinet approved a law yesterday spelling out how revenue from the country's petroleum reserves will be doled out to provinces: based on population. The deal, which must be approved by the parliament, eases Sunni fears about being cut out of wealth generated by oil reserves in Shiite areas.

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