Europe News Netherlands

  • Dow Chemical, the biggest U.S. chemical company, is considering making a bid for Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Wednesday.

  • A takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro by Britain's Barclays would boost pay of ABN board members, a filing at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed.

  • Digital mapping company Tele Atlas, in the process of being acquired by navigation device maker TomTom for 1.8 billion euros ($2.5 billion), Tuesday reported a second quarter net loss of 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million).

  • Air France-KLM declined  comment on Tuesday on the latest in a series of newspaper  reports that it remains interested in bidding for Alitalia.

  • Akzo Nobel, the Dutch chemicals and industrial coatings maker, reported that net profit fell 25% to 270 million euros ($373 million) in the second quarter.

  • Dutch navigation systems company TomTom plans to buy its main supplier of digital maps, Tele Atlas, for 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in cash, the companies said on Monday.

  • British bank Barclays said on Thursday it might change its agreed offer for ABN Amro and possibly include some cash, as it battles a higher bid from a consortium of three major European banks.

  • ABN Amro

    Barclays is planning to sweeten its offer for ABN Amro after a consortium of  rivals led by Royal Bank of Scotland revised its bid for the Dutch bank, the Financial Times said on Tuesday.

  • Air France KLM has said it is looking at the possibility of a tie-up with Spanish airline Iberia, which is already a takeover target.

  • Royal Philips Electronics, a maker of medical and lighting equipment, said Monday net profit for the second quarter Monday rose due to a large gain on the sale of a stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

  • Dutch bank ABN Amro can proceed with its sale of U.S. unit LaSalle, the Dutch Supreme Court said, boosting the prospect that Barclays will succeed in its near $90 billion takeover bid for ABN.

  • Dutch retail sales increased by 1.9% compared with the same period a year earlier, the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) said Thursday.

  • Belgian-Dutch financial services group Fortis said on Wednesday it would launch 2 billion euros ($2.73 billion) worth of conditional capital exchangeable notes.

  • The Dutch Supreme Court will issue its ruling on ABN Amro''s suspended sale of U.S. subsidiary LaSalle on Friday, July 13, at 10 am Amsterdam time, the court said on Tuesday.

  • U.S. information technology company SystemsNet is interested in buying struggling Dutch computer services firm Getronics, daily De Telegraaf reported on Thursday.

  • Struggling Dutch computer services firm Getronics said on Tuesday a U.S. company was interested in buying it, sending Getronics shares up as much as 16%.

  • Carlyle Capital Corporation confirmed on Tuesday it had cut the price and the number of shares in its initial public offering (IPO), a move it has put down to "headwinds" in the market.