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Microsoft Corporation has agreed to buy a 4% stake in London Stock Exchange Group Plc in a $2.8 billion cloud computing deal that brings high technology to financial markets.

As part of the agreement, LSEG said it would spend that amount on Microsoft cloud services over the next 10 years. The partnership will accelerate the migration of its markets to the cloud and enable the development of new products and services.

The deal adds to a recent trend of merging exchanges and technology firms after similar partnerships between Nasdaq Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. and Google Alphabet Inc. and CME Group. This indicates an increased demand on the part of investors for information that gives them an edge in increasingly fast electronic markets.

“Over the coming years, we will deliver significant revenue growth through access to new products and expanding the capabilities of existing products,” LSEG CEO David Schwimmer said in a telephone interview.

At Friday's closing price, LSEG's 4% stake was valued at about $2 billion.

China is working on a more than $143 billion support package for its semiconductor industry, a major step towards chip self-sufficiency and countering US moves to slow down its technological development.

The sources said Beijing plans to roll out one of the largest fiscal stimulus packages in five years, mostly in the form of subsidies and tax breaks, to support the country's semiconductor manufacturing and research activities.

It signals China's more direct approach to shaping the future of an industry that has become a geopolitical flashpoint due to soaring demand for chips and that Beijing sees as the cornerstone of its technological power.

It is reported that most of the financial assistance will be used to subsidize the purchase of domestic semiconductor equipment by Chinese firms, mainly semiconductor factories.

The fiscal bailout plan comes after the US Department of Commerce passed a broad set of rules in October that could bar research labs and commercial data centers from accessing advanced artificial intelligence chips.

The United States has also lobbied some of its partners, including Japan and the Netherlands, to reduce exports of equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing to China.

Mercedes-Benz unveiled on Wednesday a more than €1 billion plan to adapt its global manufacturing network to electric powertrain systems, including the battery, electric drives and axles, starting in 2024.

Factories in Kamenets and Untertürkheim in Germany, as well as in Beijing, which already assemble batteries for electric and hybrid models, will assemble batteries for models on future MMA and MB.EA platforms.

Untertürkheim, Beijing and Sebes in Romania will produce electric drives for cars on new platforms, while Hamburg and Untertürkheim will remain the leading plants for the assembly of electric axles and components.

In June, management and employee representatives reached an agreement to convert European car plants to electric vehicles, making Sindelfingen home to high-end AMG.EA-based cars, Bremen and Kecskemét in Hungary to mainstream luxury models, and Rastatt and Kecskemét to for budget cars.

The automaker has set up its car factories to produce both internal combustion engines and electric vehicles on the same production line, but assembling batteries and motors on the same line is more of a challenge.

However, many component factories will continue to make parts for combustion engine vehicles for as long as there is demand as the premium car maker works to sell all-electric vehicles by 2030.

Microsoft's $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund is betting on US battery startup Group14, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Group14 Technologies said it will use the raised investments to create better batteries needed for electric vehicles and renewable energy sources.

Other investors in the startup include the Omani Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Climate Fund, which is backed by private equity firm Lightrock.

Group14 recently received a $100 million grant from the US Department of Energy as part of last year's infrastructure bill. Earlier this year, the company raised $400 million from investors like Porsche and BlackRock.

Group14 claims its silicon anode material is more efficient than existing graphite technology and could potentially be used in more powerful batteries for automakers like Porsche. The industry says silicon batteries should help enable ultra-fast charging, another key step towards more EVs.

Boston-based Advent International Corp. agreed to buy satellite owner Maxar Technologies Inc. from Colorado in a deal that values the company at about $4 billion.

Advent will pay $53 per share for Maxar.

Maxar's share price has declined this year as the company missed earnings targets and revised its 2022 forecasts downward. Advent said it will prioritize Maxar's work with the US defense and intelligence agencies.

Maxar, based in Westminster, Colorado, uses satellites that can collect detailed images from space. Its technology is used for geospatial intelligence and defense, and also supports Google Maps. The company, founded in 1957, has 90 satellites in orbit, customers in 70 countries, and employs 4,400 people.

Founded in 1984, Advent had $89 billion in assets under management as of September 30. Advent has invested $28 billion in defense, security and cybersecurity over the past three years. Its portfolio companies include Cobham Advanced Electronics Solutions and Ultra Electronics Group, both of which work closely with the US Department of Defense.

According to the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper, the plant will be located in Kumamoto Prefecture, and Sony plans to launch it no earlier than 2025.

Nikkei said the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate will carefully consider the construction timeline and investment size, given concerns about a slowdown in the global economy.

A spokesman for Sony's semiconductor division declined to comment on the news.

Major economies including the United States and Japan have struggled to boost domestic chip production after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains.

TSMC is building a large chip manufacturing plant in Kumamoto. Sony and auto parts maker Denso Corp will take minority stakes in the $8.6 billion project.

According to Nikkei, Sony plans to source image sensor logic chips from TSMC's factory.

Japan has unveiled its biggest military buildup since World War II, with a $320 billion plan under which Japan would procure missiles capable of striking China and preparing it for protracted conflict. Japan fears war amid regional tensions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The massive five-year plan, once unthinkable in a pacifist Japan, would make the country the world's third-highest military spender after the US and China, based on current budgets.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who called the move "a turning point in history," said the capacity buildup was "his response to the various security challenges facing Japan."

The Japanese government is concerned that Russia has set a precedent that would prompt China to attack Taiwan, threatening nearby Japanese islands, disrupting advanced semiconductor supplies and potentially seizing the sea lanes that bring oil to the Middle East.

Renault SA has announced that it will spin off its electric vehicle business into a separate company called Ampere. Renault intends to retain a controlling stake in Ampere.

The business restructuring should help Renault achieve higher operating margins in the coming years. The company strives to exceed 8% in 2025 (now - 5%), and in 2030 - 10%.

The decoupling of the EV business from Renault's traditional internal combustion engine operations comes as car maker Zoe and Clio struggle to cope with the difficult transition to EVs as Europe faces a possible recession.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has signed a memorandum to buy FTX.com, a division of the main competitor of the FTX exchange. The strategic partnership aims to address the liquidity crunch and suggests a possible takeover of FTX by Binance.

According to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, FTX turned to them for help due to a liquidity crisis. “In order to protect users, we have signed a letter of intent for the complete takeover of FTX.com. We will conduct due diligence in the coming days,” Zhao tweeted.

However, Binance has the right to withdraw from the transaction at any time.

FTX came under pressure after Zhao said Binance had made the decision to completely divest FTX native tokens due to unspecified “recent revelations.” After that, in the 24 hours after the Binance sell-off, the native token of the FTX crypto exchange fell by 22%.

According to the German Robert Bosch GmbH, the company intends to invest €10 billion in business digitalization by 2025.

The company's statement indicates that two-thirds of this amount will be directed to the development of technologies in the field of sustainability, mobility and modern industry.

Dow Jones also writes that Bosch has entered into an agreement with International Business Machines Corp. on partnership in the field of quantum computing. The aim of the partnership is to use quantum computing to build evaluation models for various new materials.

In July of this year, Bosch announced plans to invest €3 billion in its own semiconductor business by 2026.

Part of these funds will be directed to the construction of two development centers in Reitlingen and Dresden.

It is reported that representatives of the Russian Federation and China agreed to allocate $1.3 billion for new projects. Moreover, all investment projects were proposed by Russia.

Lin Nianxiu, Vice Chairman of the State Committee for Development and Reform of the People's Republic of China, said that Russian-Chinese investment cooperation is on the rise, "despite the negative impact of the pandemic and the difficult international situation."

The representative of China noted that according to Chinese statistics, in the first eight months of 2022, China's investment in Russia amounted to $450 million, an increase of 150% compared to the same period last year.

Investment projects will be implemented in the areas of new energy, high-tech sectors of the economy and in the field of infrastructure development.

In addition to Geek Ventures, CEAS Investments, APX, as well as several private investors took part in the round.

American B2B datatech and AI startup Spike was founded in 2022. It provides data aggregation through APIs, develops a data flow management (ETL) system, and AI-based solutions to empower health data from wearables and IoT devices.

The startup allows companies to integrate biomarker data from over 200 wearable sensors and IoT devices into their applications. The startup services are designed for clients in the field of digital health, professional fitness, insurance and automation.

Povilas Gudzius, co-founder and CEO of Spike, noted that wearable sensors are now becoming much smaller, more accurate and accessible to a large number of users. Spike's solution, he says, helps digital healthcare companies seamlessly integrate biosensor data, process it, and apply AI models. Spike aims to make data management easy and open up new opportunities for healthcare.

The pre-seed round for Spike was led by the Geek Ventures venture fund, which was launched in December 2021 by Belarusian angel investor Igor Makhanek and 3DLOOK founder Vadim Rogovsky. It is registered in the USA. Geek Ventures currently has 20 startups in its portfolio.

Billionaire Elon Musk has sold another batch of Tesla Inc. shares to help fund Twitter Inc.'s buyout.

Musk sold 19.5 million shares worth $3.95 billion in recent transactions, according to regulatory filings. The documents did not indicate that sales were planned in advance.

Applications to buy Tesla shares are coming despite assurances from the company's chief executive officer and largest shareholder that he is no longer selling shares.

In April, Musk said no further deals were planned, and then again in August, said it was important to avoid a "flash sale" in case he needed to close the Twitter acquisition deal and struggled to bring on additional partners for capital.

Tesla shares fell less than 1% at 9:36 am Wednesday in New York. Since the beginning of the year, securities have lost 46% of their value.

A Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing company told Reuters it could use the building for future expansion but has yet to make a final decision on a second chip manufacturing plant.

"In light of the strong customer demand we're seeing for TSMC's advanced technology, we will consider adding capacity in Arizona with a second plant based on operational efficiency and economic considerations," the company said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that TSMC's investment in Arizona is expected to be worth about the $12 billion it committed two years ago.

Last year, Reuters reported on TSMC's plans to build more chip factories in Arizona.

The US has been encouraging foreign technology firms to manufacture in the country and has been actively supporting local research, development, and manufacturing since the passage of the Chip Law.

As the chip sector braces for lower demand due to high inflation, Taiwan faces a more difficult situation, sandwiched between its largest export market, China, and the main international backer and arms supplier, the United States.

On Wednesday, Made.com confirmed it filed for bankruptcy and appointed PwC as administrator after months of struggling to survive amid falling demand and rising inflation.

Next, which sells clothing and home goods, has confirmed it has agreed to buy Made.com's brand, domain names and intellectual property for £3.4m.

The value of the deal shows just how badly Made.com has fallen since listing last year at a valuation of £775m, one of the fastest corporate collapses in UK history. The company's problems were fueled by rising shipping costs and supply chain difficulties exacerbated by weakening consumer sentiment, especially for high-value items such as sofas.

Nicola Thompson, chief executive officer of Made.com, said she "would like to sincerely apologize to everyone - customers, employees, supplier partners, shareholders and all other stakeholders - who have been affected by the transition of the business into administration."

The retailer has benefited greatly during the pandemic as people shopped online for furniture when they were at home, and Made.com was hailed as a millennial favorite. However, the return to offline shopping contributed to the decline of the retailer.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc-backed primary care provider VillageMD buys emergency care provider Summit Health.

The deal adds to a growing trend this year for large US healthcare companies to expand. In July, Amazon announced it was acquiring primary care operator 1Life Healthcare Inc for $3.5 billion, and CVS Health Corp said it would buy Signify Health for $8 billion.

Summit Health, a private equity firm backed by Warburg Pincus, operates a medical group and CityMD, an alternative to hospital emergency room visits.

The sector is seeing a shift towards care, where health care providers are reimbursed based on patient outcomes rather than per test or procedure, as this helps reduce costs.

Together, VillageMD and Summit Health will operate in over 680 locations.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.

Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corp. Initial Public Offering in Dubai attracted $724 million, demonstrating continued interest in the Middle East. Shareholders of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority PJSC and Emirates Power Investment sold 2 billion shares (20% of shares) of the company.

The IPO of Empower, known as a district cooling company, has been doubled from 10% to 20% due to strong investor demand.

Orders worth $34 billion were raised from local, regional, international and retail investors, about 47 times the original offer.

Empower is the fourth listing in Dubai as the financial center seeks to boost trading volumes and liquidity after falling behind an IPO boom that began in neighboring Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia last year. Dubai's three IPOs this year have raised about $7.6 billion in total, with the government increasing the size of two of those listings - DEWA and Salik PJSC - after significant demand arose.

The Middle East has been a bright spot for IPOs this year, unlike most other major markets, which have seen a significant slowdown in activity amid high inflation and rising interest rates. The region is approaching its best year ever in IPO earnings since 2019, when Saudi oil giant Aramco raised $29 billion in its listing.

Nakheel PJSC, a developer of palm-shaped artificial islands in Dubai, is pursuing new projects in the real estate market in the city.

The company has raised $4.6 billion to refinance and consolidate existing debt. Nakheel is directing a portion to "accelerate the development of its new projects, including the islands, Dubai and other major projects."

Funding was provided by a syndicate of three employees - Emirates NBD PJSC, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC and Mashreqbank PSC.

Nakheel received the loan during the waiting period. Rising interest rates have hit a once-booming real estate market around the world, making it more expensive for developers who rely primarily on loans and bonds to raise funds. Nakheel was at the center of a 2009 real estate crash that nearly bankrupted the emirate, but with a technical helping, the company consolidated operations and cost accounting.