The newly created business, named Coca-Cola European Partners (“CCEP”), based in the UK, has become the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the world by revenues and EBITDA. CCEP is trading on Euronext Amsterdam, NYSE, Euronext London, and the Spanish Stock Exchanges. The merger was the result of a complex three-way transaction which will yield significant synergies for the combined business. The broader footprint of CCEP will allow it to compete more effectively across the non-alcoholic beverage market on a Pan-European basis, serving over 300 million consumers in 13 countries. The three parties to the transaction were Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, the independent bottler serving Spain and Portugal, Coca-Cola Enterprises, listed in the US and serving the UK, France, Benelux, Norway and Sweden, and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company serving Germany. Rothschild Global Advisory assisted Coca-Cola Iberian Partners on every

Rothschild Global Advisory  acted as independent financial adviser to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. on the landmark financing package to support its US$40.5bn acquisition of Allergan's worldwide generics business.  Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is the largest Israeli company and one of the ten largest pharmaceuticals companies worldwide. Its acquisition of Allergan's generics business cements its position as the world's largest producer of generic medicines and creates the strongest research and development pipeline in the market. Rothschild Global Advisory was appointed to a unique independent advisory position to provide an unbiased opinion on all aspects of the multi-stage financing, which was to consist of equity, debt and mandatory convertible securities. This was a global financing process with engagement across multiple markets and currencies. The financing led by Teva's management involved a large number of bookrunners and required close m

Rothschild Global Advisory advised Orix Corporation, as part of a consortium with VINCI Airports, on the acquisition of a 44-year concession for the operation of Kansai International Airport and Osaka International Airport from the Japanese Government, setting a precedent for future airport privatisations. Built on an artificial island close to Osaka and opened in 1994, Kansai International Airport had seen a difficult inception, with high construction and maintenance costs, and reduced air traffic due to the impact of, amongst other factors, the SARS outbreak in 2003. It did however possess potential for growth, being well placed to capitalise on Japan's sharp increase in overseas tourism, which well exceeded the Government's target of doubling by 2020. This growth comes primarily from Asia and is aided by the expansion of the low-cost carrier market in Japan. Kansai International Airport was therefore the ideal centrepiece of the Government's new privat

Rothschild  Global Advisory  used its in-depth understanding of the global pharmaceutical sector, and its relationship with Meda, the international specialty pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Sweden, to advise the Meda Board on their recommended takeover by Mylan The combination created a strong global player in diversified pharmaceuticals with an expansive portfolio of branded and generic medicines and a strong, growing portfolio of over-the-counter (OTC) products. It represented an excellent outcome for both Meda and their shareholders. Seeking potential targets for acquisition, Mylan had previously identified Meda as an attractive and complementary company. Whilst a previous takeover offer in 2014 was rejected, the two companies have since developed significantly; acquiring new businesses into their portfolios and in 2015 the combination presented an even stronger business fit. This transaction continued Rothschild Global Advisory's strong relationship

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said Wednesday it had provided 300 million euros ($352.5 million) to local banks since 2014, to assist Turkish women entrepreneurs. The statement came during an event held in capital Ankara to discuss the positive impacts of EBRD's Finance and Advice for Women in Business program The Turkish Employment Agency, the EU Delegation to Turkey and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security along with public and business officials participated in the conference. The bank said that it partnered with five Turkish lenders -- Garantibank, QNB Finansbank, TEB, Isbank and Vakifbank -- to enable women-led businesses to gain affordable financing from local banks. "The EU and the Turkish government have joined the effort, with 38 million euros ($44.68 million) in grant funding," the EBRD said in a statement. The program, which is also supported by the EU and the Turkish government, has helped 15,000 wo

A meeting of Syrian opposition groups kicked off in Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday. The two-day meeting aims at uniting different opposition groups and resuming UN-backed talks in Geneva to find a political solution to the seven-year Syrian conflict. The opening session was attended by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, UN envoy to Syria Stephan de Mistura and 150 Syrian figures. "The meeting is held amid international consensus on the need to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis,” al-Jubeir told the meeting. “There will be no solution to this crisis without Syrian consensus that fulfills the aspirations of the [Syrian] people and ends their suffering.” The top Saudi diplomat went on to reiterate his country’s support for the Syrian people “to achieve their aspirations in reaching a just solution”. The UN envoy, for his part, voiced hope that the meeting would help advance the planned talks in Geneva next week. He said the drafti

The U.K. will set aside an extra £3 billion ($4 billion) for Brexit contingency planning, British finance minister Philip Hammond announced on Wednesday. Hammond was making an autumn budget announcement and set out Treasury plans on how the government will allocate resources during one of the most turbulent times in the country’s history. Downgrading the growth forecast for 2017 from 2 percent to 1.5 percent, Hammond claimed it will rise again to 1.6 percent in 2021-22. The Chancellor said debt will peak at 86.5 percent of GDP in 2017 but will occur at 79.1 percent in 2022-23 following a gradual drop. The country’s health service, the NHS, will receive an extra £2.8 billion from government funds, he said. The lack of adequate funding for NHS has been a subject of criticism from opposition parties and formed a major pledge by pro-Leave campaigners in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Hammond told lawmakers the government has a long-term plan to build 300,000 new home

Mediterranean economic leaders called for cross-border cooperation at a major business conference on Wednesday. The 11th Mediterranean Week of Economic Leaders (MedaWeek) brought together business leaders from around the region to boost competitiveness through economic sustainability, improve resource management and enhance infrastructure. MedaWeek, with its global communication partner Anadolu Agency, has been organized by the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME), the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ahmed El Wakil, chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, said trade, investment and employment in the region could be promoted with the help of ASCAME. Wakil is set to succeed Mohamed Choucair as ASCAME’s president. "Together we are stronger," he said. "Together we shall brid

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. The company's hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, the iPad tablet computer, the Mac personal computer, the iPod portable media player, the Apple Watch smartwatch, the Apple TV digital media player, and the HomePod smart speaker. Apple's consumer software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media player, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites. Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976 to develop and sell Wozniak's Apple I personal computer. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. in January 1977, and sales of its computers, including the Apple II, sa

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational banking and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest bank in the United States, the world's sixth largest bank by total assets, with total assets of US$2.5 trillion, and the world's second most valuable bank by market capitalization, after the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. It is a major provider of financial services, and according to Forbes magazine is the world's fourth largest public company based upon a composite ranking. The hedge fund unit of JPMorgan Chase is the second largest hedge fund in the United States.The company was formed in 2000, when Chase Manhattan Corporation merged with J.P. Morgan & Co The J.P. Morgan brand, historically known as Morgan, is used by the investment banking, asset management, private banking, private wealth management, and treasury & securities services divisions. Fiduciary activity within private banking and priva

Rothschild & Co is a global and family-controlled group. Group provide M&A, strategy and financing advice, as well as investment and wealth management solutions to large institutions, families, individuals and governments, worldwide. Having been at the centre of the world's financial markets for more than 200 years  Rothschild & Co  can rely on an unrivalled global network of more than 3,400 talented employees and a track-record of outstanding execution with 50 offices around the world. Group's integrated global network of trusted professionals and decision makers around the world provide in-depth market intelligence, meaning we can be closer to current issues than any other global financial institution in our core markets. It is this scale, local knowledge and intellectual capital that allow us to provide a distinct perspective and effective long-term solutions for our partners.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management is a wealth management division of Bank of America. The firm is headquartered in New York City, and occupies the entire 34 stories of 250 Vesey Street, part of the Brookfield Place complex, in Manhattan. Merrill Lynch employs over 15,000 financial advisors and manages $2.2 trillion in client assets. The firm has its origins in Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. which, prior to 2009, was publicly owned and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MER. Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be acquired by Bank of America on September 14, 2008, at the height of the 2008 Financial Crisis.The acquisition was completed in January 2009 and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. was merged into Bank of America Corporation in October 2013, although certain Bank of America subsidiaries continue to carry the Merrill Lynch name, including the broker-dealer Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith.

Panama officially called the Republic of Panama (Spanish: República de Panamá), is a sovereign state in Central America.It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia (in South America) to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half of the country's 4 million people. Panama was inhabited by several indigenous tribes prior to settlement by the Spanish in the 16th century. Panama broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined, eventually becoming the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977 an agreement was signed for the transf

Bank of America Corporation (abbreviated as BOFA) is a multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is ranked 2nd on the list of largest banks in the United States by assets. As of 2016, Bank of America was the 26th largest company in the United States by total revenue. In 2016, it was ranked #11 on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest companies in the world. Its acquisition of Merrill Lynch in 2008 made it the world's largest wealth management corporation and a major player in the investment banking market. As of December 31, 2016, it had US$886.148 billion in assets under management (AUM). As of December 31, 2016, the company held 10.73% of all bank deposits in the United States. It is one of the Big Four banks in the United States, along with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo—its main competitors.Bank of America operates—but does not necessarily maintain retail branches—in all 50 states o

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., of "189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference primarily by the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, it came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international payment system. It now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion (about $668 billion). Through the fund, and other activities such as the gathering of statistics and analysis, s

Shell Oil Company is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational "oil major" of Anglo-Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The U.S. head office is in Houston, Texas. Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America's largest oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. Shell is the market leader through approximately 25,000 Shell-branded gas stations in the U.S. which also serve as Shell's most visible public presence. At its gas stations Shell provides diesel fuel, gasoline and LPG. Shell Oil Company was a 50/50 partner with the Saudi Arabian government-owned oil company Saudi Aramco in Motiva Enterprises, a refining and marketing joint venture which owns and operates three oil refineries on the Gulf Coast

President Emmanuel Macron and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier have called for an urgent reorganization of Europe that is “more efficient, more protective and more democratic”. Speaking at a joint news conference with Steinmeier at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Macron said: "We have just discussed the necessity of the reorganization of the European project, the opportunities as well as the threats which weigh on this project. "We are both committed to Franco-German friendship, and we have a common commitment to Europe; a Europe that should be more efficient, more protective and more democratic. "We both share the deep feeling that this reformation is necessary and urgent…" Macron said he and his German counterpart will discuss bilateral relations and the Franco-German initiatives "to revive Europe" for the rest of the day. "Faced with skepticism, rejection of Europe, we are not going to be shy, but on the contrar

The U.S. will no longer tolerate “chronic trade abuses”, President Donald Trump told the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Friday. “We can no longer tolerate these chronic trade abuses and we will not tolerate them,” Trump told the meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam. In a widely anticipated speech, Trump was expected to outline his vision for the U.S.’s trade relationship with Asia after he ditched the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership shortly after coming to power. Trump said he would not stand for the “audacious” theft of intellectual property and would confront “destructive” practices. “We are not going to let the U.S. be taken advantage of anymore,” he told an audience from APEC, a 21-member group that includes the U.S. “I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first.” The president offered renewed individual partnerships with the U.S. to promote trade. “I will mak

Turkey's annual inflation rate for 2017 is expected to reach 10.8 percent this year and 7.9 percent next year, a senior Standard & Poor's (S&P) analyst said on Thursday. Frank Gill, senior director of sovereign ratings at S&P Global Ratings, said a weaker Turkish lira weighed on prices in the country. “Now the negative affects of a weaker lira for one thing is higher inflation. Some of the nominal depreciation seems to have already been inflated away,” he said in an interview to Anadolu Agency. One dollar traded for 3.86 Turkish liras on Thursday, up from 3.57 as of Sept. 29 marking a 5.6 percent monthly hike in the USD/TRY exchange rate. The average USD/TRY exchange rate was 3.66 in October and 3.47 in September, while the 10-month average rate was 3.61. The country's annual inflation rose to 11.9 percent in October from 11.2 percent in September, according to a report from the Turkish Statistical Institute. Turkey’s credit rating out

The U.K. government has two weeks to make concessions in its Brexit negotiations if it wants to pass on to trade talks this year, according to the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Friday. Speaking at a press briefing in Brussels after the sixth round of Brexit talks, Michel Barnier said the U.K.'s clarification on financial commitments "is absolutely vital if we are to achieve sufficient progress in December”. "Only sufficient progress -- that is to say sincere and real progress -- on the three main key issues of these negotiations will enable the triggering of the second phase of our negotiation," Barnier said, according to a web broadcast of the briefing. He said there were still a number of points that need more work, including family reunification, security benefits and the role of the European Court of Justice in guaranteeing consistent application of case law. Apart from the citizens' rights and the financial commitment, the border is

A newly released Republican tax plan would increase the national debt by $1.7 trillion by 2027, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Wednesday. CBO Director Keith Hall said the national debt would be equal to 97.1 percent of gross domestic product in 10 years in a letter to congressman Richard Neal, a Democratic member of the House Ways and Means Committee currently pouring over the proposed legislation. That estimation is 5.9 percent higher than the CBO’s projection of what the ratio of debt to GDP would be under current conditions. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act bill was announced last week and received praise from Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump as a way to simplify the tax code and allow businesses to create more jobs. Critics, however, have charged that the more than 400-page bill is a giveaway to corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced amendments

The Kazakh subsidiary of Turkish defense giant Aselsan said on Thursday that they will soon be exporting their products to Uzbekistan for the first time. Tarik Ziya Kaboglu, the CEO of Kazakhstan Aselsan Engineering (KAE), told Anadolu Agency that they expect their exports to rise after the Uzbek army sees the quality of their products. Kaboglu said that Turkey and Kazakhstan co-founded the company in 2011 and that it began operations in late 2013 with a $44 million investment. In the last four years, investments in the KAE factory in the capital Astana rose to $50 million. "As part of the road map we laid out, the manufacturing of electro-optical products and modernization of military platforms have been planned. These include T72 tanks, M17 helicopter modernization, shooting platforms for Igla low-altitude missiles, reconnaissance and surveillance, artillery fire, and stabilized weapon systems," Kaboglu said. "There are also plans to make rad

Turkey’s national flag-carrier, Turkish Airlines, announced Thursday a record operating net profit of 2.43 billion liras (about $630 million) for the third quarter of 2017 up from 548 million lira for the same period last year.  In a statement, the airline said its total revenue increased by 23 percent in dollars, reaching $3.6 billion in the third quarter of 2017.  The airline's nine-month operating net profit stood at $956 million and its total revenues amounted to $8.2 billion, an increase of 8 percent over the same period in 2016.  “The net profit recorded in 2017 Q3, clearly demonstrates our capacity to generate cash,” chairman Ilker Aycı said.  The number of destinations served by the flag carrier reached 300 destinations, including 49 domestic and 251 international, in 120 countries, the company said.  The airline’s capacity also increased by 17 percent in the third quarter, with the airline serving 21.3 million passengers over the quarter with a