The long-time mulled merger between Cisco Systems and Acacia Communications finally was granted approval by China’s antitrust administration. The approval however is not unconditional, Reuters said. The companies have to initiate steps, promoting fair competition.

Hungary’s government said on Thursday it has reached a deal with China’s Sinopharm to buy its coronavirus vaccine, the country’s latest move to break away from Brussels as it tries to speed up inoculations to lift curbs on the economy.

The shares of the based in France European retail giant Carrefour surged by some 13 percent on Wednesday, as the company was approached for merger by Canada’s convenience-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard, Reuters reported. The bid was unexpected and lead to a sharp rise in demand for the stocks.

The Spanish telecom operator Telefonica has confirmed it had reached a deal to sell its mobile phone masts both in Europe and in South America. The deal is estimated at some 9,41 billion dollars and the buyer is the US telecom infrastructure operator American Towers, Reuters reported.

The co-owner of London’s Gatwick Airport, Global Infrastructure Partners scored a last minute $4,63 billion deal to secure control over British private jet servicing company Signature Aviation, Reuters reported.  

The French group Atos has made a takeover approach in a bid to acquire its US competitor DXC Technology and the offered price values the American firm at more than $10 billion, two sources with knowledge of the process were quoted as saying by Reuters.

Swiss LafargeHolcim, the world’s biggest cement maker announced a 3,4 billion dollar deal to acquire Firestone Building Products from Japan’s Bridgestone. This will be Holchim’s biggest purchase in more than a decade, Reuters reported.

The pharmaceutical company Novartis has made a major step to expand its market performance by mulling a multi-million merger. The Zurich-based company confirmed media reports it was in advanced stage to gain control in research firm and therefore stay on top of the highly competitive pharma sector, Reuters reported.

The international pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced it was buying a US drug developer in a bid to improve its position in the race to provide vaccine against Covid-19. The deal to acquire Alexion is seen reaching $39 billion.

Hyundai Motor Group has announced that it had agreed to buy an 80% stake in robot maker Boston Dynamics. The seller of the shares is SoftBank Group Corp and the price of the deal is evaluated at some $828 million, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.