IBT Staff Reporter

Africa's biggest transport and logistics group Imperial Holdings Ltd (IPLJ.J) said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy a 56 percent stake in auto part retailer Midas Group.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said on Tuesday he is starting to look for a successor, and he named Jes Staley, current head of the No. 2 U.S. bank's asset management unit, to the key post of investment bank CEO.

Oil rose above $67 a barrel on Tuesday, with support coming from the dollar's fall in response to U.S. data showing weak consumer confidence.

German industrial conglomerate Siemens said its order intake fell more than a fifth in its fiscal fourth quarter through September, indicating that recovery is not yet underway.

U.S. banking regulators proposed on Tuesday that banks prepay three years of fees to help cover the rising cost of bank failures, facing a $100-billion cleanup bill through 2013.

Walgreen Co , the largest U.S. drugstore chain, reported a quarterly profit that topped expectations as it began to benefit from a make-over that includes sprucing up stores and cutting corporate jobs, sending its shares 11 percent higher.

U.S. stocks traded slightly lower on Tuesday after mixed economic data on consumer confidence and home prices.

The following are some of the major companies planning initial public offerings on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Newegg Inc, a venture-capital backed online retailer of computer hardware and software, plans to raise up to $175 million in an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing.

U.S. bank regulators are expected to propose on Tuesday that banks prepay three years of regular assessments to replenish the dwindling deposit insurance fund, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Nearly half of all the photographs Europeans take end up online, according to a survey, with Russians the keenest on taking snaps of themselves, just ahead of the Austrians.

Shares of Peak Sport Products Co tumbled 17 percent on Tuesday, in the worst debut of a Hong Kong IPO in the current wave of offerings.

South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged police officials from across the country to crack down harder on one of the world's highest rates of violent crime, and shoot to kill if needed.

International Coal Group Inc said it has agreed with its lenders to amend a credit agreement to address certain covenants scheduled to tighten in 2010.

Shares in Oil India are expected to rise 5 to 7 percent on debut on Wednesday following lukewarm starts by two recent large listings, although traders said firm demand for the stock should help it hold on to gains.

Gannett Co Inc forecast third-quarter earnings far stronger than analyst estimates, sending its shares soaring, as cost cutting is helping it soldier through a tough, albeit improving, advertising market.

The following are planned mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

If President Barack Obama decides to send 30,000 to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, he will be doing it against the advice of some advisers and leading Democrats in Congress.

Hedge fund manager John Paulson is considering merging troubled U.S. finance company CIT Group Inc with failed mortgage lender IndyMac Federal Bank, the New York Post said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, has finally sealed a deal to sell Apple's iPhone in Britain from 2010, it said on Tuesday -- a move that could spark a price war over the popular device.

A roadside bomb killed 30 people in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said, in the deadliest strike on civilians since a NATO air raid earlier this month.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will promise Tuesday to clean up British politics, get tough on crime and heal the economy, in a blizzard of policy moves aimed at avoiding a crushing election defeat next year.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp staff recommended on Tuesday that the agency get banks to prepay three years of fees to help cover the cost of bank failures, expecting a $100-billion cleanup bill through 2013.

Philippine authorities braced on Tuesday for another storm as the toll from rain and floods from a weekend typhoon, now bearing down on Vietnam, rose to 246 dead while damages climbed to nearly $100 million.

The Netherlands is looking into options to sell Fortis Bank Nederland assets to French bank BNP Paribas as part of a merger remedy ordered by the European Commission, a source said on Tuesday.

French nuclear reactor maker Areva said on Tuesday it had selected three potential buyers for its power transmission and distribution (T&D) business, confirming a Reuters report.

Shortly after the Communist Party took power in China, capitalists in Shanghai paraded through the streets with drums and flags, asking the Party to take over their businesses.

Royal Bank of Canada said on Tuesday it reached a deal to buy JPMorgan Chase & Co's investment adviser servicing business, the latest step by RBC to expand its U.S. wealth management division.

Iran said on Tuesday it would refuse to discuss a newly declared nuclear plant at forthcoming international talks and cautioned Western powers it could curb cooperation further if they repeated past mistakes.