IN BRIEF

HQ Bank announces involuntary liquidation

STOCKHOLM: Swedish investment bank HQ Bank said yesterday it was going into involuntary liquidation after the country's financial supervisory authority revoked all its licences. The bank said in a statement that efforts over the weekend to find a way to keep the bank operating had failed after the authority (Finansinspektionen, FI) on Saturday announced it had revoked HB Bank AB's licence.

Qatar's QFIB eyes deals in Turkey, energy

DOHA/DUBAI: Qatar First Investment Bank's (QFIB) private equity arm hopes to close a second deal in Turkey and is working on two other transactions in its home market, Deputy Chief Executive Emad Mansour told Reuters yesterday. Privately owned QFIB announced last week that it had acquired a 40 per cent stake in Turkey's healthcare provider, Memorial Health Group, in a joint venture with Argus Capital.

Intel to buy Infineon's mobile unit for US$1.4b

FRANKFURT: Intel will buy German chipmaker Infineon's wireless unit for US$1.4 billion, enabling the US chipmaker to boost its presence in the smartphone market. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011 and the mobile unit will remain as a standalone business, the companies said yesterday.

No hurry on Genzyme bid, says Sanofi chief

PARIS: The head of French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis said Monday he was in no hurry to pursue a bid to acquire US biotechnology firm Genzyme. CEO Chris Viehbacher, in an interview with Les Echos, said, "There is still lots of time."

Agencies