• Grifols threatens legal action against Gotham City Research.
  • LondonMetric buys LXI REIT in £1.9 bn all-share deal.
  • Google lays off hundreds of employees in its hardware and personal assistant divisions.
  • WPP plans to sell its remaining stake in Kantar.
  • Citadel is the only bidder for the Chinese subsidiary of Credit Suisse (UBS).
  • SAP reaches agreement with US authorities to extinguish SEC action for $220m.
  • Vopak consortium wins South African LNG project.
  • Netflix's head of advertising claims monthly user numbers have risen to 23 million, in Variety.
  • ABB acquires Zurich-based start-up Sevensense.
  • Pfizer calls on shareholders to reject TRC Capital's mini-bid.
  • Boohoo defends itself against mislabeling South Asian-made clothes in its UK factory.
  • Citigroup was down 1.1% in pre-market trading after recording around $3.8 billion in combined charges and provisions that will weigh on its fourth-quarter results, due to be published on Friday, according to a notice filed with the SEC, the US stock market regulator.
  • Alphabet - Europe's highest court is expected to uphold the €2.42 billion antitrust fine imposed by the European Union on Alphabet's main subsidiary, Google, an adviser to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) said on Thursday.
  • Amazon has not responded to the European Commission's concerns about its planned $1.4 billion acquisition of autonomous vacuum cleaner manufacturer IROBOT, according to the EU executive's website.
  • Alaska Airlines announced on Wednesday the cancellation of all flights using the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft until Saturday, pending regulatory approvals. United Airlines said it had cancelled 167 flights on Wednesday and expects "significant" cancellations on Thursday too. The South Korean Ministry of Transport, meanwhile, expressed its intention on Thursday to check the maintenance procedures of local airlines.
  • Apple - The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Wednesday opposed Apple's request for a stay in a dispute over its connected watches.
  • Microsoft announced on Thursday that its European customers would be able to process and store all their personal data on servers located in the EU.
  • Paramount Global - Skydance Media is considering a cash offer to acquire National Amusements, Paramount's parent company, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday.
  • Globus Medical - The medical device manufacturer rises 3% after the close, after reporting preliminary fourth-quarter revenues of $615.5 million, against consensus of $602.3 million.
  • Techtarget agreed on Wednesday to merge with the digital activities of London-based event organizer Informa, the two companies announced on Wednesday. Techtarget was up 14.9% before the opening.
  • Microsoft overtook Apple as the world's most valuable company on Thursday.
  • Chesapeake Energy shares rose over 6% after signing a $7.4 billion all-stock merger agreement with Southwestern Energy. The combined entity will have a value of approximately $24 billion.