AB InBev's billion dollar brand sale, Wells Fargo whistleblowers and UniCredit's capital plan
AB InBev's billion dollar brand sale, Wells Fargo whistleblowers and UniCredit's capital plan. This is what you need to know before the bell.
Shares in AB InBev have risen 2% in Amsterdam after the brewer agreed to sell its Eastern European brands to Japan's Asahi Group for $7.8 billion. The deal comes as part of Asahi's bid to expand into Europe as the company contends with a shrinking Japanese beer market.
Wells Fargo's troubles may be only just beginning now that insurance regulators in New Jersey and California are investigating claims made in a whistleblower lawsuit that allege the troubled bank may have signed up customers not only for accounts they didn't authorise but for Prudential insurance policies as well.
And staying with troubled lenders, Italy's UniCredit announced plans to shore up its balance sheet with 13.8 billion dollars in new shares and the sale of $18 billion in bad loans. Italy's biggest bank will also axe 14,000 jobs and close 900 branches in what could be its last attempt to return to profit. The moves also come amid wider concerns about Italy's banking system, as speculation mounts that Monte dei Paschi will need a state rescue before the end of the year.
Edward Hardy reporting for TheStreet in London
