MORNING NEWS

The sale of a stake in Nestlé's water business is moving forward, the FT reports, citing unnamed sources. This division includes brands such as Perrier and San Pellegrino. According to the FT, the investment groups CD&R, KKR, and PAI are participating in the next round of bidding for a 50% stake in the division.

Merck has reached a nearly $6 billion cash deal to buy the cancer biotech Terns Pharmaceuticals and its promising leukemia treatment. If it proves to work safely, the experimental drug would give Merck a boost as the company prepares for its top-selling drug, Keytruda, to lose patent protection. Under the terms, Merck would pay $53 a share for Terns, Merck said.

In 2025, Orior reported revenue of 622.9 million francs, down 3.0% year-over-year. Despite this slowdown, the Zurich-based food group significantly improved its profitability, with EBITDA rising to 42.9 million, a 90.7% jump. The adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 6.3%, up from 6.2% the previous year. It is at the high end of the forecast range, Orior announced Wednesday in a press release.

Estée Lauder is in talks to acquire Spanish beauty group Puig Brands, a deal that would combine two of the world’s biggest beauty companies. Estée Lauder confirmed the discussions Monday, following a report by The Wall Street Journal. The talks are continuing, and there is no guarantee an agreement will be reached, the company said. The companies have discussed a combination involving a mix of cash and stock, people familiar with the matter said. Other details surrounding the discussions couldn’t be learned.

UBS received a license to offer full-service banking in the U.S., part of a plan to tap rich Americans for their deposits and investments, and extend its reach in the world’s biggest wealth market. The national bank charter, approved by U.S. regulators Friday, should help the Swiss bank expand beyond its traditional clientele of the superrich into a pool of affluent and not-quite-ultrawealthy clients.

Novartis agreed to buy an experimental breast cancer drug from Synnovation Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $3 billion that seeks to bolster its oncology business.

Micron Technology’s second-quarter revenue nearly tripled as AI-related demand for memory is outpacing supply. The memory-chip maker said it is ramping up spending on memory capacity and that it sees no signs of the supply-demand imbalance subsiding.

BHP Group named Brandon Craig as its next chief executive officer, opting for his experience in advancing the company’s growth projects in the U.S., Canada and South America as the world’s biggest miner expands in copper and the fertilizer ingredient potash.

Nebius agreed to a five-year deal worth about $27 billion to supply AI infrastructure capacity to Meta as it continues to see surging demand for its data center computing. Nebius said it will provide $12 billion of dedicated capacity across multiple locations. Meta also agreed to purchase up to $15 billion in additional available capacity over the five-year period, Nebius said. Nebius added that it will use large-scale deployments of Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin AI infrastructure platform, which is expected to be available starting in the second half of the year. Nebius will deliver the capacity beginning early next year, it said.

TotalEnergies is shutting down production in several countries as fighting continues in the Middle East. The French energy company said Friday production has stopped or is in the process of shutting down in Qatar, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates offshore, representing about 15% of the company’s total output. TotalEnergies said the conflict hasn’t affected its onshore production in the UAE.