BRUSSELS, Dec 3 (Reuters) – EU anti-trust regulators have
carried out raids on some firms in the pharmaceutical sector on
suspicions of collusion to delay the entry of generic drugs into
the market, the European Commission said on Friday.

The Commission, which acts as the competition watchdog of the
27-nation European Union, said the raids took place Nov. 30 in
several EU countries, but it did not identify the companies.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Crisis-hit banks seeking state aid next year will have to overhaul their operations as European Union regulators further tightened rules Wednesday as part of a strategy to wean the financial sector off state support.

The rule will apply to all lenders getting a capital injection or transferring impaired assets to “bad banks,” the EU executive said.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Crisis-hit banks seeking state aid next year will have to overhaul their operations as part of a strategy to wean them off state support, the European Union’s competition chief said Wednesday.

The tougher conditions came as the European Commission extended by a year a framework of rules set up in October 2008 allowing EU governments to bail out their lenders under looser terms.

BRUSSELS, Nov 30 (Reuters) – European Union antitrust
regulators opened on Tuesday a formal investigation into Google
(GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) after rival services complained that the world’s No. 1
internet search engine abused its dominant position.

The move came more than nine months after British price
comparison site Foundem and French legal search engine
ejustice.fr alleged Google’s search algorithm demoted their
sites in Web search results because they were rivals.

PARIS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch cable maker Draka Holding NV (DRAK.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has rejected the unsolicited takeover offer worth 731 million euros ($1 billion) from bigger rival Nexans (NEXS.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), saying it undervalued the company.

Nexans, the world’s largest cable manufacturer, replied that its proposed cash bid of 15 euros per share “fully valued the company” at an attractive premium of 28.4 percent over Draka’s average closing share price in the three months before October 18, when it announced its intention to start discussions with Draka.

AMSTERDAM, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Dutch telecoms group KPN
(KPN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Tuesday said it would meet its full-year target
after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results
driven by higher service revenue growth in Germany and strong
margins.

European operators have come under pressure as users make
fewer calls and analysts have consistently raised doubts about
KPN’s ability to meet its full-year target, which it has set at
5.5 billion euros.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch navigation device maker TomTom said on Wednesday it was broadening its revenue base faced with competition from free navigation on smartphones and declined to comment on possible takeover bids.

The company said its third-quarter net profit took a hit due to a currency charge but maintained its full-year outlook despite increased competition from free navigation software from Google and Nokia smartphones.

AMSTERDAM, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Dutch navigation device maker
TomTom (TOM2.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday it was broadening its revenue
base faced with competition from free navigation on smartphones
and declined to comment on possible takeover bids.

The company said its third-quarter net profit took a hit due
to a currency charge but maintained its full-year outlook
despite increased competition from free navigation software from
Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) smartphones.

PARIS (Reuters) – France repatriated hundreds more Roma on Thursday as an opinion poll showed President Nicolas Sarkozy’s crackdown on crime and immigration enjoyed solid public support despite criticism from the church and rights groups.

Under mounting pressure from Paris, Romanian representatives met French ministers and promised to do more to improve the lot their large Roma population, many of whom quit Romania in search of a better life in wealthier western Europe.

PARIS (Reuters) – The first flights took off on Thursday carrying Roma home from France after President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a crackdown on crime and immigration condemned by rights groups and the opposition.

The French government said 79 Roma would be repatriated on flights to Bucharest on Thursday under a plan that foresees sending 700 people to Romania and Bulgaria by the end of the month. Flights were leaving from airports in Paris and Lyon.