ZURICH/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it would not extend a $6.8 billion hostile offer for genetic specialist Illumina (ILMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) as the U.S. group’s shareholders blocked its move to appoint new directors.

Roche, which is now set to walk away from its takeover target, said an offer above $51.00 per share would not be in the interests of its own shareholders.

ZURICH/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday it would not extend a $6.8 billion hostile offer for genetic specialist Illumina (ILMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as the U.S. group’s shareholders blocked its move to appoint new directors.

Roche, which is now set to walk away from its takeover target, said an offer above $51.00 per share would not be in the interests of its own shareholders.

ZURICH, April 18 (Reuters) – Syngenta, the world’s
largest agrochemicals company, posted a smaller-than-expected
rise in quarterly sales, as the impact of a drought in Latin
America offset the benefits from bumper seed sales and an early
start to the planting season.

The Swiss company, which makes products to kill weeds and
bugs as genetically modified seeds, said on Wednesday
first-quarter sales rose 7 percent to $4.30 billion, compared
with a forecast for $4.34 billion in a Reuters poll.

VIENNA/BERNE April 13 (Reuters) – Austria nailed down a deal
with Switzerland on Friday to tax money stashed by its citizens
in secret Swiss accounts, securing a 1 billion euro ($1.3
billion) windfall needed to help shore up its finances.

But Austria’s deal is far less favourable than those struck
by Britain and Germany, which both responded to political
pressure by extracting big up-front payments and more
concessions from Switzerland.

VIENNA, April 13 (Reuters) – Austria nailed down a deal with
Switzerland on Friday to tax money stashed by its citizens in
secret accounts, securing a 1 billion euro ($1.32 billion)
windfall needed to help shore up its finances.

In doing so it followed similar agreements ironed out over
the last month by Switzerland with Britain and Germany to claw
back taxes from nationals using Swiss banking secrecy to hide
savings from the tax authorities.

ZURICH, April 2 (Reuters) – Barry Callebaut, the
world’s largest chocolate products maker, reported a fall in
first-half profits on Monday partly due to investments to boost
production capacity and was cautious about prospects for its
main markets.

“In the last six months we initiated selective investments
in our future growth. This temporarily affected our bottom-line
results,” Chief Executive Juergen Steinemann said in a
statement.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Exhibitors at Zurich’s Salon du Chocolat are celebrating “Swissness” with chocolate watches and Easter egg clocks as the travelling confectionary fair opens its doors for the first time in a country renowned for its love of chocolate.

Founded in Paris in 1994, the ‘Salon du Chocolat’ gala has toured the world to destinations such as Tokyo, New York and Cairo, and offers smaller, independent artisans the chance to exhibit their latest wares.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Monday extended its $5.7 billion cash bid for U.S. gene decoder Illumina (ILMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for a second time as the Swiss drugmaker sticks to its tried and tested M&A strategy of playing a long game.

Roche is offering $44.50 per share for Illumina, but analysts expect the company ultimately to raise its offer for the San Diego-based group.

ZURICH, March 22 (Reuters) – Swiss exports fell across most
sectors in February, weighed down by the country’s strong franc,
with only a sharp rise in sales of watches staving off an
overall decline as demand for the country’s luxury goods stayed
buoyant.

Exports rose 1.2 percent year on year to 16.7 billion Swiss
francs ($18.3 billion), the Federal Customs Office said on
Thursday.

ZURICH, March 21 (Reuters) – Watchmaker Tag Heuer, squeezed
by a cut in supplies from Swiss rival Swatch, said on
Wednesday sourcing parts from Japanese peer Seiko will
not tarnish its prized “Swiss made” tag.

The move by Swatch, for decades the main supplier to the
Swiss industry, has sent watch companies scrambling to build
in-house production or form alliances with alternative makers of
movements, dials and cases.