AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Queen Beatrix will pass the crown to her eldest son Willem-Alexander on Tuesday, making him the first King of the Netherlands in over 120 years and the Dutch are getting ready for a party.

Orange, the royal color, is everywhere. Houses are covered in bunting and flags. Shop windows are stuffed with orange cakes, sweets, clothes and flowers.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Philips forecast a slow first half of the year due to the weak European economy and a tough outlook for healthcare spending in the United States, sending its shares to a four-month low.

The Dutch electronics company reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, but weak sales underscored the challenges it faces as it restructures to cope with stagnant economic growth, fragile consumer spending and government budget cuts in several markets.

AMSTERDAM, April 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of
Defense urged the Netherlands on Thursday not to cut its order
for advanced F-35 warplanes, saying it could end up paying more
per plane if it did.

Fearing that major cuts to orders could ultimately doom the
delayed and over-budget $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
project, U.S. officials have been stepping up pressure on buyers
to stick to their initial undertakings.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – ASML (ASML.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, has named finance chief Peter Wennink as CEO, and pledged to stick to its strategy to develop technology used to make the next generations of smartphones and tablets.

Wennink, a 55-year-old Dutchman who has been chief financial officer since 1999, will succeed Eric Meurice, a 56-year-old Frenchman and former Dell Computer executive, as CEO in July. Meurice will become chairman and advisor to the new management.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – German investor Joh A Benckiser (JAB) is to buy the owner of Douwe Egberts coffee in a 7.5-billion-euro (6.3 billion pounds) deal to create a global hot drinks empire aimed at taking on market leaders Nestle (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Mondelez International (MDLZ.O: Quote, Profile, Research).

D.E Master Blenders 1753 (DEMB.AS: Quote, Profile, Research), the Dutch owner of Douwe Egberts coffee and Pickwick tea, said on Friday it had reached conditional agreement on a 12.50 euros per share cash takeover offer from a group of investors led by JAB.

AMSTERDAM, April 12 (Reuters) – German investor Joh A
Benckiser (JAB) is to buy the owner of Douwe Egberts coffee in a
7.5-billion-euro ($9.8 billion) deal to create a global hot
drinks empire aimed at taking on market leaders Nestle
and Mondelez.

D.E Master Blenders 1753, the Dutch owner of Douwe
Egberts coffee and Pickwick tea, said on Friday it had reached
conditional agreement on a 12.50 euros per share cash takeover
offer from a group of investors led by JAB.

AMSTERDAM, April 11 (Reuters) – German investor Joh A
Benckiser is close to making a formal bid for D.E Master
Blenders 1753, owner of Douwe Egberts coffee, a source
close to the situation said, in a deal valuing the Dutch firm at
about 7.6 billion euros ($10 billion).

JAB, the investment vehicle of the billionaire Reimann
family, wants to create a global coffee brand on a par with
global leader Nestle SA, bolstering its position in a
hot sector driven by new products and the growing middle classes
in many emerging markets.

THE HAGUE, April 10 (Reuters) – Dutch telecoms operator KPN
, in which Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s America
Movil took nearly 28 percent last year, could launch
its 3 billion-euro ($3.9 billion) rights issue soon after
publishing quarterly results on April 23, its CEO said on
Wednesday.

Eelco Blok said KPN needed to see the market’s reaction to
its first-quarter results first but might then publish its
prospectus for the rights issue.

AMSTERDAM, April 4 (Reuters) – The Dutch national museum
reopens this month after a decade-long overhaul in which nearly
everything has been changed except for the setting of its most
famous painting.

Rembrandt van Rijn’s “The Night Watch” will be the only work
still hanging in the same place when Queen Beatrix officially
opens the Rijksmuseum on April 13 after a 375 million euro
($482.02 million) renovation to a treasure trove of Dutch art.

AMSTERDAM, March 28 (Reuters) – D.E Master Blenders 1753
said on Thursday it received a 6.4-billion-euro ($8.2
billion) takeover offer from German investor Joh A Benckiser
(JAB), sending shares of the Dutch coffee and tea maker up more
than 25 percent.

The maker of Douwe Egberts coffee and Pickwick tea said it
had agreed to open its books to JAB based on JAB’s proposal to
pay 12.75 euros for every share it does not already own. That
represents a nearly 33 percent premium to the shares’ prior
closing price and values the entire company at around $9.7
billion.