AMSTERDAM/LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Dutch grocer
Jumbo is to buy rival C1000 from CVC to become the
clear number two in the sector and step up competition to
Ahold’s market-leading Albert Heijn chain.

Jumbo is to pay 900 million euros, including debt, for C1000
to create a supermarket chain with a 23 percent market share,
nipping at the heels of Albert Heijn which has one third of the
high-margin Dutch market, and is likely to set off a supermarket
price war.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – As the euro zone shudders, Europe’s populist politicians from the Netherlands to Austria and Finland are exploiting its woes to build up support and even threaten some governments.

Such strong smaller economies at the heart of the euro zone, which have benefited significantly from membership, are unlikely to leave the euro unilaterally, as some far-right parties want.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands must provide more than just money to victims of sexual abuse, an independent commission appointed to investigate such crimes said Tuesday.

The Deetman Commission, which is due to publish its final report next month, says the church should set up a centre to put sexual abuse victims in touch with appropriate care or other victims.

STOCKHOLM/AMSTERDAM, Oct 11 (Reuters) – The administrator in
charge of Saab’s restructuring under court protection
could pull the plug on the process as early as Tuesday, paving
the way for declaring the auto maker bankrupt, daily newspaper
Svenska Dagbladet reported.

Saab has struggled for months to stave off collapse, seeking
new investors and selling off assets to pay suppliers and
employees and resume production at its plant in Sweden.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Netherlands is embarking on a crusade against its multi-billion-euro marijuana industry, with significant implications both for its economy and its famously liberal approach to life.

Along with tighter control of legalized prostitution and a swing to the right in attitudes toward immigration and Islam in recent years, the clampdown is seen as further evidence of an erosion of tolerance in a country known for its liberal social policies.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Dutch insurer Aegon (AEGN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) wants to expand in its key Asian, central and east European markets, and would consider acquisitions, including buying assets from Dutch bancassurer ING (ING.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Aegon chief executive Alex Wynaendts said on Tuesday.

Aegon, which received 3 billion euros in financial aid in the 2008 credit crisis, repaid the state in full in June 2011, the first bailed-out Dutch firm to do so.

AMSTERDAM/TROLLHATTAN, Sweden (Reuters) – Struggling car maker Saab (SWAN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) launched a cost-cutting plan to secure its survival on Wednesday after a court gave it temporary protection from creditors while the company waits for long-term Chinese investment to come through.

The 60-year-old company ran out of cash in April just over a year after Dutch group Spyker, now called Swedish Automobile (SWAN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), rescued it from closure by former owner GM (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

STOCKHOLM/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Struggling car maker Saab (SWAN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained fresh breathing room in its fight for survival on Wednesday when it won a court appeal to be granted protection from creditors while it awaits Chinese investment.

The 60-year-old company has been fighting to stay afloat for most of this year after it ran out of cash. It was rescued from closure last year by Dutch group Spyker, now called Swedish Automobile (SWAN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which bought it from former owner General Motors.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Another of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons, whose military unit is accused of killing dozens of detainees in Tripoli, may be placed on the war crimes court’s most wanted list, the prosecutor told Reuters on Monday.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has already approved warrants for the arrest of Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity.

London/Amsterdam (Reuters) – European buyout firm Cinven CINV.UL has agreed to buy Dutch insurer Aegon’s (AEGN.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) UK-based Guardian Life unit for 275 million pounds, the first step in a bigger plan to scoop up more British closed life funds.

Cinven said the deal, its third in the financial services sector, would provide an attractive foothold in the market and an opportunity to consolidate life funds which are closed to new customers.