The country’s third largest construction company collapsed and was placed in receivership today after the Mainzeal Group’s major shareholder, Richina (NZ) LP, refused to commit more capital and the bank pulled its funding. Mainzeal’s sole remaining director Richard Yan – who also heads Richina – said that after  “a series of events that had adversely affected the company’s financial position” …

Equities advanced on both sides of the pond as a deal led by Michael Dell to take Dell private and a potential bid by Liberty Global for Virgin Media underpinned confidence in stock valuations. Shares of Dell rose, last up 0.9 percent to US$13.395, after founder and CEO Michael Dell announced a US$24.4 billion leveraged buyout. The transaction will be …

Prices of dairy products rose in Fonterra’s latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, the first since news emerged last month that small traces of a nitrate inhibitor had been found in some of the company’s milk powder. The GDT-TWI Price Index rose 2.4 percent compared to the last sale two weeks ago, the fourth straight gain. The average winning price rose to US$3,598 …