IBT Staff Reporter

Three private equity firms have agreed to buy a combined about 10 percent stake of a flagship unit of China UnionPay, as the country's monopoly card payments service provider aims to go public next year, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said on Friday.

Vitamin Shoppe's parent company has filed to raise as much as $143.8 million in an initial public offering.

Citigroup Inc said it has appointed three new directors and installed a new chief to oversee its retail banking unit, addressing criticism that it lacks enough leaders with commercial banking experience.

Twitter plans a marketing campaign starting in the next few days to educate users, individual and corporate, about ways to make money off the popular microblogging site.

Oil rose on Friday on optimism a turnaround in the global economy would lift battered fuel demand.

Final bids are due by the end of Friday for the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes in federal bankruptcy court in Arizona, even as the team disclosed it continued to lose money last season.

Consumer sentiment down, Microsoft slides, Amazon dips

Italian automaker Fiat won unconditional approval from the European Commission on Friday to acquire bankrupt U.S. automaker Chrysler CBS.UL as the EU executive said the deal would not hurt competition.

U.S. consumer confidence waned in late July to its lowest ebb since April on growing pessimism about the long-term economic outlook, especially about income and jobs, a survey showed on Friday, even as some economists reckon the longest recession in decades may be easing.

Warren Buffett said he has no plans to soon exercise Berkshire Hathaway Inc's warrants to buy $5 billion of Goldman Sachs Group Inc stock, although he could make a big profit by doing so.

Amazon's chief executive officer Jeff Bezos posted an apology message to customers over last week's remote-deletion of illegally sold books.

Stocks fell on Friday as bellwether Microsoft declined on disappointing results, a day after a rally took the Dow industrials above the key 9,000 mark.

On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. released poor fourth-quarter earnings blaming the global economic downturn and a slumping PC market.

General Electric Co is lobbying senators for incentives in the climate bill for everything from nuclear power plants to appliances, company officials said on Thursday.

Exelon Corporation, the largest operator of nuclear power plants in the U.S., reported on Friday that its earnings declined 12 percent in the second quarter due to a low demand for electricity and more expensive nuclear fuel.

Welcoming the coming 2009 East Asian Games (EAG) in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong 2009 EAG 100-day Countdown-cum-Torch Relay will be held on August 29 to build up the atmosphere, official said on Thursday.

U.S. consumer confidence waned in late July to the lowest reading since April on growing pessimism about the long-term economic outlook, a survey showed on Friday, even as some economists reckon the longest recession in decades may be easing.

Senior U.S. financial regulators defended their turf in remarks to be delivered on Friday at a congressional hearing on the Obama administration's sweeping regulatory reform agenda.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday as bellwethers Microsoft and American Express declined on disappointing results, a day after a rally took the Dow industrials above the key 9,000 mark.

Palm Inc has escalated its battle with rival Apple Inc, updating the software on its Pre smartphone so that it can again sync with Apple's iTunes media management software.

Schlumberger Ltd posted a sharp drop in profit on Friday and warned it did not expect a rebound in spending in 2009 by its oil- and gas-producing customers, sending its stock down 4.5 percent.

The number of new offshore oil and gas exploration wells will shrink by about 15 percent in 2009, as lower crude prices curb investments and hit smaller oil and gas producers, according to data from Derrick Petroleum Services.

The United States plans to transfer $200 million to the struggling Palestinian Authority to help cover its budget crisis, an Obama administration official said on Friday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, setting out his election manifesto, vowed on Friday to make foreign troops sign a framework governing how they operate in a bid to limit civilians casualties.

Vaccines should be ready within months for H1N1 flu, which could mutate and become more severe in winter, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Violent riots and threats of a fresh wave of crippling labor strikes may force South African President Jacob Zuma to deliver quickly on election promises and risk scaring investors in Africa's biggest economy.

U.S. retail auto sales are expected to decline 19 percent in July from a year ago, marking an improvement over declines of more than 30 percent in the first half of 2009, an influential industry tracking service said on Friday.

China's Beijing Auto said intellectual property issues were behind its failure to reach a deal with General Motors [GM.UL] over its Opel unit.