Marmite maker Unilever in talks to merge food business with US-based McCormick

Unilever, the owner of Marmite, Dove and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, is in talks to combine its food business with the US-based spice and seasoning maker McCormick.The Anglo-Dutch food company – which last year spun off its ice-cream division, the home to Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Wall’s – has entered discussions over the future of the “highly attractive” business.Unilever is valued at almost £100bn, and its food unit, which includes brands such as Knorr, could be worth tens of billions of pounds.McCormick, which owns brands including French’s yellow mustard, Old Bay seasoning and Cholula hot sauce, is valued at about $15bn (£11bn).“Unilever confirms that it has received an inbound offer for its foods business and is in discussions with McCormick & Company,” the Marmite maker said in a statement

Work from home and slow down on the road: world’s energy watchdog advises emergency measures as oil prices rise

The world’s energy watchdog has advised governments to reduce highway speeds and encouraged workers to carpool or, ideally, work from home to combat soaring oil prices and impending fuel shortages caused by the Middle East conflict.It has also recommended countries consider limiting car access to designated zones in large cities, by giving vehicles with odd-numbered plates access on different weekdays to those with even-numbered plates.The International Energy Agency (IEA) has advised member countries, including Australia, the UK and the US, to take the emergency measures to curb oil demand, following the military strikes on Iran that have triggered the most significant supply disruptions in the history of the global oil market.It comes amid concerns that crude oil imports from Australia’s top Asian suppliers are at risk, as countries scramble to shore up their own reserves.Last week, the IEA ordered the largest release of government oil reserves in its history to help calm the oil price shock

High charges, poor service: NCP hits the skids as drivers change habits

Nearly a century old and once host to London fashion week, the NCP car park in Brewer Street in London’s Soho is facing an uncertain future. Its former glories – which at one time included separate rooms for chauffeurs and changing rooms for theatregoers – have long given way to complaints about a lack of security and high parking charges, but this week things got worse.National Car Parks, one of the UK’s biggest car park operators, which dates back to 1931, filed for administration at the high court in London after struggling to pay its rents and buckling under a £305m mountain of debt. This means the future of 340 car parks across the UK, in town and city centres, at hospitals and airports, is uncertain along with the fate of 682 people who work for the Japanese-owned business.Car parks are regarded as a high-margin business, generating revenue from pay-as-you-go and season tickets, overstay fees and fines via modern payment systems while requiring little day-to-day maintenance, amid a general shortage of parking

Shrinkflation takes a bite out of Easter eggs as shoppers pay more for less

Shoppers are shelling out for smaller eggs again this Easter as shrinkflation takes another bite out of the favourite seasonal treat.The price of popular branded chocolate eggs has risen by more than 40% in some cases while some have also shrunk in size, according to research by the consumer champion Which?.At Asda, this year the Galaxy milk chocolate extra large Easter egg is £5.97 and weighs in at 210g. That compares with £4

Markets keep the faith – but oil staying above $100 could test that optimism | Nils Pratley

Was it only at the new year that the fanfare was heard for the FTSE 100 index breaking through 10,000 for the first time? It was – on 2 January – and the index then added another 900 points by the end of February. On Thursday, the Footsie briefly fell below that round number as Iran struck Qatar’s enormous Ras Laffan complex, which normally supplies a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas, before closing at 10,063, down 2.3% on the day.There are two ways to view that price action. One is to say the sharp reversal from the peak represents a necessarily severe reaction to the war on Iran

US moves to soften capital rules: ‘Big banks can declare mission accomplished’

US federal regulators are trying to soften bank requirements, loosening the amount of capital US banks must have, in what would be some of the biggest changes to bank restrictions since the 2008 financial crisis and a huge win for financial institutions.On Thursday, US Federal Reserve officials are expected to vote to lower capital requirements – the funds they need to cover risky assets – for the biggest banks by 4.8%, which could free up capital for banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.Larger regional banks like PNC would see their requirements drop by 5.2%, while requirements banks with less than $100bn in assets would fall by 7