Aviva agrees £3.6bn deal to buy Direct Line; new bid to buy Thames Water – business live

Good morning, and welcome back to our love coverage of business, economics and financial markets (after a two-day break).FTSE 100 insurer Aviva has agreed to buy rival Direct Line in a £3.6bn cash and shares deal after a sweetened offer.Direct Line’s board said that it would be minded to accept the offer of £2.75 per share, up from Aviva’s first bid of £2

Struggling Thames Water receives £5bn buyout offer from Covalis

Embattled Thames Water has received a £5bn bid from Covalis Capital that would result in France’s Suez Group being brought in to manage a restructure of the UK’s largest water company.The infrastructure investor Covalis Capital has submitted a bid for Thames Water, which has been on the verge of collapse for several months as it struggles with a £19bn debt pile, according to the Financial Times.Covalis plans to provide about £1bn of the funds upfront and raise a further £4bn from sales of the struggling water company’s assets.The asset sales could reportedly include breaking up parts of the company, such as its operations in the Thames Valley, and then pursuing a stock market flotation of the restructured business.Under the plans, the UK government would retain a seat on the board and a “golden share”, which would give it certain rights to protect the provider of water and sewage services to 16 million customers across London and the Thames Valley

Bitcoin price tops $100,000 for first time as Trump win fuels crypto fever

Bitcoin has crossed $100,000 for the first time, scaling a fresh record high amid a euphoric rally sparked by Donald Trump’s election victory.The world’s largest and most valuable cryptocurrency – prone to volatile market surges and routs – has been lifted in recent weeks by hopes that the president-elect’s return to the White House will usher in a new era of lighter regulation and supportive policies.On Wednesday it hit an all-time high of $103,619. Since election day, it has rallied by about 45%. Other cryptocurrencies have enjoyed similar gains

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Australia v India: second men’s Test, day one – as it happened

That’s all for today. Geoff’s report will be on the site in the next hour so, then Jim Wallace and Jonathan Howcroft will be on OBO duties tomorrow. Thanks for your company – goodnight!33rd over: Australia 86-1 (McSweeney 38, Labuschagne 20) Labuschagne takes a single off the penultimate ball to give McSweeney one last audience with Bumrah for the day. He keeps it out to complete a superb day both for Australia. They rolled India for 180, with Mitchell Starc taking career-best figures of 6 for 48, then scrapped their way to 86 for 1 in what had the potential to be a horrible evening session

The Spin | ‘A spiritual journey’: the story behind cricket’s new Crowe-Thorpe Trophy

In the moments before the first Test started in Christchurch last week the television cameras alighted on the new Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, the prize that awaits the winners of the ongoing series between New Zealand and England. On TNT Sports Alastair Cook grew effusive. “It’s not often that boards get things absolutely spot on but that is a brilliant trophy,” he said, “and whoever came up with the idea, it’s fantastic.”That will be the Maori artist David Ngawati. ““I did different concepts and drawings for New Zealand cricket,” he says