Microsoft is facing a broad antitrust investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Bloomberg reported.
The probe is reportedly looking into multiple areas of the business, ranging from its cloud computing and software licensing to its AI products.
Bloomberg said that a major focus of this investigation is Microsoft's bundling of its office productivity and security software with its cloud offerings.
Another aspect of the probe is reportedly linked to its practices around security software Microsoft Entra ID, which is aimed at authenticating users logging into cloud-based software.
Spokespeople for Microsoft and the FTC had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing.
Shares in Microsoft ended Wednesday's session in just over 1% in the red, with US markets closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The world's largest asset manager BlackRock is nearing an agreement to buy private credit group HPS Investment Partners, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
The two firms have reportedly agreed on a broad outline of the deal and could potentially announce the terms after the Thanksgiving holiday.
HPS is said to have been looking into an initial public offering would have valued the firm at around $10bn (£7.9bn) and sources said that a final sale price could be closer to $12bn, according to the FT's report.
This deal would be latest in a series of recent acquisitions by BlackRock, having completed the takeover of infrastructure investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners last month.
A spokesperson for BlackRock declined to comment, while HPS had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing.
Shares in BlackRock closed Wednesday's session less than 1% in the red.
Despite reporting a drop in sales in the first half, shares in French spirits company Rémy Cointreau rose 4.5% on Thursday morning, as its latest results were still better than what investors had anticipated.
Sales for the first half were down nearly 16% year-on-year to €533m (£433.9m), while the company's current operating profit had fallen 17.6% to €147.3m.
However, a note from Barclays said that this better than consensus expectations of a 22.3% fall in operating profits.
Rémy Cointreau, which makes spirits including the French brandy cognac, also said it now expected organic sales to decline between 15% and 16% for the year.
The company warned that its business in the Americas was not expected to see recovery before the fourth quarter of its fiscal year at the earliest and its Asia-Pacific business was set to see "sequential sales deterioration" in the half versus the first six months of the year. Meanwhile, it said that "sluggish consumer trends" in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are set to continue in the second half of the year.
Barclays' equity research team said: "Rémy's comments that market conditions in China are worsening should surprise nobody.
"The risks of cognac tariffs are hard to underestimate (we expect a severe hit to profitability in FY26), and will likely lead to further excess stock in other parts of the world, particularly the USA, leading to further persistent promotion."
China imposed tariffs in October on European brandy imported into the country, with levies going up to as much as 39%.
Kelsey Lu performs during Dr Martens Made Strong NYC in New York on 12 October 2023. ·Jemal Countess via Getty Images
Shares in iconic boot brand Dr Martens surged 13% on Thursday morning, after it delivered better than expected results and said the autumn-winter season had gotten off to a solid start.
Revenue was down 18% in the first half of its 2025 fiscal year to £324.6m ($411.11m), with the company reporting a pre-tax loss of £28.7m compared to the £25.8m profit before tax the business generated for the same period last year.
However, Dr Martens said it had reduced its net debt pile by 27% from £478.9m to £348.7m. The company also maintained its full-year guidance, saying the results were "underpinned by the swift cost action taken".
Kenny Wilson, CEO of Dr Martens, said: "As we shared in May, this is a year of transition and we have made good progress with our four main objectives: pivot our marketing to a relentless focus on our product, turn around our USA DTC performance, reduce our operating cost base and strengthen the balance sheet."
In a separate statement on Thursday, Dr Martens also confirmed that Ije Nwokorie would be taking over as CEO on 2 January 2025.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: "Half-year results are too early to judge the turnaround efforts, but there is enough to silence the critics and pique investors’ interest.
“Revenue and earnings are falling and the dividend has been cut sharply. That’s not a surprise. The reason why the shares have jumped is new guidance for cost savings to hit the top end of previous guidance, inventory is coming down and the company has reported strong sales of new product. These nuggets are exactly what’s needed to rebuild credibility with the market.”
Shares in Direct Line soared 40% on Thursday morning, after the insurer rejected a takeover bid of £3.28bn from larger rival Aviva (AV.L).
"The board considered the proposal with its advisers and concluded that it was highly opportunistic and substantially undervalued the company," Direct Line said in a statement released late on Wednesday.
Aviva confirmed it had made the offer in another statement released shortly before Direct Line's, after the market close on Wednesday.
The insurer said it believed its proposal to Direct Line was "highly attractive".
AJ Bell's Coatsworth said: “Direct Line’s board has rejected Aviva’s approach yet its shareholders might welcome a bid, particularly if the takeout price helps to make up for the big losses from the past two years or so. Aviva’s 250p offer equates to a 57.5% premium to last night’s closing price.
"That’s a decent bid premium and some Direct Line investors might be happy at that price. Should Aviva be able to dig deeper and offer something in the region of 275p, Direct Line’s shareholders might feel that Christmas has come early."
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Other companies in the news on Thursday 28 November:
