this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. it helped build the spitfire but can it fight off the biggest hostile takeover bid britain has seen for a decade? shareholders will decide the fate of engineering giant gkn today. plus opportunities in the pipeline in brazil. why the corruption scandal at petrobras means foreign oil giants could soon be cashing in and on the markets: as you can see, serious losses in asia. we start here in london where the uk's biggest and most bitterly fought hostile takeover battle for a decade will be decided in the next few hours. shareholders of engineering giant gkn have to decide whether to accept an $11 billion takeover by melrose industries

which specialises in restructuring struggling firms. gkn's story has attracted emotive coverage here because of its 250—year history and role in building the spitfire during world war ii but it's a global business it employs 60,000 people worldwide, 6,000 of them are based here in the uk. the takeover bid has raised concerns over the future of british workers and has prompted the uk business secretary to seek guarantees over the compa ny‘s operations. in response, melrose has offered a number of commitments, including maintaining the gkn headquarters in the uk at least for the next five years and keeping hold of gkn's aerospace division again at least until 2023. but speaking to members

of parliament this week. gkn boss anne stevens raised doubts about its long—term commitment. i have not seen the melrose plan but what i know of melrose, i can say is a bias sell short—term business model. we have a very long—term business model where we invest in technologies for the long—term. i am an engineer, i have worked in auto, i've been on the board of lockheed martin, i have run to your one companies. i know what it takes in this business to deliver an dino for an 0em customer, a short year programme is an 0em customer, a short year programme is seven years, an 0em customer, a short year programme is seven years, ten no more. that is anne stevens, the chief executive of gkn speaking earlier this week. with me is swetha gopinath from deal—reporter. good to have you here with us to give us your take on this. it almost

sounded like a plea, saying, i ran these companies, i know what i'm doing. but malraux seems to be on a mission. it's been a hardly fought battle. we have seen shareholders come out in support of both melrose and gkn and some say the crux of both the company ‘s proposals is nearly the same. melrose does operate on a model of buy, improve, sell but gkn is also looking to sell off some key assets in a move to transform itself into an aerospace company. when you look at the two plans, as it were, what melrose is saying and gkn is saying, melrose has had to make commitments, keep the number of staff here, the aerospace division. they are having to put hedges around things were as

gkn looks like it has more radical ideas. yes, i think some have pointed that out as well. some are saying that melrose is being held to a higher standard almost but that is of course because, like you said, this deal has been politicised to an extent. it's become emotional almost, the way people view it because gkn is such an old company in such integral part of the engineering space. also, some of gkn's clients, such as airbus, but they took over the company, that would bring it about relationships. 0thers would bring it about relationships. others have got involved in the discussion, some key clients. to what extent do you think, where will we go with this? this is a difficulty, to know what the future holds. and i think the concern of

airbus was research investment in the aerospace industry usually happens, and programmes i usually run over a longer time span. 10— 20 yea rs. run over a longer time span. 10— 20 years. and the concern is, melrose's lack of expertise, the area in which gkn operates in and an stevens saying, i know this industry. but melrose are contending they can run the business better than gkn. they say they will improve productivity and poorly performing businesses so it's hard to tell who would be a better custodian of the business. we shall update you as soon as we get any news of the outcome of that shareholder meeting in london. a lot of analysis on our website. now to brazil were some of the world's top oil companies will be competing for 70 blocks of new projects today.

until recently, brazil limited access for foreign oil firms, reserving most new discoveries for state—controlled company petrobras to explore. but that has changed with a more pro—business government in power — as the bbc‘s daniel gallas reports from rio. the warm and sunny shores of rio de janeiro area the warm and sunny shores of rio de janeiro are a long way from norway but there is big money to be made for scandinavians here. statoil recently snapped up a stake in brazil's third biggest oil well. a few years ago, many of the ships that leave these shores, they would go out to sea and service petrobras platforms but that picture is dramatically changing with more foreign companies exploring brazil's oil. for almost a decade, resilient oil. for almost a decade, resilient oil was meant to long —— belonged to brazilians only. petrobras had preferential treatment. that all

changed after a massive corruption scandal three years ago. petrobras is still a dominant figure that has seen is still a dominant figure that has seen its market share sink. foreign companies like statoil, shell and chevron increased their output by 2596 chevron increased their output by 25% last year. they have big plans the region. a substantial part of the region. a substantial part of the international activity will come in brazil. this has enabled us to make increased embracement. some candidates in this year's presidential elections are saying all contracts signed now may not be honoured in the future. despite that, there should be fierce competition from foreign firms the

new contracts. whether the winners will be drilling those rigs remains an open question. let's go to asia now — where japanese technology and investment firm softbank is on the trail of another huge deal, at least according to reports. earlier this week softbank‘s ceo, billionaire masayoshi son, signed a deal with saudi arabia to create the world's largest solar energy company. now according to bloomberg, he is looking to buy a quarter of insurance giant swiss re for almost $10 billion. rico hizon is following the story. nice to see you. his tentacles are seeming to spread even further.” know, sally, he has been in the news all week. in investments, acquisitions or in the middle of merger activity. we spoke about swiss re. masayoshi son is looking to buy 25% stake in the swiss

reinsurers. he was in talks to sell a minority stake to softbank. so far, no comment from the japanese company. the firm is also joining forces with saudi arabia to build a $200 billion solar plant facility. the project is expected to be able to produce up to 200 gigawatts of power and is part of saudi arabia's drive to depend less on crude oil to generate its energy. earlier this week, softbank, which is key investments in uber and grab, was key in both operations are moving —— emerging here in southeast asia and uber may look to do the same in india, talks to merge with an indian rival and they have, and to nominate and that is softbank, the largest shareholder in both companies. the plot thickens. let's preet gill another business stories today.

shares in uk—listed drugmaker shire pharmaceutical have soared, closing up almost i6% after japanese rival ta keda said it's considering a takeover bid. big name drug companies have long been rumoured to be circling shire — which specialises in treatments for rare diseases — after a $55 billion takeover by us firm abbvie fell through in 2014. the family of the woman killed by an uber self—driving car in arizona has reached a settlement with the company, ending a potential legal battle over the first fatality caused by an autonomous vehicle. 49—year—old elaine herzberg died after being hit by an uber self—driving suv earlier this month. that's it for business briefing this hour — up next — newsbriefing. we'll take you through the stories making headlines in the global media today including. the head of the labour party's

disputes panel has stood down after it emerged she had opposed the suspension of a local election candidate who was accused of holocaust denial. christine shawcroft said she had not been aware of the facebook post that led to alan bull's suspension, and was "deeply sorry". mr bull has denied making the comments attributed to him. nhs plans for the next year will be "impossible" to deliver, despite theresa may's promise to increase funding, according to the group representing hospitals and trusts in england. nhs providers said there weren't enough beds and staff shortages continued to be a problem. nick triggle reports. the new financial year starts next

week. the nhs in england, it promises to be an important 12 months. staff are voting on a pay rise which will see their salaries rise which will see their salaries rise by minimum of 6.5% over three yea rs. rise by minimum of 6.5% over three years. meanwhile wednesday the prime minister committed the government years. meanwhile wednesday the prime minister committed executives nent which presents chief executives warning neither of these will help in the short term. the group says the health service is facing an impossible task. meeting its commitments on amd in hospital operational waiting times. at the moment we are setting standards which our own trust leaders are tséé‘za— ~ —— which our own trust leaders are ti“?! they tour of the uk — meeting workers,

families and eu migrants — to mark exactly one year until brexit. and it helped build the spitfire but

can it bite of the most hostile ta keover can it bite of the most hostile takeover bid britain has seen in a decade. shareholders will decide the fate of gkn today.