Catherine Badour

Private equity fund CVC has invited banks to pitch for the sale or initial public offering of Nordic optical retailer Synsam, sources told Reuters, in a deal which could value the company at more than $950 million.

Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] is considering selling minority stakes in its costly self-driving car unit as the ride-hailing company tries to address rising cost pressures ahead of its initial public offering, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Corporate travel bookings start-up TravelPerk has raised $44 million in new venture funding and is on track to more than triple bookings to 1 million next year as it aims to transform the business travel market, Reuters reported.

Chinese biotech firm Innovent Biologics is looking to raise up to $422 million in its Hong Kong IPO, sources told Reuters, in what could be the biggest biotech IPO in the financial hub this year.

Fashion chain H&M (HMb.ST) is acquiring a small stake in Klarna in what will be the Swedish online payments services firm’s largest partnership so far.

Canadian mergers-and-acquisitions activity nearly doubled in the third quarter, fueled by deals in the mining, real estate and cannabis sectors, Reuters reported. Quarterly deal volume was up 91 percent to US$75.7 billion from US$39.6 billion in the same period last year, according to Thomson Reuters data released this week, bucking a global trend of declines in Europe and Asia. It was the strongest period for Canadian mining M&A since the second quarter of 2011. Mining deals slowed in recent years, due in part to commodity price pressures, balance sheet weakness and investor push back against miners seen as overpaying for assets.

Glassbox, an Israeli provider of customer management technology, said on Thursday it raised $25 million in a round of financing led by Updata Partners, a software-focused growth equity firm based in Washington, Reuters reported.

Funding Circle (FCH.L) struggled to shine on its 1.5 billion pound ($2 billion) market debut on Friday as the British peer-to-peer lending platform tested investor appetite for both large listings and financial technology firms, Reuters reported.

Westwing, the “home and living” company backed by Germany’s Rocket Internet (RKET.DE), said on Thursday it had set the price range for its planned initial public offering at 23 to 29 euros per share.

Payments startup Stripe said on Wednesday it has raised $245 million in funding, better positioning the company to expand to new markets globally and attract bigger customers, Reuters reported.