The British financier, Mr Roger Levitt, is to seek exemplary damages against the UK Department of Trade and Industry over the "shambles" caused by a collapsed attempt to extradite him from the US, the High Court in London was told yesterday.
The European Commission yesterday gave its approval for the takeover of Woodchester Investment by the US company, General Electric Capital Corporation, writes Patrick Smyth in Brussels.
A statement under the Merger Regulation from the Competition Directorate of Mr Karel van Miert said its investigation of the takeover showed "the operation will not result in any significant combined market shares in the sector of financing of assets, and therefore it has decided not to oppose the merger".
Woodchester, the Irish financial services group, is controlled by Credit Lyonnais and primarily provides leasing and instalment credit finance for vehicles and business equipment in Ireland, Britain, Denmark and Portugal.
General Electric Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric, operates in several finance industry sectors.
