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(Refiles to clarify in Sept. 30 story that Wise moved its primary listing from London to New York in paragraph 12) By Charlie Conchie LONDON (Reuters) -AstraZeneca’s move to upgrade its listing in the U.S. risks pulling liquidity away from London’s stock market and could pave the way for other large companies to follow suit, analysts, investors and advisers said. The British drugmaker, one of London’s most valuable listed companies, said on Monday it would retain its listings in London and Stockholm but also plans to offer its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange, moving away from the current depositary receipt structure, from next February. AstraZeneca Chair Michel Demare cited the fact that U.S. shareholders represent the drugmaker's largest single investor group while its U.S. business accounted for 43% of total revenue last year and is expected to represent 50% of revenue by 2030. Some analysts and policymakers expressed relief after some media reports had suggested the company was considering ditching its London listing altogether. That would have been another rebuke to the UK after AstraZeneca recently paused a 200 million pound ($268.80 million) investment plan in Cambridge and earlier this year scrapped plans to invest in a vaccine manufacturing facility in Liverpool. A UK government spokesperson said AstraZeneca’s decision that it will stay listed, headquartered and paying tax in the UK brought clarity and was positive for employment, growth and innovation. "The decision signals clear confidence in the UK economy," the spokesperson said. "It shows British companies can scale globally, attract international investment – including from U.S. markets – and remain rooted in the UK." A person familiar with AstraZeneca's plans said the company, which has a market capitalisation of $230 billion as of Monday's close, had no current plans to scrap its London listing. Yet some people flag risks that not only could trading of AstraZeneca shares now drift towards New York, but that other large London-listed firms will be watching to see if they should follow in its wake. "A large proportion of large UK-listed companies have a big U.S. investor base," said Charles Hall, head of research at London investment bank Peel Hunt. "All companies look at what others do, and today this will be on the boardroom paper of a lot of other FTSE firms as they assess what the implications are.” Around 22.5% of AstraZeneca's shareholders are based in North America, similar to FTSE 100 companies such as HSBC, Shell, Rolls Royce, BAT and Rio Tinto, which range at 20.5-24.7%, according to LSEG data. "The risk to London will be if liquidity in AZ shares moves more to the U.S. than London as a result," said Alasdair Steele, a partner at law firm CMS. VALUATION GAP A number of London-listed firms have come under pressure from shareholders to consider swapping their primary listing to other markets due to a perceived valuation gap and the bumper performance of indices in other jurisdictions. The FTSE 100 is up 58% over the past decade, compared to the S&P 500, which is up 250%. "The wider point is that Astra is just too big a company for the London market now," said Mark Kelly, chief executive of advisory firm MKP Advisors. "Big companies like AstraZeneca should be part of big indices, where billions of dollars are being traded every day, and the reality is that in London you miss out on some of that," he said. Fintech firm Wise revealed plans to move its primary listing from London to New York this year, while mining companies Rio Tinto  and Glencore have both rejected calls to exit the market. Publisher Pearson has faced similar calls from investors to shift its listing.  Ian Pyle, senior investment director at Aberdeen, an AstraZeneca shareholder, pointed to a risk that the drugmaker may make a full exit in future. “The risk for the UK market is if this triple listing doesn’t deliver the desired outcome, then it may be a pathway to a primary listing in the U.S. and de-listing from the UK,” he said. Pyle and Hall at Peel Hunt both said AstraZeneca's recommitment to London was a positive for the market in the immediate term. The London Stock Exchange group, which has been campaigning for companies to choose the City for new listings, emphasized in a statement that AstraZeneca's decision represented "no change to their continued commitment to the UK, our capital markets and their important place as a key constituent of the FTSE100.” Still, AstraZeneca Chair Demare, in his letter to shareholders about the move on Monday, highlighted New York's advantages: "The U.S. has the world’s largest and most liquid public markets by capitalisation, and the largest pool of innovative biopharma companies and investors,” he wrote. Mark Austin, a partner at Latham & Watkins who has been involved in the overhaul of the UK's listing rules, remained confident of London's appeal.  "This should not be seen as a negative (for London)," Austin said. "It is about a UK-headquartered and UK and Swedish listed global company giving global investors easier access to its shares while keeping all the benefits of London." ($1 = 0.7440 pounds) (Reporting by Charlie Conchie; Additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Danilo; Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Susan Fenton)

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By Amy-Jo Crowley, Dominique Patton and Mathieu Rosemain LONDON (Reuters) -Armani representatives have approached potential buyers over a minority stake in the renowned Italian fashion group, three sources told Reuters, starting a de facto auction for a slice of one of the world's best-known fashion empires weeks after the designer's death.  L'Oreal is among those that have been approached, two of the people said. Private equity bidders so far have not been solicited as potential buyers, one of those sources and a fourth person said. Rothschild is expected to advise the company on a transaction, according to two of the sources. The group has a link to the advisory firm through Irving Bellotti, a Rothschild partner who sits on the board of the Armani foundation. The talks are at an early stage, however, one of the people said, adding that any progress could take months. ARMANI INSTRUCTED HEIRS TO SELL STAKE WITHIN 18 MONTHS Reuters could not determine who had done the outreach on behalf of the sellers of the company. The four sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. Armani Group and Rothschild declined to comment. L'Oreal, which holds a licensing agreement with the Armani group until 2050, did not respond to requests for comment. In his will, late Italian designer Giorgio Armani instructed heirs to sell an initial 15% stake in the fashion house within 18 months of his death, and later to transfer an additional 30% to 55% stake to the same buyer or seek a market listing. The will says priority should be given to luxury conglomerate LVMH , beauty behemoth L'Oreal, and eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica , with which the fashion house has a commercial partnership. It may also be given to another group of "equal standing" identified by a foundation the designer set up to preserve his legacy with the agreement of Armani's business and life partner Pantaleo Dell'Orco. All three companies named previously issued statements suggesting they were open to the possibility of a deal.  The will was published last month following the designer's death on September 4. It lists six different types of shares with different voting rights.  The charitable foundation and Dell'Orco hold 30% and 40% of the company voting rights respectively, meaning they would together control the fashion group with 70%. The foundation will retain a 30.1% stake in a listing and in a sale, the will says. Dell'Orco, who was also on the foundation's executive committee, could not be reached for comment.  A representative for the Armani foundation declined to comment via email. BRAND COULD BE WORTH UP TO 12 BILLION EUROS  Giorgio Armani was the sole major shareholder in the company he set up 50 years ago and over which he maintained a tight creative and managerial rein.  The potential sale process is being closely watched, as the brand remains one of the most iconic in the fashion industry and could be worth between 5 billion euros and 12 billion euros ($14 billion), according to analyst estimates. The provisions in the will are essentially binding and could be challenged in court if not fulfilled, according to the Italian notary association. ($1 = 0.8517 euros) (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Dominique Patton and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris and Lisa Jucca in Milan. Additional reporting by Elisa Anzolin. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Jan Harvey)

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By Marcela Ayres and Isabel Teles BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's government said it was confident the Senate would pass a bill expanding income tax exemptions for the middle class, after the measure cleared the Lower House late Wednesday. The proposal, a key initiative of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, could boost his prospects ahead of next year's general election. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told reporters he did not expect any hurdles in the Senate. "The bill is based on fiscal balance and seeks tax justice," Haddad told reporters on Thursday, hailing its unanimous passage by lawmakers. "I am certain the proposal will also enjoy broad support in the Senate," Lula wrote on X late Wednesday, adding that the measure would benefit 15 million Brazilian workers. Under the approved legislation, the monthly income tax exemption threshold would rise next year to 5,000 reais ($940), above three minimum wages, from the current 3,036 reais. To offset the revenue loss, the bill introduces a progressive minimum tax on monthly incomes above 50,000 reais and imposes a 10% withholding tax on dividends sent abroad, regardless of whether the recipient is an individual or a company. Beyond exempting monthly incomes up to 5,000 reais, the bill also eases the tax burden for earners up to 7,350 reais, covering much of Brazil's middle class, a key voter bloc that has turned conservative in recent years and that Lula's Workers Party hopes to lure back. The bill further mandates that, beginning in January, any dividend payment exceeding 50,000 reais in a single month from the same company to the same individual will be subject to a 10% withholding tax. Arthur Lira, the bill's sponsor in the Lower House, estimated that the expansion of tax exemptions would reduce revenue by 31.3 billion reais next year, offset by new income tax collections of 25.2 billion reais and 8.9 billion reais from foreign-sent dividend taxation.   ($1 = 5.3203 reais) (Reporting by Marcela Ayres in Brasilia and Isabel Teles in Sao Paulo, Editing by Louise Heavens and Alex Richardson)

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(Reuters) -Rivian Automotive lowered the midpoint of its annual deliveries forecast range on Thursday as the EV-maker braces for an uncertain few quarters due to the lapse of federal tax credits, sending its shares down more than 3.3% before the bell. Despite reporting a nearly 32% jump in deliveries, Rivian and the electric-vehicle industry face a cloudy outlook after the U.S. Congress, through sweeping legislation, moved to abolish a $7,500 tax credit on leasing that EV makers had long relied on to bolster sales. The tax credit expired on Tuesday. Analysts and experts had predicted that EV sales and leasing would plummet after it ended, but that a rush to purchase EVs from buyers looking to beat the deadline would precede the fall. Rivian narrowed its annual forecast for deliveries to between 41,500 and 43,500 vehicles, the midpoint of which is 500 vehicles lower than its previous forecast of between 40,000 and 46,000 cars. The company delivered 13,201 vehicles in the third quarter, compared with an estimate of 12,690 vehicles, according to analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Along with the removal of consumer tax credits, the imposition of high tariffs on imports of auto parts has hit makers of electric vehicles by pushing up manufacturing costs and compressing margins. The duties left carmakers scrambling to reorganize supply chains, reduce foreign dependency and increase investment in the U.S. – a policy emphasized by the Trump administration. The rise in vehicle costs could cause Rivian's margins to take a hit when the company has been looking to boost profitability ahead of the rollout of its more affordable R2 SUVs next year. Rivian is expected to release its third-quarter financial results on November 4, after markets close. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

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By Amy-Jo Crowley, Dominique Patton and Mathieu Rosemain LONDON (Reuters) -Armani representatives have made informal approaches to some potential buyers for a minority stake in the renowned Italian fashion group, three sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters, effectively starting a de-facto auction for a slice of one of the world's best-known fashion empires weeks after the designer's death.  L'Oreal, is among those that have been approached, two of the people said. The talks are early stage, however, one of the people said, adding that any progress could take months.  Private equity bidders so far have not been solicited as potential buyers, one of the sources and a fourth one said. Rothschild is expected to advise the company on a transaction, those two people said. The group has a link to the advisory firm through Irving Bellotti, a Rothschild partner who sits on the board of the Armani foundation, according to the bank's website. Reuters could not determine who had done the outreach on behalf of the sellers of the company. The four sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. Armani Group and Rothschild declined to comment. L'Oreal, which holds a licensing agreement with the Armani group until 2050, did not respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Dominique Patton and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris and Lisa Jucca in Milan. Additional reporting by Elisa Anzolin. Editing by Anousha Sakoui)

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By Pooja Menon and Sheila Dang (Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum will sell its chemicals arm OxyChem to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion, the company said on Thursday, marking its biggest divestment yet to slash debt after years of costly acquisitions. If the deal closes, it would also be the biggest for Berkshire since its $11.6 billion purchase of insurance firm Alleghany Corporation in 2022, and expand its chemical portfolio beyond Lubrizol. Berkshire is Occidental's largest shareholder and it began acquiring stake in the U.S. oil and gas producer in February 2022, around when Russia invaded Ukraine. The divestment highlights the close ties between the two. In a 2019 meeting with Buffett, Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub secured a $10 billion investment that allowed her to make an offer for oil producer Anadarko Petroleum, outbidding rival Chevron to secure some of the richest shale oilfields in Texas. But the $55 billion purchase of Anadarko left Occidental saddled with debt. The burden exacerbated after the company closed its $12 billion acquisition of privately held U.S. shale oil producer CrownRock last year. To reduce its massive debt load, which stood at $23.34 billion by the end of June, Occidental been steadily divesting assets in recent years. The company had disclosed in August $950 million of additional divestitures since the start of the second quarter, of which $370 million already closed and it repaid $3 billion of debt year-to-date. Occidental said on Thursday it would use $6.5 billion of the proceeds to reduce debt, bringing the total principal debt below the $15 billion target set after the CrownRock deal. TPH analyst Matt Portillo said the debt repayment should open the door for increased shareholder returns in the form of share repurchases. Occidental shares were up 1% in premarket trading. CEO Hollub said the sale of OxyChem, which produces chemicals used for treating swimming pools and vinyl products used for water supply piping and medical supplies, would allow Occidental to "unlock 20-plus years of low-cost resource runway" in oil and gas. The unit had generated a combined revenue of $2.42 billion in the first two quarters of this year. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, also indicates that Occidental is refocusing on its oil and gas business, which formed 75% of its total earnings last year. (Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks, Nia Williams and Shilpi Majumdar)

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By Nqobile Dludla GQEBERHA, South Africa (Reuters) -South Africa and Europe should collaborate on building an alternative "value chain" for electric vehicle components such as batteries, to reduce dependence on China, the CEO of BMW South Africa said, calling for a national-level strategy. South Africa, which accounts for 51% of Africa's vehicle output, is seeking to position itself as a player in the global EV supply chain. But industry leaders say more policy clarity and investment are needed to unlock its potential. "South Africa, together with Europe, could put a strategy together to create an alternative value chain for EV batteries, for example," Peter van Binsbergen said in an interview on Wednesday on the sidelines of an auto conference. "That gives the world an alternative to China." China currently dominates global battery cell production, making it difficult for some automakers to meet rules of origin requirements for exports, particularly in Europe. "If you want a battery, it comes from China," van Binsbergen said. "We need to get that right." South Africa is Africa's biggest auto manufacturing hub. Global automakers like Ford, Volkswagen, BMW and Toyota manufacture models in South Africa for both the local and European markets. Britain and the European Union together consume nearly half of the vehicles South Africa produces. South African car industry executives want a coordinated national approach to EV development, saying that efforts by individual brands will not be sufficient. Neale Hill, President of Ford Motor Company Africa, said automakers are concerned that the country's new energy vehicle roadmap is not moving, despite President Cyril Ramaphosa having announced potential consumer subsidies and stating that hybrids and plug-in hybrids should be included in planned production incentives last year. "In stark contrast to our lack of progress, consider a country like Ethiopia, which has already over 100,000 EV vehicles on the road versus just over 4,000 in South Africa," Hill said. There is a need for urgency as the UK and the European Union have committed to ending the sale of new fossil-fuel vehicles by 2035. The South African government has already announced a 150% tax deduction from next year for qualifying investments in EV and hydrogen vehicle production, Trade Minister Parks Tau told delegates on Thursday. South Africa, in partnership with international partners including the World Bank, has also developed a national critical minerals strategy aimed at securing supply chains for the local electric vehicle industry, attracting investment into battery manufacturing facilities as well as EV components. "If we do not adapt, we risk losing these key export markets," Tau said. (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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(Reuters) -Occidental Petroleum said on Thursday it would sell its petrochemical division to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion, as the U.S. oil and gas producer looks to pare debt. The sale of the OxyChem unit, which produces chemicals used for treating swimming pools and vinyl products used for water supply piping and medical supplies, adds to a series of divestitures planned by the Houston, Texas-based company in recent years to raise cash. Its shares rose 2.3% in premarket trading. If the all-cash deal closes, it would be the biggest for Berkshire, Occidental's largest shareholder, since its $11.6 billion purchase of insurance firm Alleghany Corporation in 2022 and expand its chemical holdings beyond Lubrizol. Occidental, one of the top producers of basic chemicals and polyvinyl chloride in the U.S., has been struggling with a massive debt load, a legacy of its $55 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, when it outbid rival Chevron to secure some of the richest shale oilfields in Texas. The company sunk deeper into debt after it closed its $12 billion acquisition of privately held U.S. shale oil producer CrownRock last year, which strengthened its position in the Permian Basin. Its debt stood at $23.34 billion by the end of June. The company in August disclosed $950 million of additional divestitures since the start of the second quarter, of which $370 million already closed and it had repaid $3 billion of debt year-to-date. Occidental said on Thursday it would use $6.5 billion of the proceeds from the deal to reduce debt, bringing its total principal debt below the $15 billion target set after the CrownRock deal. The deal, expected to close in the fourth-quarter, also indicates that the company is refocusing on its oil and gas business, which formed 75% of its total earnings last year. In the first two quarters of this year, the OxyChem unit generated a combined revenue of $2.42 billion. Berkshire, which holds about 27% of Occidental's outstanding shares, began acquiring stake in the company in February 2022, around when Russia invaded Ukraine. (Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks, Nia Williams and Shilpi Majumdar)

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By Joice Alves LONDON (Reuters) -The dollar fell to near a one-week low on Thursday as traders weighed the impact of a U.S. government shutdown, while poor jobs data boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates two more times this year. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.14% to 97.59. It saw the sharpest decline against the safe-haven yen, down 0.3% to 146.69. After four straight days of losses for the dollar index, traders were weighing how long the U.S. government shutdown might last, its effect on economic data releases, and how that will play into the Fed's decision-making. WEAKER JOBS DATA PRESSURES DOLLAR The ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday that U.S. private employment shrank by 32,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised 3,000 decline in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment to increase by 50,000. "U.S. ADP employment data triggered dollar weakness," said Kit Juckes, Societe Generale's chief currency strategist. The jobs report came amid a U.S. government shutdown, which has put the brakes on the flow of federal economic data at a moment of uncertainty and division among policymakers. "The sense is that the market was happy to react to yesterday’s figures but will not be comfortable taking the dollar too far on less reliable data," Juckes said. The Trump administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-leaning states, following through on a threat to use the shutdown to target Democratic priorities. "With many major U.S. data releases withheld due to the government shutdown, alternative measures (yesterday’s ADP, today’s Challenger data) are set to have a longer-lasting impact on markets than usual," said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING. Data also showed on Wednesday that U.S. manufacturing activity edged up in September, though new orders and employment were subdued as factories grappled with the fallout from President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. In the meantime, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would hear arguments in January over Trump's attempt to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Money markets are expecting two further Fed interest rate cuts this year. Elsewhere, the euro rose 0.18% to $1.1751 after data showed on Wednesday that euro zone inflation accelerated last month on higher services prices and a smaller decline in energy costs, likely reinforcing bets on the European Central Bank keeping interest rates on hold for some time. "Data is vindicating the ECB’s cautious stance, and could keep dovish voices in the governing council quiet," Pesole said. Data also showed on Thursday that unemployment in the euro area ticked up in August. (Reporting by Joice Alves. Additional reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter. Editing by Mark Potter and Gareth Jones)

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By Krystal Hu (Reuters) -OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has reached a valuation of $500 billion, following a deal in which current and former employees sold roughly $6.6 billion worth of shares, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. This represents a bump-up from its current valuation of $300 billion, underscoring OpenAI's rapid gains in both users and revenue. Reuters reported details of the stock sale earlier in August. As part of the deal, OpenAI employees sold shares to a consortium of investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi's MGX and T. Rowe Price, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. The company had authorized sales of $10-billion-plus worth of stock on the secondary market, the source added. Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, MGX and T. Rowe Price did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The share sale adds to SoftBank's earlier investment in OpenAI's $40 billion primary funding round. The company generated around $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, about 16% more than it generated all of last year, the Information reported earlier this week. The sale comes at a time when tech giants are competing aggressively for AI talent with lucrative compensation packages. Meta is notably investing billions in Scale AI and poached its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new super intelligence unit. (Reporting by Krystal Hu in San Francisco and Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Janane Venkatraman)

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