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By Rajveer Pardesi and Lisa Jucca MILAN (Reuters) -French luxury group Kering, owner of fashion brand Gucci, is in advanced talks to sell its beauty division to L’Oreal for about $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. L’Oréal, the world's biggest dedicated cosmetics and beauty player, would acquire fragrance brand Creed and gain rights to develop beauty products tied to Kering’s fashion labels, including Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, and McQueen, the WSJ reported, adding the deal could be announced next week. Kering, controlled by the French Pinault family, launched its beauty division in 2023, the year it acquired high-end fragrance label Creed for 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion) in cash. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Kering declined to comment and L'Oreal did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. If confirmed, the sale would be a major step forward by new CEO Luca De Meo, who officially took office in September, to address a high-debt issue that had sparked investor anxiety. Kering's net debt was 9.5 billion euros at the end of June. The company has struggled to reverse slowing sales at its largest brand Gucci as the luxury market has been hard hit by lower consumer demand, especially in China, which had led growth in the sector for more than a decade. ($1 = 0.8583 euros) (Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru and Lisa Jucca; Editing by Jan Harvey and Barbara Lewis)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -French luxury group Kering is in advanced talks to sell its beauty division to beauty group L’Oreal for about $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. L’Oréal would acquire fragrance brand Creed and gain rights to develop beauty products tied to Kering’s fashion labels, including Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, and McQueen, the Journal reported, adding the deal could be announced next week. Kering launched its beauty division in 2023 with the acquisition of high-end fragrance label Creed. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, while Kering declined to comment. L'Oreal did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey and Barbara Lewis)

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By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. court has ordered Israel's NSO Group to stop targeting Meta Platforms' WhatsApp messaging service, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business. In a 25-page ruling handed down Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton imposed a permanent injunction on NSO Group's efforts to break into WhatsApp, one of the world's most widely used communications platforms.  Hamilton also handed NSO a significant break on the damages awarded in a recently concluded jury trial, reducing the punitive damages it owes Meta from about $167 million to $4 million.  The injunction is likely to pose a challenge to NSO, which has for years been accused of facilitating human rights abuses through its flagship hacking tool, Pegasus.  Pegasus takes advantage of weaknesses in commonly deployed pieces of software to power its surveillance, making WhatsApp one of its bigger targets.  NSO has previously argued that an injunction preventing it from going after WhatsApp "would put NSO’s entire enterprise at risk" and "force NSO out of business," according to the judgment. Meta executives celebrated the decision. “Today’s ruling bans spyware maker NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp and our global users again," WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart said on X. "We applaud this decision that comes after six years of litigation to hold NSO accountable for targeting members of civil society." NSO, which has long insisted its products fight serious crime and terrorism, said it welcomed the 97% reduction in punitive damages and said that the injunction did not apply to NSO's customers, "who will continue using the company’s technology to help protect public safety." The company said it would review the decision and "determine its next steps accordingly.” The company was recently purchased by a group led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds, according to a report earlier this month in tech publication TechCrunch. Simonds did not immediately return an email. (Reporting by Raphael SatterEditing by Marguerita Choy)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. court has ordered Israel's NSO Group to stop targeting Meta Platforms' WhatsApp messaging service, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business. In a 25-page ruling handed down Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton imposed a permanent injunction on NSO Group's efforts to break into WhatsApp, one of the world's most widely used communications platforms. Hamilton also handed NSO a significant break on the damages awarded in a recently concluded jury trial, reducing the punitive damages it owes Meta from about $167 million to $4 million.  The injunction is likely to pose a challenge to NSO, which has for years been accused of facilitating human rights abuses through its flagship hacking tool, Pegasus.  Pegasus takes advantage of weaknesses in commonly deployed pieces of software to power its surveillance, making WhatsApp one of its bigger targets. NSO has previously argued that an injunction preventing it from going after WhatsApp "would put NSO’s entire enterprise at risk" and "force NSO out of business," according to the judgment. Meta executives celebrated the decision. “Today’s ruling bans spyware maker NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp and our global users again," WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart said on X. "We applaud this decision that comes after six years of litigation to hold NSO accountable for targeting members of civil society." NSO, which has long insisted its products fight serious crime and terrorism, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the ruling. The company was recently purchased by Hollywood producer Robert Simmonds, according to a report earlier this month in tech publication TechCrunch. Simmonds did not immediately return an email. (Reporting by Raphael SatterEditing by Marguerita Choy)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Kering is in advanced talks to sell its beauty division to L’Oreal for about $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. (Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Paramount Skydance will begin mass layoffs the week of October 27, eliminating around 2,000 U.S. jobs as part of a $2 billion cost-cutting plan under new CEO David Ellison, Variety reported on Saturday. The layoffs follow the $8.4 billion merger between Skydance Media and Paramount Global, which closed in August. Additional international job cuts are expected, with the company aiming to disclose full details in its third quarter earnings report on November 10, the report added. Variety had reported on August 22 that Paramount was looking to cut between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs by early November. As of December 2024, Paramount had nearly 18,600 full- and part-time employees, and 3,500 project-based staff. Paramount Skydance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. (Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey and Marguerita Choy)

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By Che Pan and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) -Nexperia’s China unit has respected Chinese laws and has the right to operate independently, it said on Saturday, a day after the Netherlands said talks had begun to try to ease tensions over export controls. As Nexperia became entangled in trade frictions between the United States and China, the Dutch government on September 30 took control of the company that makes chips for carmakers and for consumer electronics. It cited worries about the possible transfer of technology to Nexperia's Chinese parent company, Wingtech. Days later, on October 4, China's commerce ministry blocked Nexperia from exporting chips from China.   On Saturday, Nexperia's China unit said on its official WeChat account that all of its employees continued to work under the instructions of the China unit. Its employees have the right to reject any "external instructions" not consented to by its Chinese legal representative, it added.   Salaries and bonuses would continue to be paid out by Nexperia China, and not by Nexperia Netherlands, it also said.  Wingtech and Nexperia did not immediately respond to requests for comments.  The tensions have led to worries in the global automotive and electronic industries of possible chip shortages that could disrupt production.   Nexperia's chips, which are not technically sophisticated, are needed in large volumes.  The biggest manufacturing site is in Hamburg, Germany, but according to two sources briefed on the matter, more than 70% of Nexperia's chips are shipped back to China to be packaged in Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in China's southern Guangdong province.  Volkswagen and BMW both said they were working to identify potential supply risks, but that production in Europe had not been impacted yet. ($1 = 7.1264 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Che Pan and Brenda Goh; editing by Barbara Lewis)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Paramount Skydance will begin mass layoffs the week of October 27, eliminating around 2,000 U.S. jobs as part of a $2 billion cost-cutting plan under new CEO David Ellison, Variety reported on Saturday, citing company sources. (Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Paul Sandle, Michael Kahn, Byron Kaye and Dawn Chmielewski LONDON/PRAGUE/SYDNEY/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -"Star Wars: Starfighter" is filming in Britain, soundstages in Hungary are packed and post-production houses in Australia are humming, as the global film industry keeps rolling despite U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed threats to impose tariffs on movies made outside of the United States. Trump has proposed levying a 100% tariff on films produced overseas to stem the loss of film jobs to production hubs around the world, reviving an idea he first broached in May. The initial call for tariffs jolted the film world, and temporarily halted projects and international movie finance deals as producers evaluated the potential impact of the levy on each project’s financial viability, two sources familiar with Hollywood motion-picture financing told Reuters.  This time around, the reaction has been more muted. "Other than the initial flurry of 'Oh, he's said it again,' people are not taking it as seriously as they did the first time around," said Lee Stone, a partner at London law firm Lee & Thompson, who worked on the Emmy-winning Netflix show "Adolescence." Trump initially called for a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country in early May, to stave off the "very fast death" of the American film industry as incentives lured filmmakers to production hubs around the world. The announcement – just weeks before the Cannes Film Festival – caused a panic. "It was terrible timing. Everyone was saying, 'What's going to happen?'" said Stone, noting that Trump's threat resulted in temporary paralysis. "I'm not getting the impression that there's the same pause this time." Newly released data from industry researcher ProdPro reveals that while overall spending is down 15% from last year, amid a pullback in scripted television series and big-budget feature films, there is no evidence that Hollywood is abandoning global production hubs. "We’re not seeing anything in the data that suggests studios are opting to film more of their production in the U.S. because of concern about the tariffs," said ProdPro CEO Alexander LoVerde. The U.S. remains the industry's largest production hub, accounting for $16.6 billion in spending over the last 12 months, according to ProdPro. However, Hollywood studios and streaming services spent even more – $24.3 billion – on film and television projects produced outside the U.S. over that same period,  ProdPro reported, as they took advantage of tax credits, lower labor costs and world-class soundstages. The United Kingdom has become a major beneficiary of the Hollywood exodus, attracting $8.7 billion in film and scripted TV spending over the past year, including major film productions like "Star Wars: Starfighter," the much-buzzed-about next entry in the "Star Wars" saga set for release in May 2027. Canada comes in a close second with $6.4 billion, according to ProdPro's most recent report on production trends. Other regions – Australia, Ireland, Hungary and Spain – together accounted for nearly one-quarter of all production. COVID-19 SUPERCHARGED PRODUCTION EXODUS The COVID-19 pandemic and the Hollywood strikes by U.S. writers and actors supercharged the exodus that began years earlier. "Australia became a bit of a production bubble where particularly in Queensland, productions could continue even as the rest of the world shut down," said University of Melbourne film expert Kirsten Stevens. Prague increased its tax breaks from 20% to 25% in January, while Britain offers relief of 25.5% on qualifying films and TV productions, with a higher rate for animated films and a new credit for smaller independent films. In places like Central Europe, a deep filmmaking tradition and lower labor costs have attracted a long list of Hollywood films including the Russo brothers' "The Gray Man," Netflix's Oscar-winning "All Quiet on the Western Front" in the Czech Republic, and Warner Bros Studios' "Dune: Part Three," which began shooting this summer in Hungary. "Hungarian soundstages are currently operating at full capacity with both international and domestic productions," Csaba Kael, government commissioner for the development of the Hungarian Motion Picture Industry, told Reuters.  Any change in U.S. trade policy would take time to implement, Kael said. Hollywood studios have found that distributing work across multiple locations can accelerate the production timetable, allowing films to be completed faster and cheaper. "It's not uncommon at high-end films that a bunch of work would come to Australia, but a bunch of work also might go to New Zealand and to London and to somewhere else," said Mike Seymour, Emmy-nominated visual effects specialist and lecturer at the University of Sydney. "Sometimes the film is being worked on literally 24 hours a day because of all the time zones," he said. STUDIOS PUSH FOR U.S. TAX INCENTIVES INSTEAD For the moment, it is business as usual for filmmakers, said Stephen Weizenecker, an entertainment lawyer with Barnes & Thornburg in Atlanta. They are hoping to avoid any interruption that throws off the schedule of a production, which can result in actors, directors or even a filming location being unavailable. "The film industry dislikes uncertainty," Weizenecker said. "Once it starts to hesitate, it means a project stops altogether." A coalition of American film industry unions and guilds, joined by veteran actor Jon Voight, has asked Trump to consider implementing a federal tax incentive to put domestic film production on a more competitive footing with incentives offered in other countries. "What we really want is a national tax incentive that would be more effective than any tariffs," one studio executive said. Meanwhile, a bill with bipartisan support, known as the CREATE Act, was introduced in the U.S. Congress this past summer. It would extend a tax deduction for U.S. productions, which is set to expire in December, and increase the cap on deductible costs. The looming threat of tariffs raises concern about the potential impact on the economy and livelihoods in production hubs around the world, if Trump follows through.  "It is hard for anyone here to understand the likelihood of this coming into effect, but if it did, it would have a huge impact," said a visual artist in the industry who declined to be named over fears of losing financing. "It would be devastating." (Reporting by Paul Sandle in London, Mike Kahn in Prague, Byron Kaye in Sydney and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Kenneth Li and Matthew Lewis)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Paul Sandle, Michael Kahn, Byron Kaye and Dawn Chmielewski LONDON/PRAGUE/SYDNEY/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -"Star Wars: Starfighter" is filming in Britain, soundstages in Hungary are packed and post-production houses in Australia are humming, as the global film industry keeps rolling despite U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed threats to impose tariffs on movies made outside of the United States. Trump has proposed levying a 100% tariff on films produced overseas to stem the loss of film jobs to production hubs around the world, reviving an idea he first broached in May. The initial call for tariffs jolted the film world, and temporarily halted projects and international movie finance deals as producers evaluated the potential impact of the levy on each project’s financial viability, two sources familiar with Hollywood motion-picture financing told Reuters.  This time around, the reaction has been more muted. "Other than the initial flurry of 'Oh, he's said it again,' people are not taking it as seriously as they did the first time around," said Lee Stone, a partner at London law firm Lee & Thompson, who worked on the Emmy-winning Netflix show "Adolescence." Trump initially called for a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the country in early May, to stave off the "very fast death" of the American film industry as incentives lured filmmakers to production hubs around the world. The announcement – just weeks before the Cannes Film Festival – caused a panic. "It was terrible timing. Everyone was saying, 'What's going to happen?'" said Stone, noting that Trump's threat resulted in temporary paralysis. "I'm not getting the impression that there's the same pause this time." Newly released data from industry researcher ProdPro reveals that while overall spending is down 15% from last year, amid a pullback in scripted television series and big-budget feature films, there is no evidence that Hollywood is abandoning global production hubs. "We’re not seeing anything in the data that suggests studios are opting to film more of their production in the U.S. because of concern about the tariffs," said ProdPro CEO Alexander LoVerde. The U.S. remains the industry's largest production hub, accounting for $16.6 billion in spending over the last 12 months, according to ProdPro. However, Hollywood studios and streaming services spent even more – $24.3 billion – on film and television projects produced outside the U.S. over that same period,  ProdPro reported, as they took advantage of tax credits, lower labor costs and world-class soundstages. The United Kingdom has become a major beneficiary of the Hollywood exodus, attracting $8.7 billion in film and scripted TV spending over the past year, including major film productions like "Star Wars: Starfighter," the much-buzzed-about next entry in the "Star Wars" saga set for release in May 2027. Canada comes in a close second with $6.4 billion, according to ProdPro's most recent report on production trends. Other regions – Australia, Ireland, Hungary and Spain – together accounted for nearly one-quarter of all production. COVID-19 SUPERCHARGED PRODUCTION EXODUS The COVID-19 pandemic and the Hollywood strikes by U.S. writers and actors supercharged the exodus that began years earlier. "Australia became a bit of a production bubble where particularly in Queensland, productions could continue even as the rest of the world shut down," said University of Melbourne film expert Kirsten Stevens. Prague increased its tax breaks from 20% to 25% in January, while Britain offers relief of 25.5% on qualifying films and TV productions, with a higher rate for animated films and a new credit for smaller independent films. In places like Central Europe, a deep filmmaking tradition and lower labor costs have attracted a long list of Hollywood films including the Russo brothers' "The Gray Man," Netflix's Oscar-winning "All Quiet on the Western Front" in the Czech Republic, and Warner Bros Studios' "Dune: Part Three," which began shooting this summer in Hungary. "Hungarian soundstages are currently operating at full capacity with both international and domestic productions," Csaba Kael, government commissioner for the development of the Hungarian Motion Picture Industry, told Reuters.  Any change in U.S. trade policy would take time to implement, Kael said. Hollywood studios have found that distributing work across multiple locations can accelerate the production timetable, allowing films to be completed faster and cheaper. "It's not uncommon at high-end films that a bunch of work would come to Australia, but a bunch of work also might go to New Zealand and to London and to somewhere else," said Mike Seymour, Emmy-nominated visual effects specialist and lecturer at the University of Sydney. "Sometimes the film is being worked on literally 24 hours a day because of all the time zones," he said. STUDIOS PUSH FOR U.S. TAX INCENTIVES INSTEAD For the moment, it is business as usual for filmmakers, said Stephen Weizenecker, an entertainment lawyer with Barnes & Thornburg in Atlanta. They are hoping to avoid any interruption that throws off the schedule of a production, which can result in actors, directors or even a filming location being unavailable. "The film industry dislikes uncertainty," Weizenecker said. "Once it starts to hesitate, it means a project stops altogether." A coalition of American film industry unions and guilds, joined by veteran actor Jon Voight, has asked Trump to consider implementing a federal tax incentive to put domestic film production on a more competitive footing with incentives offered in other countries. "What we really want is a national tax incentive that would be more effective than any tariffs," one studio executive said. Meanwhile, a bill with bipartisan support, known as the CREATE Act, was introduced in the U.S. Congress this past summer. It would extend a tax deduction for U.S. productions, which is set to expire in December, and increase the cap on deductible costs. The looming threat of tariffs raises concern about the potential impact on the economy and livelihoods in production hubs around the world, if Trump follows through.  "It is hard for anyone here to understand the likelihood of this coming into effect, but if it did, it would have a huge impact," said a visual artist in the industry who declined to be named over fears of losing financing. "It would be devastating." (Reporting by Paul Sandle in London, Mike Kahn in Prague, Byron Kaye in Sydney and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Kenneth Li and Matthew Lewis)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)