Britain’s Pearson group yesterday agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Economist Group for £469 million (€656m), in a deal which makes Italy’s Agnelli family the largest investor in the weekly publication.

A Dublin businessman has today lost a legal challenge to a finding by a Revenue official that he and his wife engaged in a tax avoidance scheme.

IRISH companies are attractively valued and set to benefit from an improving economic backdrop, according to a fund manager at global asset managers Schroders.

A rally by retailers and mobile phone giant Vodafone sent the FTSE 100 Index back above the 6100 barrier today after losses in the previous session.