Banking · Bank of New York Mellon

The US banking group will centralise the bulk of its European operations in Brussels with the transfer of its Amsterdam-based asset servicing operations. Local employment is expected to grow to 1,500 against some 1,000 today.

Bio-tech · Devgen

The Ghent-based Devgen has signed a further partnership agreement with Monsanto that allows the US-based firm to access Devgen's technology on hybrid seeds.

Brewing · AB-InBev

The world's largest beer group has sold its South Korean Oriental Brewery subsidiary to the US-based investment fund KKR for $1.8 billion. The move is part of the Leuven-based company's plan to sell up to $7 billion in assets to help finance its 2008 acquisition of the Anheuser Busch beer group. AB-InBev last week announced the sale of its Chinese affiliate Tsingtao to Japan's Asahi group.

Cars · sales

New car sales plummeted nearly 23% in April, compared to the same month last year, down to 47,641 vehicles. The steepest drop of the year to date, April’s figures brings the total drop to 17%. Analysts, however, point out that last year's results were boosted by the January Car Show and that the 2009 figures are only moderately down on 2007 numbers. The market leader for the year so far is Renault, followed by Citroen, Peugeot and Opel. Only Ford and Audi sold more cars this year compared to 2008.

Energy · RWE Innogy

German energy company RWE Innogy has signed an agreement to acquire up to 27% of C-Power, the company developing the Thorntonbank wind park, 28 kilometres off the Belgian coast. Meanwhile, Dutch energy group Nuon is seeking to develop its activities in Flanders with the development of a wind farm in the Antwerp area and a bid for one of the additional projects planned off the coast.

Office space · Regus

The office space rental company Regus has plans to develop its activities in Flanders with the opening of facilities in Ghent, Mechelen and possibly Knokke during the summer months. The company is also considering other cities such as Aalst and Kortrijk.