Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Standard Life buys Aegon UK for £2bn
Standard Life has struck a cash-and-share deal to buy the UK business of Dutch financial group Aegon for £2billion.
Following the completion of the deal, the FTSE 100 pension and savings group will have 16 million customers and £480billion of assets under administration.
Standard Life, formerly known as Phoenix Group, will pay £750million in cash for the business and issue 181.1 million new shares to Aegon.
BREAKING: AA fined and ordered to refund learner drivers for hidden fees
The owner of the AA and BSM driving schools must pay refunds to thousands of learners after failing to disclose the total price for lessons upfront when booking online, following an investigation by the competition watchdog.
Automobile Association Developments has also been fined £4.2million for breaking consumer law, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.
More than 80,000 customers of the AA Driving School and BSM will share £760,000, making the average payout around £9 each.
‘International hotel developers’ eyeing up potential Dons stadium complex at Aberdeen Beach
International hotel developers are said to be eyeing up a spot at Aberdeen Beach – if a new Dons community stadium complex is built there.
The multi-million-pound development has been discussed for some time, but remains in limbo as Aberdeen FC and the council are locked in talks over how it would be financed.
The club have offered a deal where the local authority uses its access to better borrowing rates to cover costs of the £80million sports, leisure and community facility.
In return, the Dons would serve as the anchor tenant, leasing and operating the ground on a 99-year deal worth “tens of millions in rent and rates”.
Game-changing ESCALATOR plans revealed as Trinity Centre in Aberdeen unveils ‘exciting investment’
The Trinity Centre has unveiled plans for escalators in a major bid to bring more shoppers into the mall and onto Aberdeen’s Union Street.
Installing escalators between the shopping mall and Union Square — linking the bus and train stations to the rest of the city centre — has long been discussed by bosses.
Since the shopping centre was taken over by local owner Robert Keane in 2023 there has been a lot of work and investment ploughed into turning things around at what had been a forlorn mall with many empty units.
And now a new proposal has officially been submitted to Aberdeen City Council to install escalators, further improving access to the shops inside.
Fuel prices stop rising after 43 days of increases, RAC says
The price of petrol and diesel has stopped rising after 43 days of increases, according to the latest figures from motoring organisation the RAC.
The temporary ceasefire in the Gulf has brought the price of crude oil down from its recent peaks, and with it the cost of fuel on wholesale markets.
However, prices still remain sharply higher than before the war started. Petrol is now selling for just over 158p a litre on average, up from 133p in late February, while diesel has risen from 142p a litre to 192p, the RAC said.
Amazon to spend $11bn on satellite firm in growing Starlink rivalry
Amazon is aiming to build-up its satellite business to offer internet and mobile phone services by spending $11.57billion (£8.5bn) on an acquisition of Globalstar.
The deal, announced Tuesday, will allow Amazon to get thousands of satellites into low-earth orbit through the Amazon Leo project the company has been working on for several years.
Amazon said the Globalstar takeover fits its "long-term vision for space-based connectivity" and that it will deploy a "next generation" satellite system in 2028.