Top deals of the Day - Bids, Mergers & Acquisitions

By Editor

Nov 18, 2013 05:08 PM EST

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Monday.

Poland is set to raise up to 2.8 billion zlotys ($900 million) by selling a 34.2 percent stake in Energa, in what is expected to be Warsaw's biggest stock market debut in more than two years.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co will make a last-ditch effort to save its sale to Apollo Tyres Ltd on Dec. 19, as it seeks a ruling from Delaware Supreme Court that could force the Indian company to complete their proposed $2.3 billion merger.

Goldman Sachs plans to resume talks with parties interested in buying its metals warehousing business now that new exchange rules have been released, said a source familiar with the matter.

Aberdeen Asset Management is to buy Lloyds' fund management arm Scottish Widows for about 660 million pounds ($1.1 billion), creating Europe's No. 1 listed stand-alone fund manager.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd has agreed to acquire a majority interest in privately held Keg Restaurants Ltd, which owns over 100 steak house restaurants in Canada and parts of the United States.

Belgian financial group KBC said its two reference shareholders, KBC Ancora and Cera, would sell some of their shares in a private placement to repay loans they have outstanding with the bank.

Axel Springer has revised a request for approval of its 920-million-euro ($1.24 billion) sale of a range of newspaper and magazine titles after Germany's cartel office said the process needed to be simplified.

MidCap Financial LLC, a commercial finance firm with nearly $2 billion in assets that lends to mid-size healthcare companies, said it had been acquired by an entity managed by alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management LLC.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has had no contact with potential partners for the ailing bank, chairman Alessandro Profumo said on Monday, adding any suitors would be welcome. Scandal-hit Monte Paschi must raise 2.5 billion euros ($3.37 billion) in fresh capital by the end of 2014 to win European Commission approval for a 4.1 billion euro state bailout it received earlier this year.

Activist investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square hedge fund has invested half a billion dollars to acquire stakes of nearly 10 percent each in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the latest big investor this week to buy into the mortgage finance companies.

Tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to buy a stake in Uralkali, the world's largest potash miner, as Russia seeks to ease tensions over the collapse of a potash sales cartel with Belarus that drove down global prices.

South African fixed-line operator Telkom SA is in talks with some parties over the future of its struggling mobile business, its chief executive said after the company posted a jump in first-half earnings.

Raiffeisen Bank International said it could not rule out an exit from Hungary, Slovenia or Ukraine though it had no definite plans to sell its units in those markets.

German hospitals chain Rhoen-Klinikum is in talks to settle a dispute with dissident shareholders who have opposed a tie-up with diversified healthcare group Fresenius, two of the companies involved said.

LVMH underlined its aim to expand in the 77-billion-euro a year ($104 billion) global premium cosmetics market as it unveiled a new beauty products research center near the French city of Orleans. The world's largest luxury group by sales remains on the lookout for acquisitions in skincare, where it sees growth potential in Asia, but said the priority was the Asian launch of U.S. beauty brand Fresh, which it has owned since 2000.

Advent International offered 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) to take UNIT4 private, which the Dutch business software firm said would help it speed up expansion without the pressures of being listed on the stock market.

Belgian biotech group Ablynx said that Paris-based venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners sold its 7.02 percent stake in the group in a private placement worth some 22 million euros ($29.76 million).

DEG, a subsidiary of German development bank KfW, has bought an unspecified amount of shares worth $10 million in Chase Bank, one of Kenya's fastest-growing lenders, the Kenyan bank said.

French nursing home operator Korian has agreed to buy rival Medica for 1.1 billion euros ($1.48 billion) in a deal that will create Europe's largest elderly care group.

Spain will take formal offers this week from potential buyers for nationalized bank NCG Banco, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in an interview on Spanish television TVE. He said there was plenty of interest from buyers.

South Africa's Nampak Ltd agreed on Monday to pay $301 million to buy a Nigerian beverage can manufacturer plus an option to purchase a plastic packaging facility. The acquisition of Alucan Investment Ltd forms part of the packaging firm's stated intention to boost sales from outside its home market.

Medical device maker CareFusion Corp said it will buy GE Healthcare's respiratory care and anesthesiology products business, Vital Signs, for $500 million.

Israeli flavorings and specialty ingredients company Frutarom Industries will acquire 75 percent of Russia's Protein Technologies Ingredients (PTI) for $50.3 million in cash.

Royal Bank of Scotland said it is in talks to sell its retail investor products and equity derivatives (IP & ED) business to an unnamed party.

Belgian IBA said on Monday it had completed the sale of its drug discovery arm Cisbio Bioassays business to private equity group Argos Soditic in a deal valuing the business at 25 million euros ($34 million).

Saputo Inc's failure to deliver a knockout offer in the three-way battle to take over Australia's oldest dairy company, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co, is leaving the door open for a better bid.

The refining unit of South Korea's SK Innovation is bidding for a stake in Australian petrol and convenience store retailer United Petroleum, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.

The New Zealand government said on Sunday it will sell a 20 percent stake in the national airline, Air New Zealand Ltd, this week to raise as much as NZ$365 million ($304 million) to fund infrastructure and reduce debt.

National Bank of Greece, the country's largest lender, is close to clinching a deal to sell a majority stake in its fully owned real estate arm Pangaia to private equity firm Invel Real Estate, two bankers close to the deal told Reuters on Sunday.The sale is part of restructuring efforts by National Bank (NBG) aimed at boosting its capital base.

Poland's biggest bank PKO BP will repeat a tender offer to buy shares of Nordea Bank Polska, a local unit of Swedish Nordea Bank, PKO BP said on Sunday, as it continues to await approval from the local market watchdog.

Dutch Kardan, the top shareholder of real estate group Globe Trade Centre (GTC), has agreed to sell its 27.75 pct stake for 160 million euros ($216 million) to U.S. private equity fund Lone Star, GTC and Kardan said on Sunday.

Apple has bought PrimeSense, an Israeli maker of chips that enable 3D machine vision, for $345 million, the Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Sunday without citing sources.

A major Canadian pension fund is likely to buy out Britain's Burton's Biscuits, the makers of popular treats Jammie Dodgers and Wagon Wheels, Sky News reported on its website on Saturday, citing unnamed sources. 

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is finalizing the 350 million-pound deal which is expected this weekend, although sources close to the talks told Sky that it was possible another bidder could make an improved last-minute offer.

Russian state-controlled bank VTB has agreed to join other creditors in restructuring mining group Mechel's $9.6 billion debt, a source close to VTB said on Saturday.

The Forbes family is exploring the sale of its eponymous magazine title and Web publications, becoming the latest prominent media family to bow to the realities of an industry in turmoil.

Canadian gold miners Goldcorp and Barrick Gold are looking to sell their jointly owned Marigold mine in Nevada, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Candle maker Blyth Inc rejected an unsolicited acquisition proposal from direct seller CVSL Inc, saying the offer was not supported by committed financing and may leave it saddled with debt. 

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