A request by the central bank of India to be given exemption from the provisions in Section 54 of the Competition Act, which seeks to regulate bank mergers within a certain period, India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs rejected such request.

Pennsylvania-based ESSA Bancorp Inc signed a definitive agreement to acquire Franklin Security Bancorp in an all-cash transaction that is expected to be finalized by the second quarter of 2014.

American private equity firm Blackstone Group and its affiliate Panchshil Realty acquired a 49% stake in Express Towers for INR 900 crore. The yield-generating asset was previously held by the Indian Express Group and ICICI Venture.

Young technology companies were now looking for high valuations, according to a report from The New York Times Dealbook. Dropbox is the latest among them.

France-based black car service provider LeCab raised USD6.8 million (EUR5 million) in a Series B funding round from undisclosed investors, to be used for the expansion of the company's service and manpower.

New York-based startup LightSail Education received USD3.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Viceroy Capital Advisors for marketing an app that helps improve students' literacy.

A report from The New York Times's The Dealbook showed where some members of the finance team who served in the first term of President Barack Obama are now.

French companies GDF Suez and Total and American private equity firm Hellman & Friedman were planning a public offering for jointly-owned Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT). The IPO could value GTT at up to USD2.4 billion.

North Carolina-based payments platform Spreedly secured an additional USD500,000 in seed funding from Belgian angel investors group Emerge.be to be used for product development and hiring of additional staff.

San Francisco-based Dropbox said that it targets to raise USD250 million in its third funding round. If successful, this would give the web storage company a valuation of more than USD8 billion.