VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Canada-based Saputo Inc is closer to its takeover attempt of Australia's Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co as Bega Cheese Ltd said it had agreed to sell its holding to Saputo, Bloomberg reported.

South Korean-based private equity firm Hahn & Co will pay $283 million to buy a 76% stake in Hanjin Shipping Co's bulk carrier business, Bloomberg reported.

Chilean business tycoon and billionaire Alvaro Saieh said no proceeds that will be raised from an eventual stake sale of Corpbanca will be utilized to fund it sister firm SMU SA, a Bloomberg report said.

A December 4 interview conducted by Bloomberg with Industry Ministry Monica Maeland revealed Norway's plans to divest some of its holdings in several companies including Statoil ASA.

The rally of Corpbanca's high-grade bonds in the merging markets indicated investors' demand for the Chilean bank to find a buyer soon. Corpbanca is run by Chilean billionaire Alvaro Saieh.

A Bloomberg report cited officials from India's Finance Ministry who said the government plans to sell some of the stakes it holds in ITC Ltd, Axis Bank and Larsen & Toubro in order to gather funds.

On Thursday, Versace company president and former chief executive officer Santo Versace said there is a possibility of the Italian house to have a buyer of its 20% ownership stake by Christmas. Versace also revealed potential plans for an IPO in the future.

Repsol Chairman told Bloomberg in an interview that the oil producer is willing to acquire assets in US, Canada and Northern Europe. The company is willing to spend up to USD 10 billion for the acquisitions.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Forest City Ratner Cos had sold a 70% stake in Atlantic Yards to speed up a real estate project confronted by years of delays.

Indian Oil Corporation remained to be the sole bidder for the 31% stake of Haldia Petrochemicals, said The Economic Times report.

According to sources that told Reuters, US private equity firm Blackstone would be among possible bidders for Versace's minority stake.

San Miguel Corp sold its 27.1% stake in Manila Electric Company to JG Summit Holdings Inc. valued around USD2 billion.

According to five people, ING Groep might sell 43% of its stake in Vysya Bank and had been looking for a potential buyer for the transaction.

PKP Cargo SA said in a statement today that its major investor, Polish State Railway, would be divesting its stake in the former's freight transportation unit that would reportedly fetch around PLN1.65 billion or USD526 million.

Spanish telecoms group Telefonica had agreed on Tuesday to increase its stake in Telco, of which the latter is the controlling shareholder of Telecom Italia, via cash-and-share deals.