M&Navigator: Deal Pipeline

(M&A Navigator Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The following is a list of deals covered in detail by M&A Navigator this week: -COSMENS RAISE NATIONAL EXPRESS STAKE TO 19.46% AHEAD OF RIGHTS ISSUE VOTE The Spanish Cosmen family announced they have raised their stake in UK passenger transport company National Express (LON:NEX) to 19.46% from 18.97%, ahead of the company's vote on a capital hike.

Status: Closed - BANCA GENERALI STOCKHOLDERS CLEAR BANCA BSI ITALIA MERGER The shareholders of Banca Generali (BIT:BGN) approved today the merger with Banca BSI Italia.

Status: Agreed - CEO SAYS, ENOC WILL NOT SWEETEN BID FOR IRISH DRAGON OIL Dubai's state-owned refiner Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) will not raise its GBP4.55 (USD7.6/EUR5.04) per share offer for Irish oil producer Dragon Oil (ISE:DGO).

Status: Bidding - HERITAGE OIL ENDS MERGER TALKS WITH TURKISH GENEL ENERJI, SELLS ASSETS UK-listed oil exploration company Heritage Oil (LON:HOIL) said today it has terminated talks on a USD6bn (EUR4bn) merger with Turkish Genel Enerji while striking a deal to sell Ugandan assets to Italian energy group Eni (BIT:ENI).

Status: Terminated; Agreed - SPAIN'S SAVINGS BANK BBK SAYS NO MERGER NEEDED UNTIL 2011 Mario Fernandez, the chairman of Spanish savings bank Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa (BBK), said Friday he sees no need for mergers of savings banks in the country's Basque region until 2011.

Status: Delayed - SPANISH BANK BBVA YET TO DECIDE ON OPTION TO BOOST CHINESE CITIC STAKE Spanish bank BBVA (MCE:BBVA) has not yet decided whether to spend EUR1.1bn (USD1.64bn) to buy an additional 5% in Chinese Citic Bank (SHA:601998; HKG:0998).

Comment: BBVA still to decide on the option to buy 5% of Citic - CREDITORS RAISE BID FOR GREEK WIND HELLAS TO EUR455M Creditors of Greek mobile operator Wind Hellas will submit today an improved EUR450m (USD668m) offer in a last effort to get their hands on the company.

Status: Bidding - SPANISH CAIXA CATALUNA TO ASK EUR1.1BN AID FOR MERGER WITH PEERS Spanish savings bank Caixa Cataluna plans to ask for EUR1.1bn (USD1.643bn) to EUR1.2bn from the country's bank restructuring fund FROB to finance its merger with local peers Caixa Manresa and Caixa Tarragona.

Status: Agreed - EBS, IRISH NATIONWIDE LIKELY TO START MERGER TALKS THIS WEEK - EBS CEO Irish EBS Building Society may launch merger negotiations this week with rival Irish Nationwide Building Society.

Status: Talks - SPAIN'S TELEFONICA MAY PAY UP TO EUR450M FOR DIGITAL+ Spain's telecomms major Telefonica (MCE:TEF) is ready to pay EUR400m (USD599m) to EUR450m to buy 20% of satellite TV platform Digital+ from home media group Prisa (MCE:PRS).

Status: Talks; Speculation - NOKIA SIEMENS SAYS LOST BIDDING FOR NORTEL, FURTHER BID FINANCIALLY UNJUSTIFIED Telecomms equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks said that together with its financial partners One Equity Partners has not placed the highest offer for Canadian Nortel Networks' (OTC:NRTLQ) assets at the auction.

Status: Terminated - GE CAPITAL INTERBANCA SELLS 8% OF ITALIAN SORIN Italian merchant bank GE Capital Interbanca said it has disposed of 37.6 million shares, or around 8%, in local healthcare company Sorin (BIT:SRN), reducing its holding to 7.547% from 15.547%.

Status: Closed - AUSTRIAN STRABAG SAYS RUSSIA'S DERIPASKA TO BUY BACK 25% STAKE BY OCT 2010 Austrian construction company Strabag (ETR:STB1) said on Monday Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska will not buy back his 25% in the company this year.

Status: Delayed - PORSCHE'S BOARD CLEARS MERGER WITH VW The supervisory board of German sports-car maker Porsche (FRA:PAH3) has cleared the merger with home sector player Volkswagen (FRA:VOW), hours after the VW board gave its approval to the deal.

Status: Agreed - ENI TO TAKE STAKES IN UGANDA OIL FIELDS FROM HERITAGE OIL Italian energy group Eni (BIT:ENI) will buy stakes in two oil fields in Uganda from oil exploration company Heritage Oil (LON:HOIL) for USD1.3bn (EUR871m).

Status: Speculation; Agreed - NESTLE MAY PLACE RIVAL BID FOR CADBURY Swiss food giant (VTX:NESN) is considering the option of making an offer for UK confectionery company Cadbury (LON:CBRY), stepping into the battle for the UK company.

Status: Speculation; Bidding - FRENCH GEMALTO IN EXCLUSIVE TALKS TO BUY XIRING'S BANKING ACTIVITIES French digital security company Gemalto (EPA:GTO) said today it had been in exclusive talks with local sector firm XIRING (EPA:ALXIR) to buy the latter's banking operations.

Status: Exclusivity - US KRAFT FOODS MAY SWEETEN UK CADBURY BID US Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) is set to raise its offer for UK confectioner Cadbury (LON:CBRY) or offer more cash in its bid if rival takeover offers emerge.

Status: Speculation - DUTCH AQUAMIT TO CANCEL SWISS QUADRANT PUBLICLY HELD SHARES Swiss plastic products maker Quadrant (SWF:QUAN) said the company that recently acquired it will request the cancellation of all the remaining publicly held Quadrant shares.

Status:Closed - K INDUSTRIES BUYS TROUBLED KOHLER FRANCE French weaving company Kohler France Textiles, which specialises in clothing and upholstery, has been acquired by local textile company K Industries.

Status: Closed - DUTCH ABN AMRO TO BOOK HUGE LOSS ON HBU SALE Dutch state-owned bank ABN Amro said Thursday it expects to book a loss of between EUR800m (USD1.19bn) and EUR 900 million on the sale of its commercial bank HBU and a number of business offices to Deutsche Bank (FRA:DBK).

Status: Agreed - DUTCH STATE TO INVEST ANOTHER EUR3BN IN ABN AMRO, FORTIS BANK The Dutch government will inject an additional EUR3bn (USD4.48bn) in state-owned banks ABN Amro and Fortis Bank Netherlands to enable their further integration.

Status: Agreed - SPANISH CAJASUR, UNICAJA TO CLOSE MERGER BEFORE YEAR-END The chairmen of Spanish savings banks Unicaja and CajaSur, Braulio Medel and Santiago Gomez Sierra, said their shareholders would approve the merger between the banks before the end of the year.

Status: Agreed - ENBW TO DROP PLANS FOR TAKING OVER VNG German utility EnBW (ETR:EBK) is likely to abandon its plan to gain control of eastern German gas group VNG.

Status: Speculation; Terminated - US CONSORTIUM EXPECTED TO BID FOR VOLVO A US consortium is expected to place a bid for Volvo Cars this week, thus rivalling the preferred bidder, Chinese automotive group Geely Automobile Holding (HKG:0175).

Status: Bidding; Speculation - KPN AND IBASIS AGREE ON FINAL USD3 P/S BID Dutch telecomms and ICT group KPN (AMS:KPN) has inked a final agreement to take over US voice traffic carrier iBasis (NASDAQ:IBAS) for USD3 (EUR2) per share in cash.

Status: Agreed - FRENCH WOOD PELLETS SPECIALIST FRAULI BUYS ISOROY'S PLANT French wood pellets provider Frauli said it has acquired Chamouilley-based wooden panels maker Isoroy's production facility, which has been closed since April, for an undisclosed sum.

Status: Closed - BAKER TILLY VIRCHOW KRAUSE TO MERGE WITH BEERS + CUTLER US accounting and auditing firms Baker Tilly Virchow Krause and Washington-based Beers + Cutler announced they would merge effective 1 December.

Status: Agreed - BARCLAYS CAPITAL IN JV WITH GOFF CAPITAL TO BUY MORGAN STANLEY'S CRESCENT Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of UK's Barclays (LON:BARC), said it has set up a joint venture with real estate investment firm Goff Capital to buy Crescent Real Estate Equities from Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funding II, a unit of US financial services giant Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).

Status: Closed; Agreed - LA SEDA SHORTLISTS TWO BIDDERS FOR TARRAGONA SITE Spanish plastics and textiles producer La Seda de Barcelona (MCE:SED) has selected two major bidders for its IQA plant at the Tarragona petrochemical complex, valued at EUR50m (USD74.6m).

Status: Speculation; Auction - SARASIN DENIES BUYING INTO DOUGLAS ON BEHALF OF ERWIN MUELLER Swiss Bank Sarasin (SWF:BSAN) ruled out a report published by the Focus magazine claiming that the bank had purchased shares in German speciality retail group Douglas (ETR:DOU) on behalf of local drugstore entrepreneur Erwin Mueller.

Status: Denied; Closed - KUDELSKI EXTENDS SUBSEQUENT OFFER FOR OPENTV TO 25 NOV Swiss holding company Kudelski (VTX:KUD) said it has extended the subsequent offering period to buy out the remaining shares of US digital TV software provider OpenTV Corp (NASDAQ:OPTV) for USD1.55 (EUR1.04) per share in cash until 25 November.

Status: Bidding - HI-SHEAR TECHNOLOGY'S STOCKHOLDERS APPROVE TAKEOVER BY CHEMRING GROUP US pyrotechnic and electronic products provider Hi-Shear Technology Corp (AMEX:HSR) announced on Friday its stockholders have cleared the company's acquisition by British energetic material products specialist Chemring Group (LON:CHG).

Status: Agreed - ANGLO-DANISH G4S ACQUIRES ALL STAR FOR USD59.9M Anglo-Danish security services provider G4S (LON:GFS,CPH:G4S) said it has bought US sector player Champions Of The West (All Star International) for USD59.9m (EUR40m) in cash, on an enterprise-value basis.

Status: Closed - GERMAN MM WARBURG TAKES OVER 19.5% IN CONTINENTAL German private bank MM Warburg has bought a 19.5% interest in tyre maker Continental (FRA:CON) from its major owner Schaeffler.

Status: Closed - MACQUARIE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SELL 49.99% OF DISTRICT ENERGY OPS FOR USD29.5M US Macquarie Infrastructure Company (NYSE:MIC) said on Monday it has inked an agreement to sell a 49.99% stake in its district energy business, Thermal Chicago, to an affiliate of The John Hancock Life Insurance Company for USD29.5m (EUR19.7m).

Status: Agreed - US MILLIPORE BUYS OUT INDIAN JV US life science company Millipore (NYSE:MIL) said it has bought out the 60% stake it did not control in its joint venture in India, Millipore India.

Status: Closed - ALPHA, JOURNEY GROUP TO CREATE HEATHROW CATERING JV The in-flight service unit of Italian motorway and airport restaurant operator Autogrill (BIT:AGL), Alpha, and UK catering, travel supplies and cabin management service provider Journey Group (LON:JNY) have agreed to establish a joint venture.

Status: Agreed - SWISS MEYER BURGER GAINS FULL OWNERSHIP OF GERMAN AMB Swiss machine maker Meyer Burger Technology (SWF:MBTN) said it has raised its stake in German sector player AMB Apparate und Maschinenbau to 100%, for an undisclosed price.

Status: Closed - AFS TECHNOLOGIES BUYS ASSETS OF SOFTRAX US enterprise software solution provider AFS Technologies said it has bought certain assets of revenue management and billing solutions firm Softrax for an undisclosed price, paid in cash.

Status: Closed - UK ROCKSPRING TO BUY PROPERTY PORTFOLIO FROM RBS FOR GBP27M UK real estate fund manager Rockspring has entered an agreement to acquire 13 logistics and manufacturing properties in the UK from Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) for GBP27m (USD44.7m/EUR29.9m).

Status: Agreed - US HUMANA SEEKS ACQUISITIONS TO COMPLEMENT BUSINESS US health care company Humana (NYSE:HUM) is on the look out for acquisitions in complementary segments.

Status: Bidding - INTERMEDIX BUYS TEXAS ER MEDICAL BILLING US technology-based business service provider Intermedix Corporation said it has bought the assets of Texas ER Medical Billing (TERM), a supplier of revenue cycle management services for hospital-based emergency physicians.

Status: Closed ((Comments on this story may be sent to tww.feedback@m2.com)) (c) 2009 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

[ Back Small Business VoIP Global Community's Homepage ]

The World's Largest Communications And Technology Community

Technology Marketing Corporation,
800 Connecticut Ave, 1st Floor East, Norwalk, CT 06854 USA
Ph: 800-243-6002, 203-852-6800; Fx: 203-866-3326
General comments: tmc@tmcnet.com. Comments about this site: webmaster@tmcnet.com.

» About » Contact » Advertise