Monday November 9, 09:15 PM
Glance-UPDATE 3-Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions
(Updates Kraft, UTI, adds United Commercial Bank, E.ON,
Playfish and others)
Nov 9 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,
acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian
companies were reported by 2100 GMT on Monday.
(For Reuters columns on deals, click on )
** Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT - news) chief Irene Rosenfeld stuck to her
guns in the pursuit of candy maker Cadbury (LSE: CBRY.L - news) , refusing
to sweeten her $16.4 billion offer, triggering a bid battle
that could last up to three months.
To read more, click on
** E.ON, the world's largest utility, has sold its German
long-distance power grid to Tennet for 1 billion euros,
sources said, as it moves away from regulated markets in
search of bigger but riskier profits.
** Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO - news) extended its $3 billion
tender offer for Tandberg ASA (Oslo: TAA.OL - news) by nine days, after
some shareholders of the Norwegian videoconferencing company
demanded a higher price.
** French insurer AXA (Paris: FR0000120628 - news) sought full control of its
majority-owned Asian arm to get a tighter grip on the region's
booming markets, and stuck with plans to grow in China in
spite of regulatory obstacles there.)
** General Electric Co. and Comcast Corp
have agreed on a valuation of around $30 billion for a joint
venture between NBC Universal and Comcast, ironing out what
has been a key obstacle in talks so far, a source familiar
with the matter said.
** East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC - news) said it expects to return to
profitability by the first half of 2010, following its
regulator-assisted acquisition of key rival United Commercial
Bank (UCB (UCB.NX - news) ) -- a unit of UCBH Holdings Inc -- on
Friday.
** Defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC - news) has agreed
to sell its TASC consulting unit to two buyout firms, General
Atlantic and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, for $1.65
billion, the companies said.
** Sweden auctioned off part of its Apoteket retail
pharmacy monopoly for 5.9 billion crowns ($844.5 million) as
part of the government's plan to roll back state ownership.
** Sonova said it is to buy U.S. cochlear
implant maker Advanced Bionics for $489 million in cash,
reinforcing its position as global leader in hearing aid
production.
** U.S. bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) is to sell nearly a
third of its 31.8 percent stake in Italian cable maker
Prysmian (Milan: PRY.MI - news) to institutional investors, in a process
brokers said should close on Monday.
** Czech power group CEZ signed a deal to buy
a stake in Dalkia's Czech operations in one of the biggest
power deals in the country this decade.
** India's ICICI Bank, Singapore state investor
Temasek and another large shareholder have revived plans to
sell their stakes in back-office firm Firstsource Solutions in a deal valued at $285 million at the current
market price, sources said.
** Electronic Arts Inc has acquired privately
held Playfish for $275 million in cash plus other
considerations, as the maker of the 'Madden NFL' series
extends into the growing social gaming sector.
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