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Deals of the day- Mergers and acquisitions

(Adds Etihad Airways, Vodafone, Compuware Corp, Hugo Boss, Ecotpetrol, Telekom, Petrolvalves) Sept 2 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday: ** Telecom Italia SpA investor Marco Fossati said any offer for TIM Brasil should value the Brazilian wireless operator at around 11 times core earnings, or twice its current market value of 10 billion euros ($13 billion). ** Vodafone shares turned higher late on Tuesday, with traders citing a Nikkei report suggesting the British mobile operator may become a takeover target for Japanese telecoms firm SoftBank. ** French low-cost telecom operator Iliad SA may improve its $15 billion offer for T-Mobile US Inc but has set specific limits on how much money it would raise to fund any deal. ** European Union antitrust regulators will decide by Oct. 3 whether to give the green light to U.S. orthopedic products maker Zimmer Holdings Inc' $13.4 billion takeover of rival Biomet Inc. ** Dollar General Corp raised its bid for Family Dollar Stores Inc to $9.1 billion, and warned it may turn hostile and appeal directly to shareholders if the new offer was rejected. ** Akzo Nobel NV Chief Executive Ton Buechner has been solicited for a deal to buy car paint coatings company Axalta Coating Systems for more than $7 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. ** European Union competition regulators have until Oct. 3 to decide whether to approve U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co's $5.4 billion bid for Swiss peer Novartis AG's animal health business. ** Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd said it would buy Prestige Cruises International Inc in a $3.03 billion deal, including debt. ** Select Income REIT said it would buy office REIT Cole Corporate Income Trust in a $3 billion deal to expand its portfolio in the United States. ** Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd will absorb Samsung Engineering Co Ltd for about $2.5 billion, the latest step in a restructuring at South Korea's largest conglomerate that has accelerated since the controlling Lee family's patriarch was hospitalized in May. ** Software maker Compuware Corp, under pressure from investors for more than a year over its poor performance, agreed to be taken private by investment firm Thoma Bravo LLC in a deal valued at about $2.5 billion. ** Croatia's state power board Hrvatska Elektroprivreda said it had chosen Japan's Marubeni Corp as preferred bidder for the construction of a 500 megawatt coal-fired thermal power plant on the northern Adriatic. The value of the new block of the Plomin plant was assessed at 800 million to 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion). ** German retailer Hugo Boss AG said on Tuesday that an investment company controlled by private equity investor Permira is placing up to 7.9 million Hugo Boss shares. ** Poland's financial watchdog KNF has approved BNP Paribas SA's takeover of Polish rival Bank BGZ in a move that will allow France's largest listed bank to strengthen its presence in the eastern European country. The offer values Poland's No.11 lender by assets at almost 4.52 billion zlotys ($1.41 billion). ** Dutch brewer Heineken NV has agreed to sell its Mexican packaging business Empaque to Crown Holdings Inc for $1.23 billion including debt, shedding a non-core business it acquired when entering the Mexican market in 2010. ** Telecom Italia SpA, Italy's biggest telecoms group, said on Tuesday it was extending to Sept. 25 the deadline for completing the sale of its stake in Telecom Argentina to investment fund Fintech. In November, Telecom Italia agreed to sell its entire stake in Telecom Argentina to Fintech for $960 million. ** Colombia's Cabinet has authorized state-run oil company Ecotpetrol to sell its 1.1 trillion peso ($573 million) stake in energy generator Empresa Energia de Bogota (EEB) , the company said in a statement. ** Investment group Access Industries said on Monday it planned to buy out the rest of sports rights group Perform Group Plc that it did not already own for 410 million pounds ($681 million). ** Canada's Pembina Pipeline Corp said it would buy the Vantage pipeline system, gaining access to the prolific Bakken shale field in North Dakota. ** Siam Commercial Bank Pcl, Thailand's third-largest lender, has held talks to sell a 25 percent stake in its life insurance business SCB Life Assurance Pcl , people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The stake sale could fetch about $600 million based on SCB Life's current market value of $2.4 billion. ** The China-CEE Fund and Israel-listed Enlight Renewable Energy said they would invest up to 1.3 billion zlotys ($406 million) to buy control of two Polish wind projects totaling 250.5 megawatts in installed capacity. ** Gift retailer 1-800-Flowers.com Inc said it would buy Harry & David Holdings Inc, known for its gourmet food brands such as Wolferman's English muffins and Cushman's HoneyBells citrus products, for $142.5 million in cash. ** A consortium led by Japan's IHI Corp has been awarded a contract for engineering, procurement and construction of a 2-gigawatt coal-fired power plant in Malaysia, the heavy equipment manufacturer said on Tuesday. An IHI spokesman declined to comment on the value of the deal. ** Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday that it was considering acquiring the shares of unlisted medical equipment maker Samsung Medison Co Ltd that it does not currently own. ** The privatization of Slovenia's largest telecoms provider Telekom Slovenije dd will probably be delayed until the new government, which is likely to take over later in September, endorses the sale, daily paper Finance reported on Tuesday. ** Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC has ruled out seeking a controlling stake in Bank Panin Syariah Tbk PT, and its plans are limited to raising its stake in the Indonesian lender to 40 percent from 25 percent now, its chief executive said on Tuesday. ** Turkey's biggest glassmaker Sisecam said on Tuesday its Pasabahce unit, which makes tableware and home furnishings, has ended talks to acquire shares in Arc International, a French household goods maker. ** U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co LP has sold its remaining stake in China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd, raising around $80 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. ** Dutch farming cooperative Royal FrieslandCampina, one of the five largest dairy companies in the world, said on Monday it will buy the Ivory Coast dairy businesses of Singapore's Olam International Ltd. Olam also said FrieslandCampina was paying $18.7 million cash for the business and $6.3 million for the right to use Olam's "Pearl" trademark in certain African countries. ** Russia's Gazprom OAO might be ready to sign a deal to supply gas to China via so-called western route in November, CEO Alexei Miller said on Monday. This deal would follow an already clinched agreement to ship gas via "Power of Siberia" pipeline. ** Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk A/S said it aimed to either sell or license out drugs from its inflammatory unit, a part of the business which it had decided to drop. ** Norwegian drug maker Weifa ASA plans to expand its business through acquisitions, backed by billionaire shareholders Oeystein Stray Spetalen and John Fredriksen, Chief Executive Kjell-Erik Nordby told Reuters. ** Germany utility MVV Energie AG is in "serious talks" to take a strategic stake in wind and solar energy park developer Juwi AG, Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Monday, citing sources close to MVV. ** South African furniture retailer JD Group Ltd flagged a hefty full-year loss on Monday and said it would sell its finance arm, having been hit by its exposure to consumer debt in Africa's most developed economy. ** Airline Emirates is not interested in investing in the international operations of Qantas Airways Ltd , the Dubai-based carrier's chief commercial officer said on Monday. ** Italian luxury eye-wear maker Luxottica Group SpA looked at a possible deal with French rival Essilor International SA but decided not to pursue it and is no longer considering it, Luxottica's new co-chief executive said on Monday. ** Finland's top utility, state-controlled Fortum Oyj , on Monday said it had acquired a 14 percent stake in Finnish wave energy developer Wello. It did not disclose the value of the deal. ** Austria's Borealis AG has bought out partner DuPont's majority stake in a polymers joint venture in the Netherlands, Borealis said on Monday. It gave no financial terms for the transaction. ** Japan's Inpex Corp said on Monday it has agreed to sell a 25 percent stake in the deep water Block S in offshore Malaysia to Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd. ** The privatization of Slovenia's largest telecom operator Telekom has been put on hold and will continue only after the incoming centre-left government approves the sale, government investment firm SDH told Reuters. ** General Electric Co, UK engineer IMI Plc and buyout funds CVC and First Reserve are preparing binding offers for Italian valve maker Petrolvalves, sources familiar with the situation said. ** Italian airline Alitalia and Etihad Airways are expected to seek European Union antitrust approval for their deal this month and win clearance by the end of the year after minor concessions, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. ($1 = 0.76 euro) ($1 = 3.20 Polish zloty) ($1 = 0.60 British pounds) ($1=1,918.62 Colombian pesos) (Compiled by Manya Venkatesh and Sneha Banerjee in Bangalore)