of note Chavez always pays never takes, fair market value? all seemed happey in past transactions

2008-08-06 09:13:49 Lonmin rejects Xstrata bid as undervaluing firm

LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Lonmin Plc. rejected an unsolicited takeover bid worth $10 billion from mining group Xstrata Plc. on Wednesday, saying the 33-pound per share cash offer undervalued the company.

2008-08-06 09:03:59 Hunting to sell Gibson Energy unit for 626 million pounds

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Hunting Plc said it is to sell Gibson Energy, its Canadian-based oil services business, to a private equity group led by Riverstone and Carlyle for up to 626 million pounds in cash.

2008-08-06 08:53:39 Chavez offers Santander $1.2 bln for bank-papers

MADRID, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is prepared to offer Banco Santander <SAN.MC> $1.2 billion for its local unit Banco de Venezuela, media reported on Wednesday.

2008-08-06 08:43:03 Russia's Mikhail Prokhorov to sell 16.66 pct in Norilisk Nickel for $10 bln

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, chairman of Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold miner, intends to sell a 16.66 percent stake in MMC Norilsk Nickel to companies controlled by Vladimir Potanin for $10 billion, or $315 per share, according to a statement.

2008-08-06 08:17:30 CBay says U.S. court denies attempt to block Medquist stake buy

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - CBaySystems Holdings Ltd. said a U.S. court has rejected all requests to block the company's acquisition of a majority stake in Medquist Inc.

2008-08-06 08:13:41 OMV CEO says no plans to sell MOL stake

LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Austrian oil and gas group OMV <OMVV.VI> has no plans to sell its stake in Hungarian rival MOL <MOLB.BU> despite having dropped its offer for the group, OMV's CEO said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.

2008-08-06 08:06:14 Ryanair in talks to buy up to 400 aircraft to secure mid-term growth - CEO

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Ryanair is in talks with EADS unit Airbus and Boeing Co. to buy up to 400 aircraft to secure mid-term growth following its recent earnings slump, chief executive Michael O'Leary told Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview.

2008-08-06 08:04:09 Daimler developing strategy to fend off possible takeover attempts - report

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Daimler AG. is working on a strategy to fend of possible takeover attempts, for instance finding an anchor investor who can block a full takeover, Financial Times Deutschland reported, without saying where it got the information.

2008-08-06 08:01:39 Intesa Sanpaolo close to selling IMMIT unit for 1 billion euros - report

MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Intesa Sanpaolo SpA is close to selling its IMMIT Immobili Italiani SpA real estate unit to Fimit Srg for about 1 billion euros, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

2008-08-06 08:01:01 Green Dragon Gas buys 3 Chinese businesses for $9.25 mln cash

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Green Dragon Gas Ltd. said it has bought three Chinese companies -- Zhengzhou Nanhai Gas Ltd., Zhengzhou Clean Petro-Equipment Ltd. and Zhengzhou Clean Technology Ltd. for a total $9.25 million cash.

2008-08-06 07:59:11 Banca Italease's sale of property asset stalls - report

MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Banca Italease SpA has postponed the sale of 41 buildings because the offers received for the assets were considered too lower, daily MF said without naming a source.

2008-08-06 07:46:56 Nucor units acquires two U.S. recycling operations

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Thomson Financial) - Nucor Corp announced said wholly owned subsidiary The David J. Joseph Co (DJJ) has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of the American Compressed Steel operations belonging to Secondary Resources Inc and has effectively completed the acquisition of Victoria Recycling.

2008-08-06 07:34:14 Alitalia advisor sees Lufthansa as preferred international partner - report

MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Alitalia SpA's advisor Intesa Sanpaolo SpA prefers Deutsche Lufthansa AG to Air France-KLM as international partner for the Italian flag carrier because of its interest in developing the Milan Malpensa airport, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

2008-08-06 07:34:09 Hunting sells Gibson Energy unit for 626 million pounds

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Hunting Plc said it has sold Gibson Energy, its Canada-based oil services business, to a private equity group led by Riverstone and Carlyle for up to 626 million pounds in cash.

2008-08-06 07:30:17 Annaly Capital Management acquires Merganser Capital Management

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Annaly Capital Management Inc. said it it has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire institutional fixed-income manager Merganser Capital Management for an undisclosed sum.

2008-08-06 07:26:18 IBM eyes acquisitions of regional leaders - treasurer

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - International Business Machines Corp. is eyeing acquisitions of regional leaders that it could take global, vice president financial management Jesse Greene told Boersen-Zeitung.

2008-08-06 07:15:57 1-Miner Xstrata launches $10 bln cash bid for Lonmin

LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Miner Xstrata <XTA.L> launched a $10 billion takeover bid on Wednesday for Lonmin <LMI.L>, the world's third-biggest platinum producer, to further diversify and grow its business.

2008-08-06 06:54:51 Continental in talks with Apollo, KKR, Bridgestone on white knight bid - report

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Continental AG. is in talks with hedge funds Apollo and KKR, as well as Japanese tire-supplier Bridgestone Corp., on a possible white knight bid to fend off Schaeffler Group's take-over attempt, Handelsblatt reported, citing financial sources.

2008-08-06 06:45:10 Miner Xstrata launches $10 bln cash bid for Lonmin

LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Miner Xstrata <XTA.L> launched a $10 billion takeover bid on Wednesday for Lonmin <LMI.L>, the world's third-biggest platinum producer.

2008-08-06 06:21:12 Xstrata set to make $9 billion bid for Lonmin - report

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Xstrata Plc., the Swiss-based mining group, is preparing an unsolicited takeover bid for Lonmin Plc., a FTSE 100-listed platinum producer, in a deal likely to be worth about $9 billion, according to the Financial Times.

2008-08-06 05:12:08 Singapore's GIC takes stake in Mexico mall developer

SINGAPORE, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The Government of Singapore Investment Corp's (GIC) real estate arm said on Wednesday it has taken a stake in a property fund that will invest in malls across Mexico.

2008-08-06 03:46:50 China's New Hope may swap Union Trust stake for Bank of Shanghai shares - report

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - New Hope Group, China's largest animal feed producer, is in talks to swap shares it holds in China's Union Trust & Investment Co Ltd for shares in Bank of Shanghai, Caijing magazine reported on its website, citing sources.

2008-08-06 02:13:09 China Development Bank eyes stake in Dresdner Bank - report

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China Development Bank, one of the country's three policy lenders, has held talks with Allianz SE for a possible stake in the insurer's Dresdner Bank unit, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.