Hong Kong billionaire makes big buyout in UK

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, US and Asian companies were reported on Friday.

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing is to buy UK power grids from France's EDF for £5.8 billion (Dh33.41 billion), the biggest full European acquisition by a North Asian group.

Spain's Telefonica has won its battle for a bigger share of the burgeoning Brazilian market, raising its offer for Portugal Telecom's stake in mobile operator Vivo to 7.5 billion euros.

Royal Bank of Scotland could complete the sale of a network of UK branches and its payment processing business as early as Tuesday, fetching up to £4.3 billion (Dh24.60 billion), a person familiar with the matter said.

Australia's GrainCorp has agreed to buy smaller rival AWB in an A$855 million (Dh2.8 billion) deal to bulk up against big global competitors like Bunge Ltd., Cargill and Glencore.

Walt Disney Co. has struck a deal to sell Mira-max, the studio behind such films as Trainspotting and No Country for Old Men, for more than $660 million (Dh2.4 billion) to a group that includes construction magnate Ron Tutor and investment firm Colony Capital.

Toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker said it acquired CRC-Evans International for $445 million in cash from a group of investors, led by private-equity firm Natural Gas Partners, to expand its infrastructure solutions business.

Qualcomm has agreed to sell 26 per cent stake in its India broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and Tulip Tele-com for about $58 million, the US-based mobile chip supplier said on Friday.

US solar equipment maker GT Solar International Inc said on Friday it would buy privately held sapphire maker Crystal Systems for about $57.8 million in cash and stock, giving it a foothold in the fast-growing LED industry.

Telecom New Zealand has sold the consumer business of its Australian arm AAPT to internet provider iiNet for $54 million, leaving AAPT to concentrate on wholesale and business operations, the company said on Friday.

Russia's Vimpelcom, part of emerging markets telecoms group Vimpelcom Ltd., said it had acquired Russian fixed-line provider Foratek for 1.4 billion roubles ($46.43 million), including debt.

China's CITIC Securities Co said it had two buyers for its 53 per cent stake in China Securities, one of its brokerage units.

A number of private equity firms including Blackstone and TPG Capital are eyeing a stake in Nokia Siemens Networks, a source familiar with the situation said.

Russian oil firm Luk-oil won approval from Croatia's anti-trust agency to buy small fuel retailer Crobenz from national oil and gas group INA.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. and Wuxi PharmaTech on Thursday agreed to end their merger agreement following opposition from investors and proxy advisory firms.

US bank Goldman Sachs is interested in taking over Slovenia's largest bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), daily paper Finance reported on Friday, citing unofficial government sources.

Russia's TNK-BP, in which oil major BP has a 50 per cent stake, said on Thursday it was considering buying BP's Venezuelan assets.

Private equity firm Golden Gate Capital has increased its stake in Zale Corp and become the jewellery store operator's largest shareholder.

Private equity firm American Securities is bidding for California Pizza Kitchen Inc., sources said.

German flagship carrier Lufthansa has no plans to sell British low-cost unit bmibaby or break up the bmi group, bmibaby's managing director said.

Britain's PartyGaming and Austria's bwin unveiled a deal on Thursday to create a $3.3 billion online entertainment business, positioning them to profit from any deregulation of a lucrative US market.

Aluminum Corp of China Ltd. (Chalco) has agreed to invest $1.35 billion in a joint venture with mining giant Rio Tinto to develop iron ore in Africa, its first non-aluminium investment overseas.

Car rental company Avis Budget Group Inc offered about $1.33 billion for Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc, topping Hertz Global Holdings' offer as the two rivals spar to pick up the budget brand.

British media buying group Aegis has made a A$363 million takeover bid for Australian rival Mitchell Communication Group as it seeks to strengthen its presence in emerging Asian markets.

Belgian financial group KBC said it reached a deal for a staff-led buyout for its British Peel Hunt brokerage as it focuses on its core activity following its state-led bailout during the credit crunch.

AMN Healthcare Services said it will buy smaller rival Medfinders, a provider of clinical workforce services, for about $88 million in stock to strengthen its presence in the healthcare staffing market.

British bus maker Optare said larger Indian rival Ashok Leyland would buy a 26 per cent stake in the company to strengthen its financial base.

Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan is set to make a 20.50 ringgit (Dh23.65) per share bid to privatise the Tanjong utilities and gaming business that he is a shareholder in, two sources with direct knowledge of the proposed deal said.

Portuguese utility Energias de Portugal has raised its stake in Spanish gas utility Naturgas to 95 per cent by acquiring 25.43 per cent of the company from Basque authorities for 617 million euros (Dh2.9 billion) on Wednesday.

Enbridge Inc. said Enbridge Energy Partners, which operates most of Enbridge's US assets, would acquire natural gas gathering and processing facilities in southern Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle from Atlas Pipeline Partners for $682 million.

BP is in talks with India's Reliance Industries and Essar Group to sell its African retail assets that could be worth as much as $500 million, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

HealthGrades Inc., which provides ratings and profiles on hospitals, nursing homes and physicians, agreed to be acquired by Vestar Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for about $294 million.

Danone is selling its 22.98 per cent stake in Chinese fruit juice company Huiyuan Juice Group for around 200 million euros to Hong Kong-based private equity group SAIF partners.

Adobe Systems Inc. has agreed to buy Switzerland-based Day Software Holding AG for about $240 million, to strengthen its enterprise software segment and add web content management software to its portfolio.

Billionaire financier George Soros is in advanced talks to buy a 4 per cent stake in India's Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for $35-$40 million from a Dubai Holding unit, two sources with direct knowledge said.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management bought a 6.6 per cent stake in Family Dollar Stores Inc., in his latest move to extract value from a big consumer name.

Canadian oil explorer Petrominerales Ltd. said it has acquired about 5.2 per cent stake in Oslo-listed InterOil Exploration & Production and will not support the offer by West Face (Norway) for takeover of the Norwegian company.

Russia plans to sell $29 billion worth of government-owned assets on the open market, a senior government official said, allaying investors fears about the transparency of the biggest privatisation since the 1990s.

Panasonic Corp plans to acquire the shares it does not already own in Sanyo Electric Co. and Panasonic Electric Works Co. Ltd., four sources with knowledge of the matter said. The deal could be worth more than $10 billion.