Business news with words acquire+company. 60 or more news.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp will pay $684 million to acquire a 35 percent stake in Delta Petroleum Corp , the independent oil and gas company said on Monday.

Tracinda will take a 35% stake in Delta Petroleum, under an agreement for the firm to make a $684 million investment in the energy company and acquire shares at a price representing a 23% premium from Friday's closing price.

A Chinese steel company agreed to buy a stake in Australia's IMX Resources and to acquire the output of one of its mines, the latest move by China to secure mineral resources.

CHINA'S securities watchdog has rejected Microsoft Corp's plan to acquire a stake in Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. Changhong, China's second-largest television set maker, told the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday that the China Securities Regulatory Commission had blocked its plan to sell new shares to investors, including Microsoft. The plan was submitted to the regulator on Thursday. Shanghai Daily's calls to Changhong for comment were not answered. Microsoft has agreed pay 94 million yuan (US$12.84 million) for a stake in Changhong after the Chinese company revealed the plan to sell 400 million shares at 6.27 yuan to 10 institutional investors in April. Under the deal, the world's biggest software maker will buy 15 million newly issued Changhong shares at 6.27 yuan for a one percent-stake in the TV maker in Sichuan Province. Both companies will join a Media Galaxy project to develop, produce and market TVs, computers, and other digital entertainment products that would

Cirrus Design Corp. is seeking a buyer to acquire or merge with the aircraft manufacturer, company officials said Thursday. Another option the Duluth, Minn.-based company is exploring is taking the company public. Its major stakeholder, Arcapita, which owns roughly 58 percent of Cirrus, wants to make its money back on its investment. That's been no secret, said Cirrus spokeswoman Kate Dougherty. Cirrus has known that its business partners would be looking for an exit strategy. "Arcapita buys and sells companies," Dougherty said. "They're not in the airplane manufacturing business."

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Dutch brewing firm Heineken said Friday that it will acquire the Cypriot holding company of the Syabar Brewing Company based in Bobruysk, Belarus. Heineken will acquire Syabar's parent company from a consortium led by Detroit Investments (Cyprus) and from the International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank. The price was not disclosed. The transaction will be earnings enhancing in 2008 and value enhancing in 2012, Heineken said.

ROYAL Dutch Shell Plc has acquired a 55-percent equity interest in a coal-bed methane (CBM) venture in northern Shanxi Province and will be the operator, Europe's largest oil company said yesterday. China's Ministry of Commerce recently approved an agreement for Shell to acquire Verona Development Corp's majority equity position in a 30-year production sharing contract, the Angola-Dutch firm said. The contract covers the North Shilou CBM block, an area of 1,015 square kilometers in the eastern part of the Ordos Basin. The exploration period will end in December 2010, followed by five years of development and 20 years of production, Shell said. CBM is a natural gas extracted from coal seams. China boasts CBM reserves of about 37 trillion cubic meters, ranking the third after Russia and Canada and close to the nation's conventional gas reserves. But due to lack of expertise in harvesting the fuel, more than 1.3 billion cubic meters of CBM is emitted each year without being

MINING giant Rio Tinto Ltd continued to defend itself against an unsolicited offer from larger rival BHP Billiton Ltd yesterday, saying it had greater potential as a stand alone company. In a letter to shareholders that was posted on the Australian Securities Exchange, Rio Chairman Paul Skinner said the company's outlook was "exceptional," spurred by rising demand for resources from developing countries. "As you may be aware, BHP Billiton recently made an unsolicited approach to acquire Rio Tinto, which your board unanimously rejected as it significantly undervalued Rio Tinto and its prospects," Skinner said. Skinner pointed to Rio Tinto's prospects in iron ore, copper and aluminum, saying the company was well positioned to "capture strong growth in demand in the developing economies, including China and India." Skinner also said he was pleased that Britain's takeover regulator had agreed to give BHP Billiton until February 6, 2008, to either

SHANGHAI Forte Investment Management Co Ltd said it will combine forces with Shanghai Vanke Real Estate Co Ltd to jointly develop a mixed-used real estate project in Pudong New Area, its latest effort to expand the company's market share in the city. Forte Investment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Forte Land Co Ltd, will acquire a 40-percent stake in Shanghai Dijie Real Estate Ltd while Shanghai Vanke, a subsidiary of China Vanke Co, the country's largest publicly traded developer, will hold the remainder, Forte Land said in a recent statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Total consideration of the deal will reach 2.43 billion yuan (US$330.6 million), according to the Forte statement.

NEUSOFT Group Ltd will acquire its parent through a share swap, which will double the market value of the Shanghai-listed software vendor to 520 million yuan (US$70.27 million), Neusoft said in a statement yesterday. Chinese software firms, which grew most rapidly, need to boost economies of scale to compete internationally, the Ministry of Information Industry said. Neusoft has received approval from regulators, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission, to buy its parent's assets via a share swap of 1 to 3.5, according to the company's statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. After the purchase, the firm will be valued at 520 million yuan from 280 million yuan now. "The deal is a milestone in the company's history and it will continue to grow through the resources acquired from the parent firm," said Neusoft's chairman Liu Jiren in a Chinese-language statement.

CHICAGO, Dec. 25 -- Warren E. Buffett's investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, said Tuesday that it will pay $4.5 billion for 60 percent of Marmon Holdings, a private company that includes more than 125 manufacturing and service businesses.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway and Marmon Holdings announced Tuesday that Berkshire will purchase 60% of Marmon Holdings, a private company owned by trusts benefiting members of the Pritzker Family of Chicago. Berkshire will put up $4.5 bln for the stake and will acquire the remaining 40% through staged acquisitions over a five to six year period, to be based on future earnings. Marmon will make a substantial distribution of cash and assets to shareholders prior to the expected closing in the first quarter of 2008. The Marmon Group is an international association of more than 125 manufacturing and service businesses.

CHINA'S air conditioner giant Midea Electric Appliances will acquire four companies from its parent Guangdong Midea Group to expand capacity and business. The company's shareholder board on Monday approved its proposal to pay 480 million yuan (US$65 million) for a 100-percent stake in Hefei Hualing Electrics Co Ltd, Guangzhou Hualing Air Conditioning & Equipment Co Ltd and a 95-percent stake in China Refrigeration Industry Co. It also plans to spend 31 million yuan to acquire a 30-percent stake in Chongqing Midea General Refrigeration Equipment Co from its parent company, the country's largest air conditioner maker told Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday. Hong Kong-listed Hualing Holdings Limited, which lost HK$372.02 million in 2.5 years through June 30, deals in selling household electrical appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators with its subsidiaries. "The acquisition won't benefit Midea a lot based on Hualing's assets. Midea may target Hualing's listed

DELEK Real Estate Ltd, the Israeli company that backed out of a US$2.9-billion deal with Jelmoli AG, has agreed to buy 12 Frankfurt-area supermarkets from Metro AG, Germany's biggest retailer, for 243 million euros (US$349 million), Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. Delek, through its Delek Global Real Estate unit, will acquire the buildings from the Real supermarket chain, a subsidiary of Metro, the Netanya, Israel-based company said in an e-mailed statement to the stock exchange. Real will rent 10 of the supermarkets from Delek through 2022, and the other two through 2020, beginning at 16 million euros annually for all the properties. The rent will increase 6.7 percent every five years. "DGRE has again purchased a property with a quality tenant for a long period in a central area, and proved that even in these times it can use its connections to close deals and get good financing," Chief Executive Officer Ilik Rozanski said in the statement. Delek Real Estate, a

HARRAH'S Entertainment Inc has received final regulatory approval needed to complete the largest casino buyout ever, a year after Apollo Management LP and TPG Inc agreed to the US$17.1 billion purchase. The National Indian Gaming Commission approved the acquisition, removing the last regulatory hurdle to the purchase, Las Vegas-based Harrah's said in a statement. The transaction will be completed in early 2008, the company said. Harrah's, the world's largest casino company, received permission from Illinois, Nevada, Indiana and six other regulators in the states where it operates. The buyout firms agreed in December 2006 to acquire Harrah's for US$90 a share, attracted by its real-estate holdings and ability to generate cash, according to Bloomberg News. Indian approval was needed because Harrah's runs tribal casinos. Founded in 1937 in Reno, Nevada, Harrah's owns the Bally's, Caesars and Flamingo casinos in Las Vegas as part of its holdings, most of which are in the United

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Ampal-American Israel Corp., the Tel Aviv investment firm, took an option to acquire a 35% interest in a project to produce ethanol from sugarcane from a company controlled by Ampal's chairman, president and chief executive officer. Separately, that company, Merhav, agreed to sell 25% to 35% of the project to Ecopetrol SA of Colombia. Terms of both deals weren't disclosed. Ampal said the move will add to its interests in clean energy and in the broader energy industry. As part of the option deal, Ampal has loaned Merhav $10 million to buy 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) in Colombia for growing sugarcane and to build the ethanol facility. And Ampal agreed to advance as much as $10 million more to fund the project, it said in a Tuesday statement. Yosef Maiman, who holds the top three posts at Ampal, is sole owner of Merhav. A panel made up of Ampal's independent directors approved the deal. Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin advised the board committeee, Ampal said.

APPLIANCE maker Sichuan Changhong Electrical Co yesterday bid for a 29.92-percent stake in Huayi Compressor Co to expand its business. The TV company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday that it would acquire 91.7 million shares from Huayi's parent Huayi Electrical Appliance General Co via an auction. The Jiangxi-based Huayi, which produces compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators, was suspended from trading in the Shenzhen stock market since December 14 when it announced the auction plan. The 91.7 million shares are valued at 956 million yuan (US$129 million) based on its closing share price of 10.42 yuan per share on December 13. Changhong wasn't traded yesterday, and its closing price on Friday was 8.45 yuan. Share price of the Shanghai-listed company has doubled this year. Changhong's net profit in the first nine months of this year totaled 340 million yuan, jumping 39 percent from a year earlier on the booming electronics market.

Is News Corp. becoming a publishing centric media conglomerate? That appears to be a pattern emerging following Saturday's announcement that the company would divest of eight U.S. television stations to private equity firm Oak Hill Partners for about $1.1 billion. The divestiture, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008, follows News Corp.'s deal to acquire print and online publisher Dow Jones and Co. for $5 billion, and moves to liquidate other TV assets, including stakes in DirecTV and Gemstar TV Guide.

APPLIANCE maker Sichuan Changhong Electrical Co today bid for a 29.92 percent stake in Huayi Compressor Co. China's second-biggest TV maker said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today that it would acquire 91.7 million shares from Huayi's parent Huayi Electrical Appliance General Co via an auction. The Jiangxi-based Huayi, which produces compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators, has been suspended from trading on the Shenzhen stock market since December 14 when it announced the auction plan. The 91.7 million shares are valued at 956 million yuan based on its closing share price of 10.42 yuan a share on December 13. Changhong wasn't traded yesterday and its closing price on Friday was 8.45 yuan. The share price of the Shanghai-listed company has doubled this year. Changhong's net profit in the first nine months of this year was 340 million yuan, jumping 39 percent from a year earlier on the booming electronics market and investment income. The

AXA, France's largest insurer, has agreed to acquire a 36.7-percent stake in Reso-Garantia, Russia's second-largest insurance firm, for 810 million euros (US$1.16 billion). The investment is expected to add to Axa's earnings within three years, the Paris-based company said in a statement. The insurer will have the option to buy the rest of the company through calls exercisable in 2010 and 2011, according to Bloomberg News. Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service gave Dresdner Bank AG, the banking arm of insurer Allianz SA, regulatory approval to buy a controlling stake in Reso on August 14. The next day, news service Vedomosti reported that Dresdner had decided instead to hold onto its Reso shares as collateral for a loan to its holding company. On May 29, Reso-Garantia said it will sell a 20-percent stake in the first public offering of stock by a Russian insurer. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development said earlier that it was buying a 10-percent stake in