Business news with words agreed+billion+capital. 45 news.

UNITED Rentals Inc has agreed to accept a US$100 million breakup fee from Cerberus Capital Management LP, ending a six week battle over whether Cerberus could call off a US$4 billion acquisition of the largest US equipment-rental company. United Rentals rose 4.4 percent in New York trading after a 17 percent decline on December 21, when a Delaware Chancery Court judge ruled that private-equity firm Cerberus had the right to break off the takeover, Bloomberg News reported. United Rentals said it would not appeal and Cerberus said it would pay the fee. Cerberus agreed in July to pay US$34.50 per share for United Rentals' stock and backed out in November. Judge William B. Chandler III ruled last week that United Rentals should have known Cerberus had a right to pull out if it paid the US$100 million fee. "The decision out of Delaware was very clear," said Carl Tobias, a professor with the University of Richmond.

Cerberus Capital Management L.P. agreed Monday to pay United Rentals Inc. a US$100 million (euro69.4 million) breakup fee for dropping its US$4 billion (euro2.78 billion) purchase of the equipment-rental company.

United Rentals Inc. agreed to accept a $100 million breakup fee from Cerberus Capital Management LP, ending a six-week battle over whether Cerberus could call off a $4 billion acquisition of the largest US equipment-rental company. United Rentals...

United Rentals Inc. agreed to accept a $100 million breakup fee from Cerberus Capital Management LP, ending a six-week battle over whether Cerberus could call off a $4 billion acquisition of the largest U.S. equipment-rental company.

Cerberus Capital Management agreed Monday to pay United Rentals a $100 million breakup fee for dropping its $4 billion purchase of the equipment-rental...

Merrill Lynch & Co, the world's biggest brokerage, agreed to sell most of its commercial finance business to General Electric Co's finance arm for an undisclosed price to free up capital after subprime losses. The sale of Merrill Lynch Capital's corporate, equipment, energy and healthcare finance units is expected to be completed in the first-quarter, the companies said yesterday in a Business Wire statement. The deal will add more than US$10 billion in assets to GE Capital. The transaction is part of New York-based Merrill Lynch's "strategic focus on divesting non-core assets," and will release about US$1.3 billion of capital to be redeployed elsewhere, said Chief Executive Officer John Thain in the statement. Merrill, on October 24, announced US$8.4 billion of writedowns on mortgage-related investments and corporate loans. The firm, which ousted Stan O'Neal as CEO in October, may report an additional US$8.6-billion writedown for the fourth quarter, according to David

Cerberus Capital Management L.P. agreed Monday to pay United Rentals Inc. a $100 million breakup fee for dropping its $4 billion purchase of the equipment-rental company.

GE Capital agreed to acquire most of Merrill Lynch Capital, in a deal that will allow Merrill to raise about $1.3 billion for other parts of its business.

Merrill Lynch, in an effort to raise cash amid mounting mortgage losses, agreed Monday to sell the majority of its capital finance business to General Electric for an undisclosed amount. The deal will allow Merrill to reallocate about $1.3 billion of capital into other parts of its business, John A. Thain, the investment bank’s chief executive, [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - GE Capital, a unit of General Electric Co. on Monday said it agreed to purchase most of Merrill Lynch Capital, Merrill Lynch's wholly-owned middle-market commercial finance business. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition, expected to close in the first quarter of 2008, will add more than $10 billion in assets and $5 billion in commitments to GE Capital Commercial Finance's base of $260 billion. GE Capital said it will buy Merrill Lynch Capital's corporate finance, equipment finance, franchise, energy and healthcare finance units. Merrill Lynch Capital's commercial real estate finance unit is not part of the transaction.

News Corp., the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, agreed to sell eight of its Fox network-affiliated television stations in the U.S. to Oak Hill Capital Partners LP for about US$1.1 billion in cash.

UNITED Rentals Inc, the largest construction-equipment rental company in the United States, lost a bid to force a US$4-billion takeover by Cerberus Capital Management LP when a judge ruled the agreement allowed the buyer to withdraw its offer. Delaware Chancery Court Judge William Chandler ruled on Friday that United Rentals officials should have known that Cerberus executives believed they had a right to pull out of the deal at any time as long as they paid a US$100 million fee. United alleged that Cerberus's RAM Holdings buyout entities agreed in July to pay US$34.50 per share for United Rentals' stock, and reneged on the deal in November amid weakened US credit markets. The stock has been trading in the low-US$20 range. United Rentals fell US$3.69 to US$17.91 on Friday. "The board of directors and management team of United Rentals will consider its alternatives under the circumstances, and they continue to believe strongly in United Rentals' future prospects,"

RANK Group Ltd, owned by New Zealand's richest man, Graeme Hart, has agreed to buy Alcoa Inc's packaging and consumer businesses for US$2.7 billion in cash to expand in the United States. Alcoa expects to sell the consumer and packaging businesses, which last year generated 10 percent of sales and three percent of after-tax operating income, by the end of the March, the company said. Hart, 52, will gain control of units, including Reynolds Wrap foil in the acquisition. Rank Group, based in Auckland, has made about US$7 billion of acquisitions over two years in the US, New Zealand and Europe to become the world's second-largest drink-carton maker. Last year, Hart bought International Paper Co's beverage-packaging unit for US$500 million and Neuhausen, Switzerland-based SIG Holding AG for US$2 billion. "He's certainly building quite a packaging empire," Stephen Walker, principal of Walker Capital Management Ltd in Auckland, told Bloomberg News. "This extends the

NEWS Corporation has agreed to sell eight of its Fox television stations in the US to private-equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners for about $US1.1 billion ($1.28 billion).

News Corp. agreed to sell eight TV stations for $1.1 billion to investment firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. The deal will expand Oak Hill's presence in the television industry.

ADVANTAGE Partners LLC, Japan's largest buyout fund, offered to buy Tokyo Star Bank Ltd for as much as 252 billion yen (US$2.2 billion) in the nation's biggest bank takeover in two years. Advantage agreed to buy Dallas-based Lone Star Funds' 68 percent stake in the bank for 360,000 yen a share, it said in a statement on its Website, Bloomberg News said. It offered to buy the remainder of the bank's traded stock at the same price. Tokyo Star shares closed at 352,000 yen yesterday. The acquisition gives Advantage 35 branches and 1.5 trillion yen of deposits, with a niche in lending to small companies in Japan's capital. Tokyo Star has dropped 16 percent since talks between the two were first reported in May, as investors dumped Japanese banking stocks amid sluggish loan growth and losses on mortgage-related investments. "Advantage found value in the deal after Japanese financial institutions were sold down to very attractive levels," said Yoji Takeda, who helps manage

HANAROTELECOM Inc, South Korea's second-biggest provider of broadband Internet, said its top shareholder has agreed to sell its stake to SK Telecom Co, reversing a statement that cast doubt on the US$1.18 billion takeover. The group led by American International Group Inc and Newbridge Capital LLC signed an accord with SK Telecom on December 1, Hanaro said in a statement yesterday, contradicting its December 3 filing that said no deal had been sealed, Bloomberg News reported. The Korea Exchange said it will decide by December 28 whether to suspend trading of Hanaro shares for a day for "unfaithful disclosure." Seoul-based Hanaro would give SK Telecom access to a quarter of online users in a market where nine out of 10 homes have high-speed Internet connections. The purchase, subject to regulatory approval, would also enable SK Telecom to expand into markets such as online television broadcasts and offer products that combine fixed-line and wireless services. "It's

SHENZHEN Development Bank will sell shares to Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp to raise 4.22 billion yuan (US$571 million). Baosteel, China's biggest steel maker, will buy 120 million shares at 35.15 yuan each and agreed not to sell the shares for 36 months after the placement, the Shenzhen-based bank said today in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Baosteel will hold a 5.4 percent stake in the bank after the placement. The money will be used to boost the lender's capital, which sat at 4.27 percent at the end of September. It is the only listed bank whose capital adequacy ratio falls below the regulator's threshold. The issue prevented the bank from boosting loan growth and expanding its network. ``The move will act as a shot in the arm to the lender as capital fallout has been an obstacle that has slowed its growth,'' said Qiu Zhicheng, a Haitong Securities Co analyst. Haitong increased its rating on the bank from "hold'' to "add.'' China Securities Co

CHINA Investment Corp, the nation's US$200-billion sovereign wealth fund, signaled it may invest in stocks rocked by subprime mortgage defaults. "CIC wants to be a stabilizing force in the international capital markets," Chairman Lou Jiwei told a conference in Beijing yesterday. He then cited a "recent example" in which a similar fund invested in a financial institution with subprime losses, without elaborating. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority this week agreed to buy a US$7.5-billion stake in Citigroup Inc, helping the biggest United States bank by assets to bolster capital eroded by credit-market losses. China Investment, which began operations in September, was set up to help improve returns on China's US$1.4 trillion of reserves and to oversee bailouts of the nation's own lenders, Bloomberg News said. "The steady stream of funds' buying of distressed assets tells us there is a buyer of last resort out there," said Robert Rennie, chief currency

TPG Capital agreed to pay $1.3 billion to acquire Axcan Pharma, a Canadian drug developer focused on gastrointestinal ailments.