Business news with words close+deal. 60 or more news.

Merrill Lynch's sale of two life-insurance units to Dutch insurance and investment-products provider Aegon has closed, with the $1.25 billion pricetag being $50 million less than the two parties agreed to in August.

Finish Line shares tumbled 25 percent to a down-at-the-heels $2.30 close, after a Tennessee judge ruled that the retailer must complete its $1.5 billion deal to buy Genesco. Finish Line's bank, UBS, tried to back out of financing the purchase...

Coca-Cola Co. is close to making an investment in up-and-coming soft drink maker Honest Tea for an undisclosed amount, according to a published report.

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 tentatively cleared the last remaining regulatory hurdle to the largest casino buyout ever. Harrah's said Monday that the National Indian Gaming Commission has approved the company's $17.7 billion purchase by private equity buyers Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, pending final commission review. The conditional approval means Harrah's can go forward with the deal, which is expected to close in early 2008. Harrah's and the buyers received the go-ahead for the deal last week from the Nevada Gaming Commission, capping a 10-week campaign to obtain approvals from state gambling regulators in eight states, including Iowa and Missouri. Indian Gaming Commission approval is needed because Harrah's operates several tribal casinos as well. Harrah's used to manage a casino north of Topeka before the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe took over operations in July. Harrah's, which had nearly $10 billion in revenue last year, operates more than 50 casinos including Caesars Palace and the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas and Bally's in Atlantic City.

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- W&T Offshore Inc. agreed to acquire the interest it doesn't own in Ship Shoal 349 field, located offshore Louisiana and covering two federal lease blocks, for $116 million from Apache Corp. W&T and Apache, both Houston energy companies, expect to close the deal by April 30. W&T said in a Monday statement that it would finance the deal from cash on hand.

CHINA Oilfield Services Ltd, a unit of the nation's third-largest oil producer, won a contract to supply four drilling rigs to Libya for about US$100 million. China Oilfield will deliver two 7,000-meter and two 5,000-meter drilling rigs over three years starting in March, the Beijing-based company said on its Website today. The oil and gas services company, whose main customer is CNOOC Ltd, aims to expand both at home and abroad to benefit from increased exploration spending after oil prices surged. "This is the company's first overseas onshore drilling contract," Yuan Guangyu, vice chairman of China Oilfield, said. "We see Libya as the starting point to expand our broad range of oil field services to overseas markets such as the Middle East and north Africa." China Oilfield shares rose 6.7 percent to HK$17.92 at the Hong Kong stock exchange's close at 12:30pm.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Progress Energy said it's reached an agreement to sell Powell Mountain Coal Co., Dulcimer Land Co. and Kanawha River Terminals, a transaction that would mark the final deal in its program of divesting non-regulated assets. The deal with an investor group made up of Pegasus Capital Advisors, Kelso & Co., Resource Capital Funds and an affiliate of Traxys North America will bring in $94 million, Raleigh, N.C.-based Progress Energy said. The transactions are expected to close in January, with Progress Energy earmarking proceeds for general corporate purposes.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Harrah's Entertainment Inc. said Monday that the National Indian Gaming Commission has given it all necessary regulatory approvals to close the proposed acquisition of the company by affiliates of Apollo Global Manangement and TPG Capital. With no more regulatory clearances required, the deal is expected to close in early 2008.

Merrill Lynch is close to finalizing a $4.4 billion deal with Temasek that would give the Singapore fund just under a 10% stake in the Wall Street bank.

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.

Kazakhstan and a group of oil companies led by Eni of Italy came close to resolving a dispute over the Kashagan oilfield

The Carlyle Group closed its $4.9 billion acquisition of Manor Care, the nursing home operator, on Friday after a Michigan court lifted its temporary order against the deal. The current Manor Care management team will continue to operate the business, the company said. The buyout, originally expected to close last month and valued at $6.3 billion, including [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Embattled loan guarantor MBIA Inc. said Friday that it is confident that it will regain its stable rating outlook with Fitch Rating which Thursday put several of MBIA's ratings on Rating Watch Negative. The downgrade was prompted by the bond insurer's exposure to structured finance collateralized debt obligations partly backed by subprime mortgage collateral. The company also reiterated that a $1-billion investment from Warburg Pincus won't be adversely affected by Fitch's announcement and that the deal will close in a "timely manner."

Update: Bain and TPG announced they will acquire One Equity’s stake in Quintiles for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close next month, and the company will incur no new debt from the sale. Bain Capital and TPG Capital have agreed to buy Quintiles Transnational, one of the biggest managers of drug trials, for [...]

As Tribune Co. goes private in an $8.2 billion buyout backed by real-estate mogul Sam Zell, the Chicago media company's boss, Dennis FitzSimons, is heading for the exit with a nearly $40 million payday. The deal is expected to close today, barring...

General Motors Corporation and International Truck and Engine Corporation, the principal operating subsidiary of Navistar International Corporation , have entered into a non-binding deal in which Navistar would purchase certain assets and rights for GM's medium-duty truck business, the two companies said Thursday. Navistar would acquire GM's medium-duty truck business, including assets and intellectual property rights to manufacture some GMC and Chevrolet brand vehicles and the purchase of the related service parts business. The deal is expected to close in 2008 subject to completion of due diligence, the negotiation of a definitive purchase agreement, customary regulatory clearance and board approval, the companies said. Upon closing, transition of the business could take several months to conclude, they said.

Hitachi is close to selling minority stakes in its flat-panel-display unit to Matsushita and Canon for up to $2.65 billion.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of newspaper publisher and broadcaster Tribune Co. were down nearly 6% at $31.40 in Wednesday morning trading after a published report indicated that real estate mogul Sam Zell's $8.2 billion deal to take the company private could be in jeopardy. According to a story in the Chicago Tribune, certain bankers are hesitant to fund the last portion of the transaction on worries that weakening credit markets will prevent them from selling the remaining $4.2 billion in loans and bonds to debt investors. Tribune's weak revenue results over the last several months, indicative of the difficulty facing the entire newspaper industry, only makes the situation worse, the report said. The transaction had been expected to close on Thursday. A Tribune spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Late Tuesday, Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Paul Ginocchio downgraded Tribune stock to hold from buy, saying that the current stock price "leaves limited upside." He said in the "remote chance" that the deal does not close, the shares could plunge to around $15.