Business news with words deal+purchase+stake. 25 news.

Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. will pay $684 million for a 35 percent stake in Delta Petroleum Corp. in a deal that will help Delta speed drilling activities in the Rocky Mountains. Denver-based Delta said the agreement will also provide funding for possible acquisitions.

CHINA Merchants Securities increased its stake in Bosera Asset Management to 73 percent in a 6.32-billion-yuan (US$854 million) deal, Bosera said in a statement late on Wednesday. China Merchants paid 130 yuan per share to buy an additional 48 percent of Bosera from Kinghing Trust & Investment Co Ltd. With the deal, China Merchants also set a record for the biggest purchase of a stake in the fund industry. The previous record was set in October by Shanxi Haixin Group when it paid 1.18 billion yuan, or 56.20 yuan per share, to buy a 21-percent stake in Yinhua Fund Management Co Ltd. Kinghing Trust & Investment Co Ltd was shut down in 2006 for violating rules and bad management. The securities regulator announced it would auction Kinghing's shares in Bosera on November 19. "The move shows the ambition of China Merchants to expand and its confidence on the prospect of China's fund industry," said Zhang Qi, an analyst with Haitong Securities Co. "The share price for

CHINA Investment Corp said on Saturday the reference price for its stake in US-based Morgan Stanley was fixed between US$48.07 and US$57.68 per share. The state-owned forex investment firm reached an agreement with Morgan Stanley on Wednesday to invest US$5 billion into the second largest investment bank in the US. The injection was used to purchase equity units that are mandatorily convertible into Morgan Stanley common shares. The two sides agreed CIC would be able to convert the equity units into Morgan Stanley common shares at a price no more than 1.2 times the reference price when the conversion was due. CIC said the share of common stock underlying the convertible securities would not be issued until the exercise of the stock purchase contracts on August 17, 2010. The equity units carried a fixed annual interest rate of nine percent before conversion. Shares held by CIC were agreed to reach no more than 9.9 percent of outstanding shares. Wednesday's agreement came as

BSkyB may have lost the battle yesterday, having been told it will have to pare back its shareholding in ITV, but it has almost certainly won the wider war. When James Murdoch, now departed for bigger and better things, spent £940m last year on a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV, few believed his story that it was simply an investment stake. After all, Mr Murdoch had made the purchase shortly after it had emerged that Virgin Media was considering a bid for ITV, a competitive threat that Sky wasn't particularly keen on emerging, and its shareholding in effect scuppered a deal.

Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber dismissed fears that the German airline's plan to purchase a 19 per cent stake in JetBlue Airways could disrupt relations with its existing North American partners in the Star alliance

LAFARGE SA has agreed to buy the cement unit of Orascom Construction Industries for 8.8 billion euros (US$12.9 billion), becoming the biggest producer in Egypt, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates. Lafarge, the world's largest cement company, will sell Orascom Chief Executive Officer Nassef Sawiris an 11.4-percent stake as part of the deal, the Paris-based company said, Bloomberg News reported. Lafarge will also borrow six billion euros to finance the purchase. The acquisition of Orascom, the biggest publicly traded cement maker in the Middle East, will add 45 million tons of production in fast-growing emerging markets. Lafarge and Switzerland's Holcim Ltd are investing overseas to tap growth in global construction and transport spending. Lafarge had its biggest gain in 15 years in Paris trading. "This is a beautiful acquisition from a strategic and industrial point of view," said Benoit de Broissia, who helps manage US$7.4 billion at Richelieu Finance in Paris.

AIR China Ltd doesn't plan to acquire China Eastern Airlines Corp and its recent stake increase was coincidental, company secretary Huang Bin said today. The remark came as Air China's parent recently increased its holding of China Eastern's H-shares, which triggered public speculation that the country's biggest airline hasn't given up its plan of trumping the deal between China Eastern and Singapore Airlines. China National Aviation Holding Co, the nation's flagship international carrier, increased its holding in China Eastern to 12.07 percent from 11.02 percent on November 29 with the purchase of 4.28 million shares at HK$7.585 each (97 US cents). Huang said a Hong Kong-based investment arm under the parent company independently decided to increase the stake. Singapore Airlines Ltd and its parent Temasek Holdings Pte signed an agreement to buy a 24-percent stake at HK$3.80 apiece in China Eastern Airlines Corp to add flights in the world's second-largest aviation market in

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

BERTELSMANN AG, Europe's biggest media company, is considering buying the 10.2 percent it doesn't already own in broadcaster RTL Group to take full control of its most profitable division. Bertelsmann may offer as much as 82 euros a share, the Guetersloh, Germany-based company said in a statement yesterday. That would be a 19 percent premium above Monday's closing price of 69.10 euros and would value the stake at about 1.29 billion euros (US$1.89 billion), according to data collected by Bloomberg News. A purchase of the remaining shares in RTL would give closely held Bertelsmann access to the growing cash flow at Luxembourg-based RTL. The broadcaster, which operates 42 TV channels and 32 radio stations in 10 European countries, said in August that earnings before interest, taxes and amortization rose 7.7 percent in the first half. The deal "enables Bertelsmann to gain full control over RTL's cash pile and free cash flows," said Kristof Samoy, an analyst at KBC

STANDARD Bank Group Ltd, Africa's largest lender, won approval for the sale of a 20-percent stake to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd for 36.7 billion rand (US$5.4 billion), China's largest overseas purchase. More than 95 percent of Standard Bank's investors voted in favor of selling ICBC new shares at 104.58 rand apiece, Chairman Derek Cooper said after a shareholder meeting in Johannesburg yesterday. Investors also agreed to sell existing shares at 136 rand each, said Vincent Maleka, a lawyer who chaired the meeting. "It's a huge kicker for Standard Bank's international expansion strategy," said Neville Chester, who helps manage the equivalent of US$20 billion including Standard Bank shares at Coronation Fund Managers in Cape Town. "The success of the deal now depends on its implementation." ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, is paying an average 120.29 rand per share in cash, 14 percent more than Standard Bank's share price on

THE country's biggest listed electronics maker is to sell its loss-making computer business to an overseas investor. The Shenzhen-listed TCL Corp said yesterday it would dispose of its PC operations with the sale of an 82-percent stake in the unit. Shares of TCL stopped trading yesterday to await a further announcement. TCL's computer unit lost 67.8 million yuan (US$8.9 million) last year on sales of 2.14 billion yuan, the Huizhou-based company told the Shenzhen Stock Exchange earlier. The move follows Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC business and Acer's purchase of Gateway. TCL made a profit in the first half of the year, helped by cost cutting. Its net profit was 45.1 million yuan compared with a net loss of 746.4 million yuan a year earlier. After the sale of the PC unit, TCL will focus on the TV and telephone business. The company recently announced a deal to sell the BlackBerry phone in China next year.

In a deal announced Thursday, Ping An Insurance Group, the second-biggest insurer after China Life Insurance, became the top shareholder in Fortis. The purchase follows Ping An's recent $154 million purchase of 9 percent of Value Partners, a Hong Kong fund manager.

A falling dollar, a growing pile of oil revenue and an interest in not being overshadowed by Dubai spurred Abu Dhabi to purchase a big $7.5 billion stake in Citigroup.

UNITED Co Rusal, the aluminum maker controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, has agreed to buy a 25-percent stake in OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, Russia's largest miner, to reduce dependence on the aluminum market. Rusal will buy the stake, which has a market value of about US$13.8 billion, from Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Group, the Moscow-based company said. Onexim will get an 11-percent stake in Rusal, and the remainder will be paid in cash, the aluminum producer told Bloomberg News, without disclosing specific terms. The purchase will reduce Rusal's dependence on "individual commodity cycles" and give it more financial strength to expand globally, the company said. Deripaska, 39, Russia's sixth-richest man with a fortune Forbes estimated at US$13.3 billion, took over the country's No. 2 aluminum producer, OAO Sual Group, earlier this year and is seeking to enter the oil industry by acquiring OAO Russneft. "Norilsk is a cash cow," Vladimir Zhukov, a

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japan Tobacco Inc. and Nissin Food Products Co. said Thursday they will jointly purchase frozen food maker Katokichi Co. in a deal worth 109 billion yen ($1 billion), according to reports. Japan Tobacco, the nation's largest cigarette maker by revenue, will offer 710 yen a share to Katokichi shareholders, representing a 20% premium to Wednesday's closing price. Shareholders of Katokichi have between Nov. 28 and Dec. 26 to accept the offer. Once the transaction is complete, Japan Tobacco will transfer a 49% stake in Katokichi to Nissin Food, which is known for its instant noodles. The two companies will then inject their frozen foods business into Katokichi to create a food giant with annual sales of 260 billion yen, according to wire reports which cited a joint statement by the companies. Shares of Japan Tobacco fell 2.3% to 625,000 yen while Nissin Foods climbed 2.5% to 4,100 yen at midday in Tokyo Thursday.

Crédit Agricole, France’s second-largest bank, is shelling out €809m for 14.99% of Spain’s Bankinter. Critics allege the purchase, from canny investor Ram Bhavnani, is overpriced – it values Bankinter and its 347 branches at €5.4bn. But Bankinter is an innovator among Spanish retail banks, and its policy of publicising rivals’ offerings alongside its own has made its customers especially loyal. The deal brings Crédit Agricole’s stake to 20%, positioning it for a future takeover. Strategically, it’s a sound move.

CHINA'S Zijin Mining Group Co has agreed to buy a 20-percent stake in a gold-copper project from a Philippine mining company for US$70 million. Zijin will take the 20-percent interest in Far Southeast Gold Resources Inc from Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co, it said in a statement after the market closed on Thursday to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Shares in southeastern Fujian Province-based Zijin, China's leading gold miner, fell 3.05 percent to HK$12.72 (US$1.64) yesterday. But they had risen 0.6 percent on Thursday, bucking a general downturn in Hong Kong, as some may have learnt of the deal earlier. Zijin said the disclosure on the proposed purchase is made on voluntary basis. The Far Southeast project, in Benguet, the Philippines, has mineable ore reserves of 123 million tons, containing 0.8 percent copper and 1.51 grams of gold per ton, according to Lepanto, citing a 1995 feasibility study. Lepanto owns 60 percent of the project. The proposed acquisition is subject to

Doubts were growing today over the rationale behind HSBC's purchase of a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank after the lender's profit fell massively short of forecasts

Software giant Microsoft has seen off competition from bitter rival Google to purchase a 1.6% stake in popular social networking site Facebook, valuing it at £7.5bn

The Thai energy giant PTT is currently in advanced stages of negotiation for purchase of a 15-percent stake in the Egyptian-Israeli energy firm, EMG, for $350 million. PTT, which is considered a leader in the Thai energy sector, is worth an estimated $52 billion. The deal reflects a value of about $2.3 billion for EMG. ...