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

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Commerce Bancorp Inc. completed the sale of its insurance brokerage business, Commerce Insurance Services, to a group led by Commerce Insurance Services' Chairman George E. Norcross and President Michael Tiagwad, Commerce Bancorp said Monday. The sale includes the commercial property and casualty, employee benefits, and various specialty insurance lines of Commerce Insurance Services. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Consolidated Mercantile Inc. has completed the sale of Polyair Inter Pack Inc. to Glencoe Skydome Holdings, an affiliate of Glencoe Capital, in a private deal for $6.2 million. The sale has been under consideration as a part of the company's continuing evaluation of potential strategies to maximize shareholder value, according to Consolidated Mercantile.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Midwest Air Group Inc.'s Midwest Airlines said Thursday it extended a codeshare pact with Northwest Airlines Corp. to include Northwest's nonstop routes from Indianapolis to seven cities. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Midwest, a Milwaukee-based airline holding company, said the new agreement will add 250 city pairs and 1,000 new flight options. Customers can engage in single ticket transactions using both airlines under the deal, and choose to earn mileage on on either company's frequent flyer program. The first phase of the agreement began Nov. 17, the company said.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Two of the biggest rivals in the market for digital downloads of music and videos went at each other Thursday as Amazon.com Inc. added to to its online music arsenal and reports surfaced about a new video-renting deal involving Apple Inc.

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.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - A rally on Wall Street and a multibillion deal involving Russia's OAO Vimpel Communications fueled Friday's gains in a broad reading of U.S.-listed shares of overseas companies.

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."

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Dell Inc. said Friday that it struck a deal to sell computers at U.K. retailer Tesco. The agreement calls for Tesco to carry Dell's XPS and Inspiron desktop and notebook computers at about 500 stores in the U.K., Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Separately, Dell said it acquired Networked Storage, a small U.K.-based data-storage consulting company.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday morning that it has closed its investigation into Google's proposed buyout of DoubleClick and will not seek to bock the deal.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday morning that it has closed its investigation into Google's proposed buyout of DoubleClick. In a statement, the agency said it will not seek to block the $3.1 billion acquisition after concluding - in a 4-1 vote - that the deal "is unlikely to substantially lessen competition." Noting that the deal has raised concerns about consumer privacy, the FTC "observed that such issues are not unique to Google and DoubleClick, and extend to the entire online advertising marketplace," the statement read.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Microsoft Corp. and Viacom Inc. announced a far-reaching deal Wednesday morning to collaborate in the areas of TV shows, movies, video games and advertising.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. , will collaborate with MTU Aero Engines on its next-generation product family including the new Geared Turbofan engine, Pratt & Whitney said Friday. The deal, which is subject to the launch of the aircraft programs, gives MTU Aero Engines about a 15% stake in key future engine programs with Pratt & Whitney and Pratt & Whitney Canada.

RUPERT Murdoch may take until the end of 2010 to show he was right to pay US$5.2 billion for Dow Jones & Co., whose shareholders probably were to approve the takeover yesterday. By that time, Murdoch's News Corp should be able to double Dow Jones's pretax cash flow to US$600 million, giving it a 12-percent return on the purchase, said Larry Haverty, a fund manager at New York's Gamco Investors Inc, Bloomberg News reported. Dow Jones may start adding to News Corp's profit in 2009 following investments next year, said Laura Martin, an analyst at Soleil Securities in San Marino, California. "It's not a quick strategy," said Haverty, who helps manage Gamco's US$30 billion in assets, including US$308.1 million of News Corp shares as of September 30. "Where he's going, we're very comfortable with it. It's just going to take three years." More than 50 percent of shareholders approved the deal ahead of the meeting, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The

If the $310 million deal for ExcelStor goes through, Great Wall Technology, the parent company, will become the San Diego-based computer storage distributor's largest shareholder.

Striking building inspectors in San Jose are going back to work. After walking off the job nearly two weeks ago, the 90 members of the Association of Building, Mechanical and Electrical Inspectors and city officials struck a deal involving disciplinary...

The Cubs signed Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to a four-year deal late Tuesday, outbidding San Diego and the White Sox to gain the services of their primary off-season target.

A Bay Area business group hopes to jump-start immigration overhaul by persuading House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and San Jose Rep. Zoe Lofgren to craft a deal: Let industry hire more guest workers from abroad, and in return industry will back measures like...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Cognos Inc. said late Tuesday the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have granted early termination of the mandatory waiting period for the purchase of the company by IBM . Under the agreement announced last month, IBM will pay $58 for each Cognos share.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Auto parts and building products manufacturer Quanex Corp. reported late Tuesday fiscal fourth-quarter operating income of $62.9 million, or $1.05 a share, up from $59.3 million, or $1.03 a share, a year ago. Revenue for the three months ended Oct. 31 rose nearly 6% to $557.9 million from $527.7 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted Quanex would earn 97 cents a share on $548 million in revenue. Quanex warned it expects building products sales to drop 5% in 2008 due to the tough home building market. The company announced last month it plans to spin off its building products unit to shareholders and sell its auto parts business to Gerdau S.A. in a deal worth $1.7 billion. Shares of the Houston-based company rose 18 cents ahead of the report to close at $49.34.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Clear Channel Communications Inc. doesn't expect the buyout of the company by an affiliate of a private equity group, led by Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, to close by the end of the year. Clear Channel said it intends to extend the termination date of the agreement to June 12. The San Antonio media company is "actively" pursuing the satisfaction of the conditions to closing the deal. The remaining material conditions to be satisfied are obtaining requisite Federal Communications Commission consent and the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart Scott Rodino Act. Clear Channel said it is "confident" the conditions will be met. The company expects the deal to close during the first quarter of 2008. Clear Channel also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 19 cents a share on its common stock, payable Jan. 15 to shareholders of record Dec. 31.