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

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Magic Software Enterprises Ltd., the Or Yehuda, Israel, provider of business-integration and application-development technology, sold its Advanced Answers on Demand subsidiary to Fortissimo Capital for $17 million. Fortissimo is the Rosh ha'Ayin, Israel, investment firm. Magic expects to post a more than $9 million gain on the sale of AAOD, which develops software for application in long-term health care, including retirement facilities as well as home-health and rehabilitation agencies. As part of the deal, Magic has licensed to AAOD the right to continue to sell its product portfolio for three years.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Merrill Lynch on Monday completed a previously announced deal with Aegon , where it's selling its life insurance unit for $1.25 billion in cash. Aegon's Transamerica companies will continue to supply insurance and investment products, including offering the flagship Merrill Lynch Investor Choice Annuity product through the acquired Merrill Lynch subsidiaries. Merrill Lynch expects to record a gain on sale during the fourth quarter of 2007 and anticipates the transaction to be slightly accretive to earnings per share and to have a positive effect on return on equity in 2008 after redeployment of proceeds. Aegon expects the acquisition to add scale to its existing business and to have a marginally positive effect on earnings per share.

UBS has suffered a serious blow to its hopes of expanding in India after the country’s central bank blocked its $120 million ($£60 million) purchase of the local mutual funds unit of Standard Chartered.

ACA Capital Holdings has reached an agreement with its counterparties that prevents the ailing bond insurer from having to post collateral as a result of a unit's credit rating being cut to junk status last week by Standard & Poor's.

Solar Power Inc. on Wednesday announced that GE Money, a unit of General Electric Co., will provide financing services at the Roseville firm's "Yes! Solar Solutions" stores, the nation's first retail franchise stores focused on solar power.

SHANGHAI Automotive Industry Corp, China's biggest car maker, yesterday signed an agreement for full cooperation with Yuejin Motor Group, finalizing a planned merger with its smaller home rival Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp. The long-awaited deal, announced in Beijing, will allow SAIC to be the driving force in China's automotive industry and a world-class car company with a bigger influence in competition with international rivals. Under the agreement, Yuejin, the controlling shareholder of Nanjing Auto, will merge its automotive business with SAIC through an assets swap. Nanjing Auto's core spare parts assets and vehicle-making assets, including stakes in its subsidiary Nanjing MG Motor and ventures with Iveco Motors and Fiat Auto, will be injected into SAIC's listed arm, SAIC Motor Co Ltd. Yuejin and SAIC also set up a separate unit, the Dong Hua Company, to contain Yuejin's remaining component parts, services and trade assets with 75 percent of the stake owned by SAIC, the

SHANGHAI Automotive Industry Corp (Group) today signed a deal to buy Nanjing Automobile Group Corp's auto-assembly and component-making businesses and become China's biggest auto maker. SAIC Motor Corp, the listed unit of Shanghai Auto, gave 320 million shares of SAIC Motor and 2.1 billion yuan (US$286 million) to buy the assets, the two companies said in a signing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The 320 million shares account for 4.88 percent of SAIC's total shares. The duo also agreed to set up a joint venture to oversee other businesses of Nanjing Auto, including services, trade and assets, the two companies said in a statement. Nanjing Auto will own 25 percent of the joint venture Dong Hua Co, according to the statement. "Both sides will complement each other as well as share their resources in terms of funding, research and development, marketing, manufacturing and procurement,'' the statement said. The deal will boost the combined sales of

LINDE Group said it has secured a long-term supply contract with a leading Chinese polyurethane company involving a total investment of about US$125 million, the German gases and engineering firm's single largest investment in China. Linde Gas Ningbo, its wholly-owned unit, will supply oxygen and nitrogen to Ningbo Wanhua Polyurethane Co's plants in eastern China from 2010 onwards, according to a statement. The world's largest maker of industrial gases will build two sets of air separation units, each with the capacity to produce 1,300 tons of oxygen per day, and a 30-kilometer long pipeline infrastructure, to supply Ningbo Wanhua and Ningbo Steel. The facilities will also produce 800 tons per day of liquid nitrogen, oxygen and argon, for the merchant market in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, in addition to rare gases like krypton and xenon. "Linde's investment in this project signals our long-term commitment in China, underpinned by our expertise in the entire coal

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

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.

Wall Street advanced sharply Monday, boosted by news that Merrill Lynch & Co. will receive an investment of up to $6.2 billion from two investment groups. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 100 points. Trading volume was light in Monday's abbreviated session -- a typical occurrence a day ahead of Christmas. Still, with only five trading days remaining in 2007, investors were perhaps looking for any opportunity to tidy up their positions after a year that brought the return of volatility after several years of unusual calm. Merrill Lynch provided the only significant news of the day. The investment firm said it was receiving a widely expected cash infusion from Singapore's government-controlled investment fund, Temasek Holdings, and U.S.-based Davis Selected Advisers. The proceeds were expected to cushion Merrill's mortgage-related writedowns for the fourth quarter. The nation's largest brokerage also said it would sell most of its commercial finance unit to GE Capital. Terms of the deal weren't made public.

WALL Street advanced yesterday, boosted by news that Merrill Lynch & Co will receive an investment of up to US$6.2 billion from two investment groups. Trading volume was light in yesterday's abbreviated session -- a pro forma occurrence a day ahead of Christmas when most stock markets around the world are closed. Still, with only five trading days remaining in 2007, investors will perhaps be looking for any opportunity to tidy up their positions after a year that that brought the return of volatility after several years of unusual calm. Merrill Lynch provided the only significant news of the day. The investment firm said it was receiving a widely expected cash infusion from Singapore's government-controlled investment fund, Temasek Holdings, and US-based Davis Selected Advisers. The proceeds were expected to cushion Merrill's mortgage-related writedowns for the fourth quarter. Merrill also said it would sell most of its commercial finance unit to GE Capital. Terms of the deal

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.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rallied on Monday, led by financial companies, after Merrill Lynch (MER.N) took steps to shore up its balance sheet with plans to raise up to $6.2 billion and sell a lending unit.

Wall Street stocks were set for a flat start ahead of an abbreviated Christmas Eve trading session with Merrill Lynch's sale of a lending unit the pick of corporate deal news

FT.com - Wall Street stocks were set for a flat start on Monday ahead of an abbreviated Christmas Eve trading session with Merrill Lynch's sale of a lending unit the pick of corporate deal news.

Reuters - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc , buffeted by huge write-downs of mortgage-related securities, said on Monday it would sell most of its middle-market lending business to General Electric Co's commercial finance arm in a deal to free up capital.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc , buffeted by huge write-downs of mortgage-related securities, said on Monday it would sell most of its middle-market lending business to General Electric Co's commercial finance arm in a deal to free up capital.

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

NORDIC stock exchange operator OMX AB, subject of a takeover deal by Nasdaq Stock Market Inc and Borse Dubai, said yesterday it was buying parts of Norwegian power derivatives exchange Nord Pool ASA for about 2.3 billion kroner (US$412 million). Under the deal, OMX will buy Nord Pool's clearing and consulting operations as well as its international derivatives products. It will also establish a business unit for international energy derivatives. The deal "creates a foundation for a geographical expansion within Nord Pool's core area of power, and for enhancing the existing offering, with a clear ambition to build a leading European market for CO2 products," OMX said. OMX Chief Executive Magnus Bocker said the combination would be well-positioned "to benefit from the development of a global market for carbon dioxide emissions allowances in the wake of the Kyoto protocol." He added there were also many opportunities to expand the existing business to