Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007 & with words agreed+deal. 4 news.

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

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

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.