Business news for Thu, 27 Dec 2007 & with words buyout+deal. 2 news.

STMICROELECTRONICS NV and Intel Corp delayed a merger of unprofitable memory units and said banks will commit less start-up financing to the venture than previously announced as credit conditions tighten. The transaction, which also includes an investment from buyout fund Francisco Partners LP, now probably will be completed by March 28, Geneva-based STMicroelectronics said in a statement yesterday, according to Bloomberg News. The original deadline had been year-end. Credit markets have deteriorated since STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest maker of semiconductors, and Intel, the world's biggest, started planning the combination. The merger would create the biggest maker of flash memory chips that store software in mobile devices, helping the company combat a slump in prices and take sales from rivals. "The three parties continue to work to satisfy the conditions to closing for the transaction," the statement said. The companies have bank commitments for financing

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Family-controlled Freedom Communications Inc., which owns the Orange County Register newspaper, has postponed a plan to buy out two minority partners, Blackstone Group LP and Providence Equity Partners, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation. Freedom was planning to spend more than $500 million to buy back the roughly 45% stake held by Blackstone and Providence, according to people familiar with the situation. But negotiations with General Electric's GE Capital and others to finance the deal were suspended amid the credit-market turmoil, the report said.