Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word cash. 30 news.

Following up on its vow to raise money by selling its drugs to other companies, PDL BioPharma of Redwood City announced today that a Japanese company has agreed to buy a PDL drug used in bone marrow transplants for $200 million in cash.

ACE Ltd has agreed to buy Combined Insurance Co of America from Aon Corp, the world's second-largest insurance broker, for US$2.4 billion in cash. The purchase of the Illinois-based accident, health, and life insurance unit, which has four million policy holders and almost 7,000 sales agents, will probably close by the end of the second quarter, Ace said yesterday. Aon is also selling Washington-based health-care insurer Sterling Life Insurance Co to Munich Re, the world's second-biggest reinsurer, for US$352 million. "The acquisition of Combined is a significant milestone for Ace and represents both an opportunity for considerable growth and expense-related efficiencies," Ace Chief Executive Officer Evan G. Greenberg said. Ace, the Bermuda-based business insurer, said in October it may make an acquisition to expand its life insurance business, according to Bloomberg News. Greenberg said the company was also planning to expand small-business coverage in Asia and

BRITISH insurance company Norwich Union was fined 1.26 million pounds (US$2.54 million) yesterday for a data-protection failure that allowed criminals to cash dozens of policies held by customers. Fraudsters gained access to the company's databases and cashed 74 policies worth 3.3 million pounds, the Financial Services Authority said. "Norwich Union Life let down its customers by not taking reasonable steps to keep their personal and financial information safe and secure," said Margaret Cole, the enforcement director of the Financial Services Authority. Norwich Union, a unit of Aviva PLC, said all of the canceled policies had been fully reinstated, and 11 people had been arrested on suspicion of carrying out the fraud. Anti-fraud measures have been updated following an independent review of the company's operations, it said. "Whilst the number of customers affected is very small, any breach in customer confidentiality is clearly unacceptable," said Mark

CHINA Eastern Airlines Corp, the nation's third-largest carrier, said it is in talks to buy 40 Boeing Co 737 planes and has applied to the government for 40 Airbus SAS A320s to expand its fleet. The planned purchases may help expand the Shanghai-based carrier's fleet by 53 percent to 322 aircraft in 2010 from the current 210, Zhang Jing, a China Eastern spokeswoman, said yesterday, confirming a Reuters report. Singapore Airlines Ltd and parent Temasek Holdings Pte plan to buy a 24-percent stake in China Eastern for HK$7.16 billion (US$918 million), cutting the carrier's debt and easing its "most difficult" period, Chairman Li Fenghua said last week. The cash infusion may help the company pay for the planes to compete with Air China Ltd, according to Bloomberg News. "Carriers are queuing up to buy planes as demand grows," said Ma Ying, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co in Shanghai. "China Eastern's stake sale will enable it to afford the

CENTRO Properties Group, the owner of 700 shopping malls in the United States, slumped 76 percent in Sydney trading and said it was struggling to refinance debt because of the collapse in the US subprime housing market. Melbourne-based Centro suspended dividends and said in a statement that it may have to sell assets, after lenders gave it until February 15 to renegotiate maturing debt. Traditional sources of funding are "shut for business," Chairman Brian Healey said. The share slump wiped A$4.98 billion (US$4.3 billion) from the market value of Centro and Centro Retail Group, the listed real estate investment trust it manages. A sale of assets threatens to undo Chief Executive Officer Andrew Scott's US$9 billion expansion into the US. "Centro are no longer in charge of their own destiny," said Callum Bramah, a Sydney-based analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd, in a report. "We believe Centro will be required to sell assets at a loss simply to use the cash

INGERSOLL-RAND Co, the maker of Thermo King refrigerated trucks, has agreed to buy Trane Inc for US$10.1 billion in cash and stock to gain cooling systems for transportation and buildings. Ingersoll-Rand will pay US$36.50 in cash and 0.23 of a share for Trane, the Bermuda-based company said, according to Bloomberg News. That values the New Jersey-based air-conditioner maker's shares at US$47.81 based on Friday's closing price. Ingersoll-Rand will take on US$150 million of debt. Chief Executive Officer Herbert Henkel said the purchase of the air-conditioner maker will create a company with US$17 billion of sales, more than half coming from the heating and cooling business. Ingersoll-Rand this month completed the sale of its Bobcat construction-machinery unit, shifting its focus to refrigeration systems amid rising trade in frozen foods. "The market for transporting food is very strong," Sanjay Jha, a London-based analyst at Pali International, said in an interview.

(Crain's) -- The Hyde Park Co-Op board is expected to endorse a proposal Monday night that will close the historic grocery store at the end of January. The board's decision comes on the heels of a membership-wide vote in which 61% of votes cast endorsed an option to accept a cash infusion from ...

Chinese companies are increasingly using the country's influence and cash reserves to win lucrative supply contracts, often edging out local and western competitors

That's Microsoft Lda , we hasten to add Portuguese outfit Microsoft Lda aims to cash in on its name by eBaying the brand and business for a starting price of $1m, Reuters reports.…

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- National Oilwell Varco Inc. said Monday it would buy Grant Prideco Inc. for about $7.5 billion in cash and stock, marking the second major tie-up seen in the oil-services sector in the past few months.

(Reuters) - Research firm Morningstar Inc. said it agreed to buy Hemscott data, media and investor relations Web site businesses from Ipreo Holdings LLC for $51.6 million in cash, to strengthen global equity base and expand into international markets. The companies expect to complete the ...

A budding industry of mom-and-pop players has jumped into the mortgage crisis to try to buy or broker multimillion-dollar packages of foreclosures and loans.

Reuters - Diversified manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd said on Monday it would buy Trane Inc , a maker of heating and air conditioning systems, for about $9.56 billion in cash and stock.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Diversified manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd said on Monday it would buy Trane Inc , a maker of heating and air conditioning systems, for about $9.56 billion in cash and stock.

National Oilwell Varco, a maker of oil and gas drilling equipment, said Monday it will acquire Grant Prideco for about $7.4 billion in cash and stock, creating a new company with an estimated market value of $32 billion. The deal, the second major merger to be announced Monday, may herald a long-awaited return of deal making. [...]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- National Oilwell Varco on Thursday said it would buy Grant Prideco for about $7.5 billion in cash and stock. National Oilwell, a leading oil drilling firm, will pay $23.50 in cash and 0.4498 a share of its stock for each share of Grant Prideco. The deal values Grant Prideco at a premium of 22% to Friday's closing price.

A second network is returning money to advertisers in the face of hefty ratings declines this season. The CW was forced to put the process in motion as ratings sputtered deep into the fall, preventing the network from making good on unfulfilled guarantees going back to last season.

Now comes the hard part for Sam Zell, Chicago's newest media baron. When he takes Tribune Co. private this week in an $8.2-billion deal, the new chairman will first have to navigate a mountain of high-interest debt that rivals or exceeds the amount of cash the Chicago-based media company can ...