Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word environment. 6 news.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- DryShips Inc. on Monday said it would pay $405 million for a 30.4% stake in Ocean Rig ASA, which is traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Ocean Rig owns and operates two ultra deepwater, modern, high specification, fifth generation, harsh environment semi submersible drilling rigs, built to operate in water depth capacity of between 7,500 to 10,000 feet. Both rigs are presently on charter to ExxonMobil and Shell .

After notching a record $2.7 trillion of mergers and acquisitions worldwide in the first half of 2007, cooler heads — or at sentiments — are now prevailing. Nine percent of dealmakers are calling the M&A environment “excellent,” versus 49 percent in midyear, according to research from the Association for Corporate Growth and Thomson Financial. The groups’ biannual [...]

THE structures of the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, the co-operatives national umbrella body, have been changed to meet challenges posed by a changed business environment.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Compton Petroleum said it's "puzzled" by a request from a shareholder representing 19.8% of its capital -- Centennial Energy Partners, according to an SEC filing -- to consider strategic alternatives. "The current business environment for Compton and the Canadian natural gas industry at large is challenging to say the least. Our current share price reflects the depressed state of the natural gas industry, particularly in Alberta, resulting from (a) low natural gas prices, (b) the rapid appreciation of the Canadian dollar, (c) the high cost structure of the basin, and (d) regulatory issues including uncertainties relating to the proposed new Crown royalty structure in Alberta," it said. The company said it is bullish on the outlook for natural gas and is confident that its longer-term strategy is sound and achievable.

Business student Owen Ward has launched an online shopping mall that contributes a portion of every sale to environmental causes.

David Raterman thought South Florida's outdoors were hot - but not in a climate change way. The avid outdoorsman knew locals spent time exploring the region's environment and sporting activities, but he also realized the market had no publication dedicated to its various adventure sports.