Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word deal. 56 news.

An investor committee working to fix this country's $33-billion market for non-bank asset-backed commercial paper is "virtually certain" that big Canadian banks will chip in their share of a $14-billion credit facility at the heart of a proposed restructuring deal, but has a backup plan - just in case.

AP - 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.

CANADA'S non-bank asset-backed commercial paper market will start trading for the first time in four months after a deal was struck between investors holding about C$33 billion (US$33.3 billion) of the short-term debt. The group, led by Toronto lawyer Purdy Crawford, agreed yesterday to swap the commercial paper for longer-term notes, ending a suspension in trading prompted by investor concern about ties to US subprime mortgages. "I am confident that this plan will provide most holders of outstanding commercial paper with the opportunity to receive the full repayment of principal by holding restructured notes to maturity," Crawford said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News yesterday. The Canadian market for asset-backed commercial paper sold by non-bank dealers ground to a halt in August after Coventree Inc and other trusts failed to renew maturing debt. Banks refused to provide backup financing, freezing the market and putting funds at risk of collapsing, even

INDIA, the world's second-biggest wheat consumer, scrapped a tender to buy 350,000 tons of the grain after balking at higher prices amid expectations domestic production will be the highest in seven years. "Prices are too high," India's Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai said in a phone interview with Bloomberg News in New Delhi yesterday. "We will take a decision on importing more wheat after the next wheat crop." The country should meet an output target of 75.5 million tons, the most since 2000, the farm ministry said on December 18. India, importing wheat for a second year to boost state reserves, may wait a few months before issuing a new tender as it expects prices to fall. Wheat rose above US$10 a bushel in Chicago for the first time on December 17 after concerns dry weather in Argentina, the world's fourth-biggest exporter, will shrink global supplies. "We may not import wheat as of now," Pillai said. Government-owned State Trading Corp on

Merrill Lynch & Co, the world's biggest brokerage, agreed to sell most of its commercial finance business to General Electric Co's finance arm for an undisclosed price to free up capital after subprime losses. The sale of Merrill Lynch Capital's corporate, equipment, energy and healthcare finance units is expected to be completed in the first-quarter, the companies said yesterday in a Business Wire statement. The deal will add more than US$10 billion in assets to GE Capital. The transaction is part of New York-based Merrill Lynch's "strategic focus on divesting non-core assets," and will release about US$1.3 billion of capital to be redeployed elsewhere, said Chief Executive Officer John Thain in the statement. Merrill, on October 24, announced US$8.4 billion of writedowns on mortgage-related investments and corporate loans. The firm, which ousted Stan O'Neal as CEO in October, may report an additional US$8.6-billion writedown for the fourth quarter, according to David

FRENCH cookware producer Groupe SEB has completed a partial tender offer for Zhejiang Supor Cookware Co, China's largest producer of kitchen appliances. The two companies will finish the settlement within this week, Supor said. Under the deal, SEB paid 2.3 billion yuan (US$312 million) to buy a maximum of 49.1 million shares at 47 yuan per share from the public to boost its stake in Supor from 30 percent to 52.74 percent. Seb's investment in Supor, worth a total of 327 million euros (US$469.8 million), will give it access to a sales network across China and localize its production to increase price competitiveness. SEB, which makes Tefal cookware, announced plans to buy 61 percent of Supor last year but the acquisition drew opposition from China's cookware industry amid worries of a monopoly being created. In April, the Ministry of Commerce gave a green light to SEB's plan after a public hearing for more open competition in China's non-strategic industry. Construction on

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.

THE management of a second batch of power generating assets owned by State Grid Corp of China has been transferred to electricity producers, paving way for an eventual sale and making the firm a pure distributor as part of an industry reform. As of Sunday, the power-producing companies are responsible for safety operations and management of eight power plants in which State Grid owned a combined equity generating capacity of 6.47 gigawatts. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission said yesterday this marks the completion of the "main work" in the asset disposal. Other areas still to be done include deal signing, transaction and registration. State Grid, China's dominant power distributor, retained certain generating assets in 2002 during the breakup of the former State Power Corp into five national power producers and two grid operators. It had completed the sale of combined 10.8GW in the first phase of the sale in May to 31 companies, raising 18.7 billion yuan

SICHUAN Changhong Electric Co, China's second-biggest TV maker, has grabbed the lion's share of government-financed home appliance sales in rural areas. China promised to give farmers subsidies, about 13 percent, for buying household electrical appliances, in a bid to stimulate sluggish rural consumption and reduce the rising trade surplus, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce said over the weekend. "We are a major player in the deal and we occupy at least 50 percent shares of the TV sales (in the subsided sales in the rural areas)," Chen Ning, Changhong's vice president, told Shanghai Daily yesterday. Changhong will provide TVs, which costs less than 1,500 yuan (US$202) each, and some mobile phones for the subsidized purchase program. The pilot program will be launched in Shandong, Henan and Sichuan, the three major agricultural provinces, according to Chen. Farmers in the provinces can buy color TV sets, refrigerators and mobile phones with

The Canadian dollar traded at a one-month high above $1.01 US on Monday following a deal to restructure billions of dollars in short-term debt.

For dealmakers, 2007 was a year of extremes. It started with the private equity boom in full swing, and closed with the credit markets in disarray and investment banks nursing billion-dollar write-downs. Along the way, a few DealBook items really got readers talking — or more specifically, sounding off in our comment section. As 2007 closes [...]

French luxury goods company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton said Monday it had concluded a deal with Britain-based media group Pearson to buy France’s leading financial newspaper Les Echos. In a statement, LVMH also said it has signed a deal for the sale of France’s other chief financial daily, La Tribune, to businessman Alain Weill. The financial [...]

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.

An agreement was reached on the sale of Cheyne Finance SIV, a structured investment vehicle now known as SIV Portfolio, to Goldman Sachs

CGEN's larger competitor Focus Media announced it was buying CGEN in a deal that could ultimately wind up being worth $350 million.

The controlling shareholder of office furniture maker Teknion Corp. is offering to buy all of the company in a friendly deal worth $76.8 million.

United Rentals Inc. said Monday it will seek $100 million after a Delaware court ruled that private equity company Cerberus was not obligated to complete a $4 billion buyout of the equipment-rental company that it abandoned last month.

European markets ended slightly higher the day before Christmas, as miners and deal speculation buoyed shares.

Cerberus Capital Management L.P. agreed Monday to pay United Rentals Inc. a $100 million breakup fee for dropping its $4 billion purchase of the equipment-rental company.