M&A Navigator: Deal pipeline – 7 July

Preston North End (LON:PNE), managing UK football club Preson North End FC, said that Deepdale received acceptance for 187,803 of the company shares by 6 July and owns now 81.15% in the company.

Status: Bidding

- US B2 HEALTH CLOSES BUY OF BFK

Denver-based B2 Health Inc (OTC:BTWO) said it had closed the purchase of Florida-headquartered BKF Franchise Company, or BFK, a developer of children educational programmes, in an all-stock deal.

Status: Closed

- AUSTRIAN UNIQA CONSIDERS DIVESTING ROMANIAN ASTRA STAKE

Austrian insurer Uniqa (WBAG:UQA) considers to sell its 27% stake in Romanian sector company Astra to major shareholder Dan Adamescu.

Status: Auction

- AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION BODY DELAYS RULING ON BHP-RIO JV

Australia's competition regulator (ACCC) said it would again extend the deadline for its decision on the proposed iron ore joint venture between Anglo-Australian miners BHP Billiton (LON:BLT; ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO; ASX:RIO), but has set no date.

Status: Delayed; Agreed

- PORTUGUESE CGD, BPN SHED STAKES IN UNICRE

Portuguese savings Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD) and sector player Banco Portugues de Negocios (BPN) said they have sold their stakes in local payment cards issuer Unicre.

Status: Closed

- STATOIL AGREES TO DISPOSE OF TAMPNET UNIT TO HITECVISION

Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil (OSL:STL) said it had agreed to sell its Tampnet unit, providing critical services to oil and gas companies, to private equity firm HitecVision.

Status: Agreed

- SPANISH CAJA DE CATALUNYA, TARRAGONA Y MANRESA COULD JOIN BUYOUT BID FOR ABERTIS

Spanish savings bank Caja de Catalunya, Tarragona y Manresa may take part in the takeover of infrastructure manager Abertis (MCE:ABE), led by Abertis' main holders.

Status: Bidding

- SURGUTNEFTEGAS TAKES 15% IN VIDEO INTERNATIONAL

Russian oil and gas company Surgutneftegas (MCX:SNGS) said it had taken 15% in TV advertising company Video International (VI), without disclosing the price or the name of the vendor.

Status: Closed

- MEXICAN CHEDRAUI TAKES OVER FIESTA FOODS IN LOS ANGELES

Mexican supermarket operator Chedraui (MXK:CHDRAUIB) said it has acquired Los Angeles-based store chain Fiesta Foods to boost its position in the Hispanic market in the US.

Status: Closed

- IRISH ESB IN GBP1.034BN DEAL TO BUY VIRIDIAN'S NIE

Irish power utility Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said it had agreed to buy the power transmission and distribution business Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) from Viridian Group, in a move to grow in Northern Ireland.

Status: Agreed

- US AVNET CLOSES BELL MICROPRODUCTS USD252M DEAL

US electronic components distributor Avnet (NYSE:AVT) said that it had finalised the acquisition of Bell Microproducts (NASDAQ:BELM), a supplier of storage and computing technology, for USD7 (EUR5.6) per share in cash, or a total of USD252m.

Status: Closed

- ST JUDE MEDICAL CLOSES TAKEOVER OF OCT SPECIALIST LIGHTLAB

US cardiovascular medical devices producer St Jude Medical Inc (NYSE:STJ) said it had closed the purchase of local LightLab Imaging Inc, a specialist in the field of optical coherence tomography (OCT), for USD90m (EUR71.4m) in cash.

Status: Closed

- SWEDISH HEXAGON TO BUY US INTERGRAPH IN USD2.1BN DEAL

Swedish technology group Hexagon (STO:HEXA B) unveiled a cash deal, worth USD2.125bn (EUR1.7bn), to buy US software developer Intergraph.

Status: Agreed

- US HOLOGIC STRIKES USD85M DEAL TO BUY CANADIAN SENTINELLE MEDICAL

US medical imaging equipment maker Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX) said it has agreed to buy Canadian sector player Sentinelle Medical for USD85m (EUR67.5m).

Status: Agreed

- ALCON SEALS USD361.5M DEAL TO BUY LENSX LASERS

Switzerland-based medical company Alcon (NYSE:ACL) said it has agreed to buy LenSx Lasers, an US laser eye-surgery company, for USD361.5m (EUR285.8m) in cash.

Status: Agreed

- CHINESE GEELY GETS EU NOD TO BUY VOLVO

The European Commission (EC) said it has approved the planned acquisition of Swedish Volvo Cars by Zhejiang Geely Holding, the parent of Chinese carmaker Geely (HKG:0175), and investment firm Daqing.

Status: Agreed

- CEDC CALLS OFF NEMIROFF ACQUISITION

US-based spirits producer and distributor Central European Distribution Corp (NASDAQ:CEDC) announced its decision to withdraw from the planned acquisition of Nemiroff Ukrainian Vodka Co.

Status: Terminated

- INGRAM MICRO WRAPS UP ASIASOFT HONG KONG ACQUISITION

US IT wholesaler Ingram Micro Inc (NYSE:IM) said it has completed the acquisition of value-added software distributor Asiasoft Hong Kong Limited.

Status: Closed

- SWISS FEDERAL RAILWAYS, DEUTSCHE BAHN PLAN CROSSBORDER JV

The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and its German peer Deutsche Bahn unveiled plans to establish a joint venture in a move to boost railway transportation between Switzerland and Germany.

Status: Talks

- EMC AGREES TO BUY CLOUD SPECIALIST GREENPLUM

US data-storage firm EMC (NYSE:EMC) announced an agreement to buy cloud computing firm Greenplum for an undisclosed sum in cash.

Status: Agreed

- MUTUA MADRILENA TO SELL 4% IN SPANISH BUILDER SYV

Spanish insurer Mutua Madrilena will sell 4% of its 5% interest in builder Sacyr Vallehermoso (MCE:SYV), or SyV.

Status: Auction

- US AVNET CLOSES TAKEOVER OF VALUE-ADDED DISTRIBUTOR TALLARD

US electronic components distributor Avnet (NYSE:AVT) said it had closed the takeover of Miami-based value-added distributor Tallard, part of Brazilian IT products specialist Itautec (SAO:ITEC3), without revealing the purchase price.

Status: Closed

- US EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ANNOUNCES TWO ACQUISITIONS

US Emergency Medical Services Corporation (NYSE:EMS) said it had closed the takeover of Arizona-based sector staffing company Affilion for an undisclosed sum.

Status: Closed

- BOOZ & CO ENDS MERGER TALKS WITH AT KEARNEY

US business consultancy Booz & Company and management consulting firm AT Kearney on Tuesday said they have terminated negotiations over a potential merger.

Status: Terminated

- US WORLDVEST IN LOI TO BUY CHILE INVERSIONES DE MINERALES

US WorldVest (OTC:WOVT), doing business as WorldVest Hurricane Resources, said it had entered into a letter of intent to take over Chile Inversiones de Minerales (CIM), a mineral investor and miner in Chile.

Status: Exclusivity

- US CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES HOLDS 52.1% IN SPIDER, EXTENDS OFFER

US miner Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) said it had secured 52.1% in Canadian mineral explorer Spider Resources (CVE:SPQ) under its cash CAD0.19 (USD0.2/EUR0.14) per-share offer and extended its acceptance period until 16 July.

Status: Bidding

- RUSSIAN TVEL TO SELL ITS 51% IN CHEMICAL AND METALLURGICAL PLANT ON 23 AUG FOR RUB475.6M

Russian nuclear fuel company TVEL said it will sell its 51% in the Chemical and Metallurgical Plant (RTB:HMTZP) at an auction on 23 August 2010 for a starting price of RUB475.619m (USD15.3m/EUR12.14m).

Status: Auction

- BOSCH ALLEGEDLY PLANS TO MAKE BID FOR CENTROSOLAR

German industrial group Robert Bosch is reportedly planning to make a takeover bid for solar energy systems maker Centrosolar (ETR:C3O), traders speculated pushing the company's shares up by over 12% to EUR4.99.

Status: Speculation

- PURESPECTRUM IN MERGER TALKS WITH ULTRA-TECH LIGHTING

US lighting technology maker PureSpectrum (OTCBB:PSRU) and New Jersey-based sector player Ultra-Tech Lighting announced on they were in talks over a potential combination of the two companies.

Status: Talks; Exclusivity

- ABERTIS BUYOUT TO REPORTEDLY COST EUR10BN

A possible takeover of Spanish infrastructure manager Abertis (MCE:ABE) by its core owners, Criteria CaixaCorp (MCE:CRI) and builder ACS (MCE:ACS), may need EUR10bn (USD12.6bn) in financing.

Status: Talks

- GERMANY TO START HYPO REAL PRIVATISATION IN 2013-14

Germany will kick off the privatisation of property lender Hypo Real Estate Bank (HRE) in 2013 or 2014.

Status: Auction

- RAIFFEISEN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT SAID INTERESTED IN SIEMENS' INNOVEST

Raiffeisen Capital Management (RCM) is said to be interested in the takeover of Innovest, the asset management subsidiary of Siemens Austria, part of German Siemens AG (ETR:SIE).

Status: Bidding

- PARTYGAMING SEEKS ACQUISITION DEALS - CEO

UK online gaming company PartyGaming (LON:PRTY) is looking for takeover opportunities as it wants to play an active role in the consolidation of the sector, chief executive Jim Ryan said.

Status: Talks; Bidding

- UNIT4 MANAGES TO WOO TETA SHAREHOLDERS WITH RAISED BID

Dutch software firm Unit4 (AMS:U4AGR) said over 90% of the shares in Polish sector firm Teta SA (WAR:TET) had been tendered under Unit4's sweetened takeover bid of PLN14 (USD4.26/EUR3.4) apiece.

Status: Bidding

- UK SPICE SAYS REVISED APPROACH BY CINVEN STILL TOO LOW

The board of UK utility services provider Spice (LON:SPI) said the new higher conditional proposal of between GBP0.62 (USD0.94/EUR0.75) and GBP0.65 per share received from investor Cinven still undervalues the company.

Status: Bidding

- PUBLICIS CEO SAYS SEEKS ACQUISITIONS IN DIGITAL AD SECTOR

French advertising group Publicis (EPA:PUB) is eyeing acquisitions in the digital advertising sector, the company's chief executive, Maurice Levy said.

Status: Bidding

- IT HOLDING EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR BIDS FOR FERRE UNTIL 2 AUG

The administrators of Italian luxury goods group IT Holding (BIT:ITH) said they have extended the deadline for collecting bids for IT Holding's fashion house Gianfranco Ferre until 2 August.

Status: Auction

- CARREFOUR SAID TO SELL ASIAN UNITS

French retailer Carrefour (EPA:CA) has put up for sale its units in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Status: Speculation; Auction

- TPG, GOLDMAN SACHS NEGOTIATE ONTEX BUYOUT

US private equity firm TPG and the private equity arm of investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) are in talks to acquire Belgium-based diaper maker Ontex from UK investment firm Candover (LON:CDI) for over EUR1.2bn (USD1.5bn).

Status: Talks

- RUSSIAN VTB IN TALKS TO BUY TRANSCREDITBANK

Russian lender VTB (MCX:VTBR) is negotiating to buy local competitor TransCreditBank (MCX:TCBN), the banking arm of state-run railway monopoly Russian Railways.

Status: Talks

- CAIXANOVA TO SHED HOLDING IN BANCO GALLEGO

Spain-based savings bank Caixanova will be forced to offload its 50% stake in local Banco Gallego following its merger with peer Caixa Galicia.

Status: Auction

- US ENDO PHARMA SECURES 93% IN HEALTHTRONICS

US Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENDP) said it had completed its takeover offer for local urology company HealthTronics Inc (NASDAQ:HTRN) securing 93.38% in the company's stock by the expiry of the initial deadline.

Status: Bidding

- UK NCC GROUP WANTS TO MAKE FURTHER BUYS IN THE US, UK

UK IT assurance services provider NCC Group (LON:NCC) is looking to make more buys in the US and the UK in the next 12 months.

Status: Bidding

- LA CAIXA, ACS LOOKING TO TAKE FULL CONTROL OF ABERTIS

Spanish bank La Caixa and builder ACS (MCE:ACS), holding together nearly 55% of infrastructure manager Abertis (MCE:ABE), are working on a deal to take the residual Abertis stock.

Status: Talks

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