Vedanta Resources’ Indian oil interest is hard to fathom. No doubt Cairn Energy will have plenty of ideas for any cash it may raise by selling a stake in the UK oil explorer’s Indian subsidiary. But it’s harder to see what Anil Agarwal’s mining group has to gain from dipping its toe into the oil business.

Vedanta’s interest is in Cairn India, which pumps oil in the Rajasthan desert and has had a separate listing since January 2007. A full takeover would be a stretch. Cairn Energy’s 62 percent stake is worth $8.5 billion at current market prices. Add in a control premium, and a possible offer to minority shareholders, and a deal could easily cost twice that amount.

Spain, Portugal and Greece could all do with a good World Cup run. Economists reckon that the further a team progresses in the tournament, the greater the boost to its national economy. For all the hype, however, any benefit outside host South Africa will be short-lived. Some of the golden ball’s shine may rub off on the victors. But, with 32 teams competing, there will be many more losers.

ING economist Charles Kalshoven says that the further the Dutch team advances, the better it will be for the Netherlands economy, because retailers and restaurants will earn a better return on investments they have made to capture the benefits of the tournament. Improved consumer confidence will also lead to higher spending.

There’s no sign of chemistry between Reliance Industries and LyondellBasell. The Indian oil and petrochemicals group has already increased its offer for the bankrupt U.S. chemicals group. It could afford to go higher.
Some creditors would be tempted by a $15.5 billion offer. But there’s no certainty despite the high price. Reliance, which is known for not over-paying, should take its experiment elsewhere.

At the current offer price of $14.5 billion, Reliance — controlled by Mukesh Ambani — is already valuing Lyondell at a hefty 10 times 2010 forecast EBITDA. Dow Chemical, one of few reasonable benchmarks, trades on a multiple of just over eight times. Admittedly Lyondell’s earnings are at the bottom of the cycle, but a multiple of between 5.5 and six times would be more normal.

Dutch brewer Heineken has managed a delicate balancing act in clinching the auction for the beer business of Mexico’s FEMSA. Despite outbidding SABMiller, the deal is in line with prices paid for growing Latin American markets. Meanwhile, Heineken’s all-share offer keeps debt under control while leaving its founding family in charge.

Heineken wanted the additional emerging market exposure offered by FEMSA. But because it’s still paying down debt from previous deals, it wasn’t in a position to offer cash. Investors feared Heineken would turn to them for fresh capital. But the FEMSA deal side-steps the issue.

Ask an investment banker about mergers and acquisitions in 2010, and the optimism is infectious. Except that it seems that few corporate bosses have caught the fever.

The bankers think they could do with a break. Global M&A hit a five-year low of $1.97 trillion in 2009 — 53 percent below the 2007 high. But now that financing is not as squeezed, confidence is supposedly returning and business conditions are apparently improving.