Bank of America Corp is selling about half its stake of China Construction Bank to a group of investors for $8.3 billion in cash, the bank said.

Greece’s Alpha and EFG Eurobank sealed a mega merger, with the help of Qatar, that is expected to trigger more deals to shore up banks battered by a severe debt crisis and recession.

While some investors applaud HP CEO Leo Apotheker’s long-term plan to get out of the PC business,  the $11.7 billion bill for Autonomy and haphazard articulation of the spin-off strategy left many shaking their heads. Even more worrying, HP’s new strategic road map marks an about-face on several crucial fronts, signaling a lack of direction, writes Poornima Gupta.

Breakingviews columnist Robert Cyran, however, says the stock is now oversold.

Vitaliy N. Katsenelson, Chief Investment Officer at Investment Management Associates, has a hold recommendation on HP’s stock, but is seething mad in this post.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard slid on Friday, a day after the world’s biggest PC maker said it may spin off the business, signaling a massive overhaul in the wake of bleak tech spending across the board.

HP’s personal computer business may be too big for Asia’s technology companies to swallow whole, but potential suitors are out there should HP decide to break the group into parts, industry sources said.

Australian brewer Foster’s rejected a $10 billion offer from rival SABMiller for the second time as shareholders hold out for a better offer from the global brewing giant.

English Premier League soccer champions Manchester United has filed a preliminary application with the Singapore Exchange for a planned listing, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said.

SABMiller took its $10 billion bid for Australia-focused Foster’s Group direct to shareholders just days before the Australian brewer’s annual results are set to show flagging profits.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group is meeting privately with analysts to convince them the company is worth at least as much as Blackstone Group, Bloomberg reports citing sources.

Asian handset makers using Google’s Android operating system might turn to rival platforms such as Microsoft’s Windows after Google upended the mobile landscape by buying Motorola Mobility.

The investment banking sector was also shaken up by the deal after Motorola hired “boutique” banks Centerview Partners and Qatalyst Partners as advisers.

Google said it will buy Motorola Mobility for about $12.5 billion in cash in a move to bolster the adoption of its Android mobile phone software.

“Before we get all excited about Google’s biggest acquisition ever, the $12.5 billion planned purchase of phone-handset maker Motorola Mobility, let’s pause and think about Washington,” cautions the WSJ.

Hedge fund manager John Paulson became an overnight sensation in 2007, in part, by betting big and early on the collapse of the U.S. housing market. But he is now emerging as one of this year’s big losers in the $2 trillion hedge fund industry.

New China Life, the third-largest life insurer in China, has filed an application to list in a dual Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO, sources said, braving volatile markets to raise up to $4 billion.

Groupon trimmed marketing costs in the second-quarter but its loss more than doubled as it hired new employees, the Internet daily deals company said in an update filing for its IPO.

Global brewer SABMiller is set to renew its assault on Australian bid target Foster’s later this month with a slightly higher offer likely to succeed after rival bidders fail to appear, bankers and investors told Reuters.

HSBC is nearing a deal to sell its $30 billion-plus U.S. credit card business to Capital One, sources familiar with the situation said.

Investors who bet big money on the outcome of merger and acquisition deals are scurrying as a plunging stock market jeopardizes many transactions.