HONG KONG, Jan 4 (Reuters) – Indian drug maker Cipla Ltd <CIPL.BO> is in talks with drug companies including GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and Israel’s Teva <TEVA.TA> to supply generic drugs, its chairman said on Monday.

Cipla, India’s second-largest pharmaceutical company by market value, has been in negotiations with GlaxoSmithKline for six months, Yusuf Hamied, also managing director, told Reuters in an interview.

“It may be specifically for one or two products — it is not a down-the-line drug deal,” said Hamied. He also said there was “not a chance” that Cipla was in talks to sell a stake to a partner company.

In December Cipla had said it was in talks with a number of global drugmakers including Pfizer Inc <PFE.N> to supply generic products. [ID:nBOM377963]

HONG KONG (Reuters) – For lawyer Wilfred Goh, the sign it was time to leave Dubai came early in 2009, when the financial crisis took its toll, plunging the emirate’s main stock index down roughly 70 percent in a matter of months.

After speaking to friends and government officials, Goh decided to return to Asia, with the thought that Hong Kong, China or Singapore offered better job opportunities. Goh, 47, eventually got a job back home in Singapore.

“We just felt Dubai’s economic climate was not very good and they had started to retrench people,” said Goh, who works at the Central Chambers Law Corp in Singapore.

The flight of top foreign work talent from the Gulf’s financial hub began in early 2009, and leveled off as the market recovered toward the middle of the year. But then Dubai dropped a bombshell in November, disclosing a delay on a massive debt pile.

HONG KONG, Dec 15 (Reuters) – British private equity firm 3i Group Plc <III.L> said on Tuesday that it expects to invest up to a combined $300 million in about three deals in China next year as it moves to regain momentum after making no investments in 2009.

“We hope to invest in two to three deals per year and will obviously look to maintain that pace,” Anna Cheung, 3i partner and co-head for China told Reuters in an interview.

Cheung said 3i’s typical investment in China deals ranged from $30-100 million, with a sweet spot between $50 million and $70 million.

“Historically we have been a little bit lower. We have been moving up, but I think we’re just moving with the market.”

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Giant-screen movie operator IMAX Corp said on Tuesday that it was in talks with at least five film companies in China as the company moves to cement its presence in Asia.

“The U.S. has 300 million people with 35,000 screens. China has 1.3 billion people and 4,000 screens, the opportunity speaks for itself,” chairman and president of Filmed Entertainment Greg Foster told Reuters in an interview.

In June, IMAX announced a film deal with Huayi Brothers, China’s biggest studio, for IMAX’s first foreign language film, “Aftershock,” scheduled for release in 2010.

The Canadian company has 20 theaters in China, and Don Savant, senior vice-president and managing director, Asia Pacific, said that by 2013, IMAX would have more than 30 theaters in commercial multiplexes in China.

HONG KONG, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Daiwa SB Asset Management is seeking a $300 million investment quota from Chinese regulators to tap the country’s fast growing capital markets, part of Daiwa’s ambition to expand outside Japan where it is already a market leader.

Daiwa SB, a joint venture between Daiwa Securities Group <8601.T> and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T>, has applied to Beijing for the quota under China’s Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII), said Takashi Hibino, deputy president of Daiwa Securities Group.

Foreign institutional investors must have a QFII licence and approved foreign exchange quota under the licence to buy domestic shares or bonds, according to Chinese securities rules.

Daiwa, Japan’s second-largest brokerage, aims to become one of the top five brokers and one of the top 10 investment banks in Asian ex-Japan markets by 2012 and 2013 respectively, Hibino said at a media briefing.

HONG KONG, Oct 29, (Reuters) – China Investment Corp (CIC), a near-$300 billion sovereign wealth fund, plans to invest $700 million in Hopu-backed Iron Mining International Ltd, a source told Reuters on Thursday.

The investment would be the Chinese fund’s second involvement this week in a Mongolian mining deal as it shifts its investment strategy to natural resources from financial institutions.

CIC’s [CIC.UL] investment in Iron Mining follows a $500 million deal with SouthGobi Energy Resources <SGQ.V> earlier this week. [ID:nN26192897]

The fund’s investments in Mongolian mining companies come after a recent change in Mongolian mining laws that have paved the way for foreign investment. Iron Mining International, part-owned by private equity firm Hopu and Singapore state investor Temasek [TEM.UL], plans to list shares in Hong Kong late this year or early next year, hoping to raise up to $1 billion. [ID:nHKG44842]

LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Premier Foods <PFD.L>, Britain’s biggest food manufacturer, said on Thursday it was confident of achieving profit in line with expectations this year after volume growth accelerated in the third quarter.

The group, whose brands include Branston pickle, Mr Kipling cakes, Bisto gravy and Hovis bread, said total branded sales were up 6 percent in the quarter to Sept 26. “As we enter the important Christmas trading period, we remain confident of achieving adjusted profit before tax for the full year within the range of market expectations,” Chief Executive Robert Schofield told reporters in a conference call.

Premier Foods gave the range of market expectations as between 162 million and 186 million pounds ($259-$297 million).

Shares in Premier Foods were down 3.6 percent at 41.46 pounds at 0816 GMT. The group’s shares have outperformed the UK food producers’ index <.FTASX3570> by around 24 percent over the past year.

“I hope I die before I get old… Talkin’ bout my Generation,” The Who

Euthanasia used to be an issue just for the terminally ill, but as the British population ages, more people want the option to have an assisted suicide.

Madonna has one, so does Bruno; will Elton also get one?British pop singer Elton John may join the growing list of celebrities like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Madonna who adopt babies from developing countries around the world. John who was visiting Ukraine with his Aids Charity foundation said on Saturday he wanted to adopt a 14-month-old boy called Lev.John, aged 62, has already drawn criticism for his adoption plans from an international children’s charity which says celebrity adoption stories pressure vulnerable mothers to give up their children in the hope of giving them a better life.The recent spurt in celebrity baby adoptions, most recently seen in Madonna’s adoption of a girl from Malawi earlier this year, was parodied in Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno movie. Cohen, playing a gay Austrian fashion reporter, pokes fun at the idea of adopted babies as commoditized items by going to Africa where he exchanges his iPod for a black baby.While the Bruno movie scandalises audiences by portraying babies as fashion accessories, it highlights the frequency and common practice of celebrity adoption.Should celebrities be allowed to adopt children from developing countries? There is the argument that poorer children will be given opportunities they never would have had. But what about the child’s own culture and family ties? If John adopts a Ukrainian baby and brings him up in Britain; how will this affect the child’s Ukrainian influence?John is already in his 60s and his partner David Furnish, is 46. How able will they be to raise a young child? A further complication is Ukrainian law which forbids homosexuals to adopt. Perhaps the musician will have to ask President Victor Yushchenko for special permission.Some commentators have argued John should adopt a British child instead of a foreign baby.Is it better for people to adopt babies within their own country?