LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Edwards Group, the British vacuum
technology firm preparing for a sale or flotation, said it had
“rapidly recovered” from the global downturn and its sales and
profits would grow further in the second half of the year.

In a statement on Monday, the firm said first-half net sales
rose 74 percent from a year earlier to 298 million pounds.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA) rose to 59.8 million pounds from 2.2 million a year
earlier.

MOSCOW/LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Russian mobile operator
Vimpelcom (VIP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris may be
poised to unveil a deal combining their telecoms assets ahead of
President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Algeria next week.

One source familiar with the matter said an announcement
relating to Vimpelcom and Sawiris could come as early as Monday,
without specifying what the statement would address.

LONDON (Reuters) – Buyout firm CVC CVC.UL is poised to receive preliminary bids for Mivisa MIVIS.UL, the Spanish food-can maker which it hopes will fetch 1 to 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 to $1.6 billion), people familiar with the matter said.

The potential sale underscores an improving market for the sale of industrial companies exposed to swings in the economy. Bids are due on Friday, the people said, and are likely to come from both rival private equity firms and competing packaging companies.

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) – Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is considering whether to raise its $18.5 billion bid for U.S. drugmaker Genzyme (GENZ.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as soon as next week, Bloomberg said on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

France’s largest drugmaker is “leaning toward” raising the $69-a-share offer by $1 or $2 a share, Bloomberg said. It has not ruled out a hostile bid but would prefer friendly negotiations, the report said.

CRAWLEY, England (Reuters) – Outlay on semiconductor plants will rise in 2011, boosted by growing use of NAND memory chips in iPads and other “tablet” devices, said the chief executive of Edwards, a leading sector supplier.

Private equity-backed Edwards, whose pumps can create vacuums emptier than deep space, works with all of the world’s 10 biggest chipmakers. It recently hired a trio of banks to explore a sale or flotation.

CRAWLEY, England, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Outlay on
semiconductor plants will rise in 2011, boosted by growing use
of NAND memory chips in iPads and other “tablet” devices, said
the chief executive of Edwards, a leading sector supplier.

Private equity-backed Edwards, whose pumps can create
vacuums emptier than deep space, works with all of the world’s
10 biggest chipmakers. It recently hired a trio of banks to
explore a sale or flotation.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s markets watchdog told investment banks to adopt “a much stricter culture” to prevent leaks to journalists about takeovers and other deals, and said it might impose new rules if nothing improves in a year.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said three years of investigations had found contact between banks and journalists was “generally poorly controlled” and media leaks often followed telephone conversations with senior deal insiders.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s markets watchdog told investment banks to adopt “a much stricter culture” to prevent leaks to journalists about takeovers and other deals, and said it might impose new rules if nothing improves in a year.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said three years of investigations had found contact between banks and journalists was “generally poorly controlled” and media leaks often followed telephone conversations with senior deal insiders.

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Banks are more willing to lend for big takeovers by companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Sanofi-Aventis SA (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and CVC Capital Partners CVC.UL, and with borrowing cheap, would-be buyers are seizing the chance.

This means that sensible deals that were ruled out because financing was too scarce or costly may now return to the agenda, even if they run into the tens of billions of dollars.

LONDON (Reuters) – Like film studios, buyout shops seem fond of sequels.

The latest sees Vue seeking fresh private equity backers in a deal set to value Britain’s third-biggest cinema chain at 400 million pounds ($627 million) or more.

While at least six firms are circling, Vue chief executive Tim Richards will need to tell a gripping story about growth in a competitive and consolidated market.