Wal-Mart, the storied champion of low cost that bunked up execs six to a room at conferences and insisted they return with their Bic ball-point pens, may have forgotten the plot in Japan with the completion of an $849 million bid to buy out minority shareholders in loss-making supermarket chain Seiyu. Wal-Mart offered a premium of 61 percent to the market price on Oct. 21 when the deal was announced. It has already plunked more than $1 billion in Seiyu since 2002, which is headed for its sixth straight annual loss. Shares of Seiyu have lost more than half of their value since the end of 2002, the year when Wal-Mart first bought into the supermarket.
    
The view from outside at least is that India’s Tata Motors has the edge in the bidding for Ford Motor’s Jaguar and Land Rover brands. “Tata appears to have the edge because it is larger, because it has demonstrated seriousness of intent, and because there is a level of comfort with the unions,” said an investment banker who is not involved in the deal. Tata, JP Morgan-backed One Equity Partners and rival Mahindra & Mahindra, along with buyout firm Apollo Partners, are said to be on a short-list for the luxury brands. Ford CEO Alan Mulally has said Ford could announce the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover by the year-end or early next year.                                  
    
Swiss mining group Xstrata made a A$960 million ($842 million) cash bid for Australian coal miner Resource Pacific, trumping an all-share offer by New Hope Corp as coal prices rocket amid a supply shortage. Xstrata’s chief of mining said BHP Billiton’s move to acquire rival Rio Tinto is likely to lead to another wave of mergers in the sector. BusinessWeek reports cable billionaire John Malone may be looking to pick up Ticketmaster, one of several assets that Barry Diller may be forced to sell to Malone’s Liberty Media to complete the IAC breakup he announced last month. The New York Times’ DealBook notes, though, that valuing Ticketmaster could be tough. The WSJ’s Deal Journal has a video interview with Chris Williams, co-founder of M&A firm Harris Williams & Co, who says mid-market M&A will remain strong in 2008, albeit at a slightly lower level than in 2007. It also discusses a report from DealReporter saying some shareholders of SLM are pushing the parent of Sallie Mae to compromise on price with the buyout group that walked away from its $60-a-share buyout of the student lender.