DealZone

MID-DAY DEAL ROUND-UP

Genentech’s response to Roche Holdings’ $89 per share offer for the 44 percent of Genentech it doesn’t already own seems more designed to spur more discussions than shoo the bidder away, says the New York Times’ DealBook.

H.J. Heinz Co’s chief executive said on Wednesday that Campbell Soup Co would make a “nice fit” with the ketchup maker, although a Heinz spokesman declined to say whether such a combination had been seriously considered. Either way, TheDeal.com says, Heinz is in an acquisitive mood and looking into emerging market, following a path similar to that of Kraft Foods, General Mills and Kellogg.

Nortel’s acquisition of Bluesocket’s Pingtel subsidiary, which develops software to unify and streamline communications functions, like e-mail and instant messaging, is not the transformative acquisition people have been waiting for, writes www.thedeal.com.

OTHER DEALS OF THE DAY
**Chinese state oil firms are preparing bids for Petro-Tech Peruana, a privately-held oil company with offshore assets in Peru, which could fetch $1.5-$2.5 billion, sources with knowledge of the situation said.

** U.S.-focused consumer goods exporter Li & Fung said it will pay $330 million to buy U.S. handbag importer Van Zeeland to become a leading handbag supplier in the United States.