As usual for the day before the July 4th weekend, bankers rushed to get deals tied up so they can enjoy the break.

Among the spurt of pre-Independence Day activity was Exelon bumping its bid for rival NRG and Johnson & Johnson buying a stake in Elan. Last night, Flagstone Reinsurance made a competing bid for rival IPC.

It doesn’t yet compare, however, to July 3rd 2007 when KKR announced plans to IPO, HIlton went private and Apollo made a $6 billion approach to chemicals firm Huntsman.

Other deals announced today:

    ** International Assets Holding Corp agreed to buy commodity risk management firm FCStone Group Inc in an all-stock deal valued at about $130 million, as it looks to expand its presence in the commodities market. 

    ** GlaxoSmithKline expanded its emerging markets footprint by buying Bristol-Myers Squibb’s branded generics drugs business in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Libya and Yemen for $23.2 million. 

     ** Lufthansa could still win quick European Union regulatory approval for its planned takeover of Austrian Airlines if it makes concessions within days, the European Commission said. 
 
    ** Opel frontrunner Magna’s consortium partner Sberbank said the race to acquire the carmaker was all but over, though Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC) may still lodge a bid in the coming days.  
 
    ** Onex Corp said it acquired a majority stake in the Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Casino after the property emerged from bankruptcy protection. 
 
    ** China National Petroleum Corp, the country’s largest oil company, plans to revive a $17 billion bid for the Argentinian unit of Spanish oil major Repsol-YPF, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday, citing sources.  
 
    ** Rio Tinto Ltd sold virtually all of the UK part of its $15.2 billion rights offer, the world’s fifth-biggest, easing its huge debt burden and putting the world’s top iron ore miner back in growth mode.  
 
    ** Swedish Match said it had agreed to sell its South African operations to Philip Morris International for 1.75 billion rand ($224.7 million). 

    ** Spanish holding company Alba has bought a 10 percent stake in technology firm Indra from utility Union Fenosa at 15 euros per share, Alba and Fenosa said.

    ** Icelandic investment firm Novator sold its 20.11 percent stake in sporting goods firm Amer Sports to institutional investors at roughly a 15 percent discount to Wednesday’s closing price. 

    ** The head of Russia’s Sberbank said he sees no serious competition in its takeover of German carmaker Opel, which it has agreed to buy in partnership with Canadian auto parts group Magna.