DealZone

Britain’s ruling Labour government would seek to extend its powers to scrutinise foreign takeovers of UK companies if it wins an election on May 6, a party source told Reuters on Sunday.  The source played down a BBC report that the plan would amount to a “Cadbury’s Law”, to protect UK companies against hostile takeovers .

Shares in Macarthur Coal leapt 10 percent as investors bet a global bidding war for the Australian miner could escalate, amid talk that Xstrata may enter the fray.  A bid would pit Xstrata against Peabody Energy of the US and and local miner New Hope Corp.

And in news from other media over the weekend and on Monday:

National Australia Bank is working on plans for a 2 billion pounds flotation of its UK operations, according to the Sunday Times. The plan would be put into action if NAB fails to acquire 318 branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland.