DealZone

American International Group and the U.S. government are moving closer to a deal on how the Treasury Department would exit its investment in the bailed-out insurer, sources said. *View article *View Bloomberg article

Southwest Airlines will purchase AirTran Holdings for $1.04 billion in cash and stock in a deal that will allow Southwest to expand its presence in major East Coast markets. The move by Southwest puts pressure on all major rivals, who are trying to strengthen their eastern markets to leverage more premium-paying business travel. *View article

Consumer goods group Unilever will buy hair and skin care company Alberto Culver for $3.7 billion in the latest move to rebalance its portfolio toward higher growth lines. Analysts said the price of the deal looked high, but could be justified by cost savings and by skewing Unilever’s business to more high growth, high margin categories. *View article

Wal-Mart is in talks to buy South Africa’s Massmart, a $4 billion deal that would give the U.S. retailer a big presence in fast-growing Africa and bolster its emerging markets strategy. *View article

Sanofi-Aventis has not changed its offer of $69 per share for drugmaker Genzyme, a Sanofi spokesman said, declining to comment on a report it may be lining up more funding for a raised bid. *View article *View WSJ article