Japan’s Monex Group will buy the securities unit of Orix Corp for about $246 million in stock, in a deal that will create the country’s second-largest online broker.

By forming a broker with more than $23 billion in client assets they will be able to cut systems and other costs and beef up product and service line-ups, they said.

In other M&A news reported by Reuters and other media:

Speculation about a possible takeover of UK retailer Debenhams was raised after private equity firm TPG sells its 9 percent stake, the FT says.

Matalan, another UK retailer, is being circled by KKR, Blackstone, Cinven and TPG, the FT adds.

GSI Commerce agrees to buy e-commerce company Retail Convergence for $180 million in cash and stock, to strengthen its online sales platform.

Liechtenstein-based LGT Bank would be interested in BHF Bank, a unit of Sal. Oppenheim, were it to be put up for sale, an executive at LGT tells German daily Handelsblatt.

Deutsche Boerse is the frontrunner to the Warsaw Bourse, the WSJ says.

Here are the highlights from this week’s Thomson Reuters investment banking scorecard:

Cadbury deal lifts UK M&A to $168.8 billion

The $19.3 billion offer by Kraft Foods for UK confectioner Cadbury lifted UK target M&A to $168.8 billion for the year-to-date period, an increase of 19% over last year. The transaction could rank as the second largest non-government acquisition in the UK this year after Xstrata’s $42.5 billion bid for Anglo American in June.

UBS, which advised on both the Cadbury and Anglo deals as well as the UK government investments in Lloyds Banking Group and RBS, leads the year-to-date UK target league table with $124.6 billion from 21 announced deals.

Biggest week for U.S. corporate debt since May

Bolstered by multi-billion dollar deals in the financial and insurance sectors, the market for U.S. corporate investment grade debt saw its biggest week for news issues since May. Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa topped the list of global debt offerings this week, raising $3 billion in the U.S. markets, while insurers Prudential Financial and Met Life each raised over $1 billion.

JP Morgan holds first place with 13% of the market, while Bank of America has 12.8% of investment grade underwriting in the U.S.

Asia Pacific tech M&A hits $15.2 billion

This week’s $3.1 billion acquisition of Singapore-based Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing by state-owned Advanced Technology Investment Co, a UAE sovereign wealth fund, brings year-to-date Asia Pacific technology volume to $15.2 billion, a 33% increase over last year at this time.  Deals in the both the materials and consumer staples sectors are up over 60% in the region this year.

Overall, worldwide sovereign wealth fund acquisition activity totals $25 billion so far this year, a 32% decline over 2008.

Rising stock markets and talk of improving economic confidence have prompted a barrage of analyst notes on how the M&A market is picking up.  Check out what I wrote on the subject earlier Thursday .

Here’s a few quick points from others:

Citigroup said that as global economic indicators stabilize, financing markets reopen and equity markets recover, hostile takeovers may be poised for a sharp resurgence. “Indeed, many recent high profile M&A transactions have been unsolicited or hostile in nature,” a note said.

My colleague Quentin Webb talked about mergers and aggravation, or hostile bids,  in July.

JP Morgan Asset Management thinks the return of private equity is still some way away, however:

“This being the early part of what is hopefully a new economic cycle, acquisitions are likely to continue to be businesses, rather (than) financiers using private equity firms. Also, the bids are likely to be paid for by share offers and cash that is coming from reserves and improved operating margins, rather than borrowings. Interest rates may be low, but there seems little appetite at present for large leveraged acquisitions,” strategist Tom Elliott wrote.

While the bulls seem to outnumber the bears, there are still some voices raising the prospect of a W shaped recession rather than the feel-good out-of-the-woods V brigade.

SocGen’s Albert Edwards writes:

“It’s almost as if the biggest credit bubble in history never occurred. Investors are increasingly convinced that a sustainable global recovery is emerging out of the wreckage. All praise to the central bankers (and Gordon Brown) for saving the world! I’m waiting till someone writes about the return of The Great Moderation and suggests Ben Bernanke is the new Maestro. Then I’ll know the lunatics have taken over the madhouse…..yet again.”

Here are the highlights from this week’s Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Scorecard:

- US M&A Accounts for the Majority of Weekly Worldwide Activity

US M&A activity was worth $13.9 billion for the week, bolstered by a flurry of deal announcements ahead of Labor Day in oil and gas, media and pharmaceuticals.  Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch each advised on just over $9 billion in deals this week.

- Government Program Lifts Weekly US ABS Volume to $16.4 billion

The weekly volume of US asset-backed securities totaled $16.4 billion, powered by $14.2 billion of offerings eligible for Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).  Multi-billion dollar securitizations from the likes of Citigroup, Bank of America and Ford brought year-to-date ABS volume to $110.5 billion, a 28% decrease from last year at this time when issuance totaled $154.1 billion.

- Private Equity Bids for UK-based National Express Group

An investor group led by CVC Capital Partners announced a $1.3 billion bid for UK transport company National Express, bringing year-to-date UK private equity-backed M&A activity to $6.4 billion, a 73% decline from last year.

- Spanish Debt Capital Markets Activity up 60 percent

A $1.7 billion debt offering from Madrid-based Banco Espanol de Credito (Banesto) ranked as the largest non-agency bond offering in Europe this week. It pushed Spanish debt capital markets activity so far this year to $128.1 billion, a 60% increase over the year-ago figure. 

- South Korea Equity Capital Markets Activity Triples Over 2008

KB Financial Group’s $897.4 million follow-on offering brings ECM activity in South Korea to $8.5 billion this year, nearly triple the volume raised in 2008. Daewoo Securities, UBS and JP Morgan account for 35% of the South Korean ECM activity this year.

- Japanese Target M&A Up 5%, Led by Financials

Japanese M&A activity in the financial sector totals $24.5 billion year-to-date, accounting for 45% of all merger announcements.  By number of deals, high technology mergers lead all other sectors, with 305 deals this year. Overall, Japanese M&A totals $54.7 billion, a 5% increase over last year at this time.

Portugal Telecom <PTC.LS> and Spanish firm Telefonica <TEF.MC> have both agreed to sell their 32.2 percent stakes in Moroccan telecoms firm Meditel to local investors in a deal likely to be closed by the end of the year

Reports suggest that online telephony firm Skype is set to be sold to private investors by its current owner eBay, with further details likely to be announced today. Sources indicated to the New York Times that co-founder of Netscape, Marc Andreessen is among the group of investors.

For the latest news from Reuters on mergers and acquisitions click here.

Here are some of the stories reported in today’s press (some external websites may require subscriptions):

* Belgian bancassurer KBC <KBC.BR> may sell its Polish insurer Warta, which it values at 1 billion zlotys ($348.4 million), Polish daily Parkiet reported without naming its sources.

* State-owned China Development Bank has set up an investment arm with 35 billion yuan ($5.1 billion) in registered capital which will focus on private equity deals, the official Financial News reported on Tuesday.

* Japanese investment bank Nomura (8604.T) has secured a rental deal on its new London headquarters allowing free rent for almost six years, the Financial Times reported.

* The Canary Wharf Group (CYWHF.PK) is looking at new purchases and development opportunities after its majority stake owner, Songbird Estates (SBDb.L), secured an 836 million pounds recapitalisation, the FT reported.

* Bank of America (BAC.N) is offering to repay part of the U.S. government bailout money, starting with the $20 billion it received in January to help with the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website.

Citigroup plans to sell 20 businesses in consumer finance, many of them located in Europe, its chief executive Vikram Pandit said in an interview with Singapore’s Business Times. 

He said the move was due to the shift in the consumer finance market where “there is less funding availability and they are probably less robust as businesses.”

Pandit also said that the group’s capital position following the completion of the exchange of preferred shares for common equity in July, reflected an “incredible financial strength.”

In other M&A related stories reported by Reuters and other media on Wednesday:

Austrian oil and gas group OMV is in talks to buy a $1.2 billion stake in Turkish fuel retailer Petrol Ofisi, OMV and Petrol’s majority owner Dogan Holding said. The move comes after OMV earlier this year sold its stake in Hungarian peer MOL  after an ill-fated takeover attempt, raising money that analysts expected it to use to expand in other parts of the region. For the Reuters report click here.

India’s Bharti Airtel plans to bid for telecom operator Millicom’s Sri Lankan mobile network, the Economic Times said, citing two executives familiar with the developments.

Bank of New York Mellon has beaten rival bidders and is in advanced talks to buy the bulk of British fund firm Insight Investment Management, the Financial Times said.

PepsiCo Inc  agreed to buy bottlers Pepsi Bottling Group Inc and PepsiAmericas Inc in a sweetened $7.8 billion deal, as it seeks to cut costs and boost profits in North America. For the Reuters story click here.

Deutsche Bank confirms it is to take a stake in private bank Sal. Oppenheim. Click on this link for an earlier story on the deal from Germany’s Boersen Zeitung newspaper.

Rob “Big Loan” Verrone was the banker with the big name behind the 2007 acquisition of now-bankrupt Extended Stay.

His nickname was trumpeted in the hotel chain’s 2007 press release detailing the deal — in retrospect perhaps not the best quality to shout about.

Big Loan, described as one of three who provided the mortgage and mezzanine financing, moved on from Wachovia according to a Wall Street Journal report last year, and we couldn’t immediately track him down for comment.

Extended Stay filed for bankruptcy today after being saddled with too much debt during the economic crisis.

The one party which did come out looking good was Blackstone, which sold out of the deal two years before it cratered.

British bank Barclays said it would sell its BGI investment arm to U.S. firm BlackRock for $13.5 billion, creating the world’s biggest asset manager. For today’s headlines, click here.

And in the media:

* Malaysian gaming group Genting is in partnership talks with U.S. casino operator MGM Mirage, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

* British boiler maker Baxi is close to agreeing a 1.7 billion euros ($2.4 billion) merger with smaller Dutch rival De Dietrich Remeha Group, the Financial Times reported. 

* China will resume initial public offerings on its stock exchanges before launching a Nasdaq-style second board for start-up companies, official media reported, citing a senior securities regulator. 

* Diversified U.S. manufacturer Honeywell International Inc was looking out for takeovers but thought deals were too expensive as valuations did still not reflect the true nature of the market, its chief executive told the Financial Times.

* U.S. Federal Reserve officials are not likely to considerably increase purchases of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities when they meet in late June, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

* Big banks will start repaying government bailout funds on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* China may impose trade sanctions against BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto if the two miners merge their Australian iron ore operations without the approval of Chinese competition agencies, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said.

* Credit Agricole wants to agree on a new pact with Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali over their combined stake in Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo by end-June, its chief executive was quoted as saying by business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

Australian miner OZ Minerals said its shareholders approved the sweetened $1.4 billion deal by  Chinese state-owned Minmetals’ to buy most of the indebted miner’s assets. For today’s headlines, click here.

And in the newspapers:

* Turquoise, the European equity system owned by nine investment banks, was forced to close on Wednesday morning because of a technical problem, Financial News said.

* The New York Times Co has hired Goldman Sachs to manage the possible sale of The Boston Globe, and plans to request bids in the next couple of weeks, The Boston Globe reported.

* Sprint Nextel Corp and Level 3 Communications Inc  are in early talks about forming a joint venture including Sprint’s long-distance network, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. 

* James Simons, the mathematics professor-turned-investor who founded the multibillion dollar hedge fund Renaissance Technologies LLC, has delayed his retirement plans, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the discussions.

* Chinese automaker Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) is interested in acquiring Ford Motor Co’s <F.N> Volvo car unit, the WSJ said, citing three people familiar with the situation.

* The company managing Britain’s stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland  and Lloyds Banking Group could sell an “exchangeable bond” in the two banks, according to the Daily Telegraph.

* Rio Tinto Ltd  offered a share in a planned iron ore alliance with BHP Billiton to Chinalco as a peace offering following the collapse of Rio’s $19.5 billion deal with the Chinese firm, the Australian Financial Review said.

* The European Central Bank fears another banking crisis in 2010 if the recession drags on, said ECB financial stability expert Dejan Krusec, cited on the website of the Daily Telegraph. 

* French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis denied it had presented a major U.S. acquisition plan to its board, following a report in the edition of Les Echos newspaper due to appear on Thursday.

* Troubled French niche car and equipment maker Heuliez has found a potential buyer, Les Echos reported in its Thursday edition, without saying where it got the information.

Top deals news today includes LSE boss mulling new acquisitions, BC Partners downing tools on a BGI bid and Fiat signing a big Chinese joint venture. All the latest deals news here.

In the morning papers:

The new chief executive of London Stock Exchange Xavier Rolet has told La Tribune newspaper that he is ready to look at acquisitions and alliances but is not treating them as a priority. Reuters story here.

Borders UK, the bookshop chain owned by private equity firm Risk Capital Partners, has appointed restructuring experts RSM Bentley Jennison to advise on closing underperforming stores, The Independent reported.

Billionaire investors the Reuben Brothers have put in a 40 million pound ($63 million) bid to acquire Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR), The Times said.

The Obama administration is preparing to steer General Motors into bankruptcy next week, The Washington Post reported. Reuters story here.

Private equity firm BC Partners has stopped working on bidding for Barclays exchange-traded funds arm BGI, the Financial Times reported.

British investment group Mountgrange has raised more than 300 million pounds to invest in real estate, the Financial Times said.

Hainan Airlines Co, China’s fourth-largest carrier, will receive a cash injection of 3 billion yuan ($440 million) from local government and its parent group, the official China Securities Journal said. Reuters story here.

Fiat has signed an agreement to set up a car manufacturing venture with China’s Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group, Shanghai Securities News reported. Reuters story here.