Sigh of relief for Cadbury? Hershey and Ferrero may join forces to launch a rival bid for Kraft’s offer for the British confectioner, a source tells us. On a rather much smaller scale, Cosmo Pharmaceuticals plans to buy rival BioXell for around $40 million, it says. For these and all other Reuters stories on deals, click here.

Plus a look at other media (some links may require subscription):

Hyundai Motor Co is planning to sell off its stake in affiliate Hyundai Mobis Co in a block trade to comply with antitrust rules, according to online media provider eDaily.

Apollo Management, the private equity firm headed by former Drexel Burnham Lambert executive Leon Black, is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Times says.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp has entered the race to buy a majority stake in Patni Computer Systems, the latest in a string of potential suitors eyeing India’s No. 6 software services firm, the Economic Times says.

EuroFresh, a leading producer of greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, partly blaming crackdowns on undocumented migrant workers for its woes.

In a bankruptcy filing in Arizona, where it is based, EuroFresh essentially said the government’s actions has raised demand for workers with legal papers, making them scarce.

“The pool of illegal immigrant labor in the area surrounding the Facilities shrank, creating higher overall demand for legal immigrant labor,” the company complained.

One might wonder whether this particular bankruptcy might prompt investors such as Apollo Investment Management, Barclays and JP Morgan, which hold millions of dollars to join the ranks of corporations such as Microsoft urging immigration reform including more visas.

As unsecured creditors, pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole, the three investors stand to lose $76.5 million, $47 million and $35 million respectively because of the bankruptcy.

Back in February, Apollo Management founder Leon Black said he expected no return to the leveraged buyout salad days for at least two years, and that his and other dens of private equity would have to make do on paltry meals of distressed debt until then.

That carrion diet is still the order of the day. Caroline Humer reports that Apollo plans to take ownership of most of Charter Communications through the cable company’s reorganization in bankruptcy court. Citing three sources familiar with the situation, she says Apollo, which has purchased Charter’s debt, plans to own the majority of its equity following the bankruptcy restructuring, which includes a preplanned reorganization of its debt and an equity rights offering.

Apollo’s move seems to be more evidence that what Black said in Germany earlier this year is settling into the permafrost of the great credit freeze. “The big public-to-privates are gone the way of the dodo,” he said.

If financing really thaws (and we note ominously that a freak snow storm, heavy enough to bury several legions of groundhogs, is hitting midtown Manhattan this morning), Black said he would invest the last half of his latest fund in traditional buyouts.

Deals of the Day:

* Skincare specialist Stiefel Laboratories Inc is considering selling itself in a deal that could be worth more than $3 billion.

* Indian Oil Corp and the Indian unit of Royal Dutch Shell are front runners for buying a 50 percent stake in Reliance Industries’ retail fuel business, the Economic Times said on Friday.

* GlaxoSmithKline has sold a further chunk of its stake in Quest Diagnostics for $256 million.

* Norwegian telecom group Telenor invested an initial $250 million in Indian operator Unitech Wireless for a 33.5 percent stake and will inject the remaining $970 million in three tranches this year, Telenor said on Friday.

* Shares in Russia’s PIK Group rose by more than 24 percent on Friday after business daily Vedomosti said billionaire Suleiman Kerimov was in talks to buy 40-45 percent of the housing developer.

* Nappy material maker Fiberweb said it had agreed to acquire the 50 percent interest of its joint venture partner Nordenia International in Coronor Composites GmbH for 3.1 million euros ($4.23 million) in cash.

* Australian wheat exporter AWB Ltd said on Friday it has not had any more talks with rival ABB Grain after the two ended merger talks in December.

* Australian software firm eServGlobal cut its revenue forecast for the year to June citing order delays and volatility in customer project schedules, and said that it ended talks with external parties interested in acquiring the company.

(PHOTO: Vultures sit in a tree in the Masai Mara game reserve August 5, 2006. Picture taken August 5, 2006. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti (KENYA)

The dispute over the dead Huntsman deal is going further than litigation over the break-up fee.

Apollo was seen by some as getting off lightly by settling the deal for $1 billion rather than slugging it out in court. But LPs might not be so happy about how they’re handling who pays the various pieces of that. Dan Primack at our sister publication PEHUB reports the details here.

To terminate its $6.5 billion deal to buy Huntsman, Apollo Management’s Hexion Specialty Chemicals had to cough up $1 billion in fees and charges. This follows the long-awaited collapse of the private equity bid for Canada’s BCE last week, which cost buyers C$1.2 billion in break-up charges.

Hexion agreed to buy Huntsman in July 2007. The deal faltered amid the credit crisis. Apollo tried to walk away, citing insolvency concerns about the combined company.

But with a hefty break-up fee in its pocket - almost as much as its diminished $1.4 billion market cap - Huntsman is looking to settle what could be an even bigger score.

Huntsman sued twice over the deal - once in Delaware to force Hexion to go through with it, and once in Texas alleging that Hexion’s bid scared off another potential suitor, Basell.

The Texas suit could feature a big pay-off. Given its record so far is 1-0, and the Lone Star state is known for its plaintiff-friendly juries, Huntsman can be forgiven for looking to the courts for a little confidence. It isn’t getting much from the market. Huntsman shares sank 17 percent in premarket trade Monday.

Deals of the day:

* ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, said it sold part of its stake in German plate mill Dillinger Huette for 777 million euros ($1.03 billion).

* Energy services firm Hunting said it completed the delayed sale of its Canadian oil and gas division for C$1.26 billions ($1 billion) and would step up its search for acquisitions with the proceeds.

* Macquarie Group, Australia’s biggest investment bank, plans to set up a joint venture with China’s Hengtai Securities in a move aimed at boosting its business in the country’s capital markets, a source said.

* Fidelity Investments has put its Indian captive technology offshore unit up for sale and possible suitors include Indian and global outsourcing firms, the Economic Times reported citing two sources involved in the deal.

* British defense company Ultra Electronics has bought Siemens Radmon, a unit of the German engineering group that monitors radiation for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet, for about 5 million pounds ($7.5 million).

* Vishal Retail is not considering any stake sale, a senior official said, denying a newspaper report that the discount retailer was in talks to bring in investors.

* Finnish telecom software firm Tecnomen Oyj said it had agreed to buy 96.6 percent of smaller Indian rival Lifetree Convergence Ltd. for 33.2 million euros ($44 million) in cash and shares.

* Seismic survey group CGGVeritas offered to buy all remaining shares in Wavefield Inseis after a bid for its Norwegian rival won acceptance from shareholders with 69.7 percent of stock.

* Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fibre confirmed it was in talks with UNIFI Asia Holdings about buying a 50 percent stake in Yihua Unifi Fibre Industry Co Ltd.

* Mega Financial, Taiwan’s No.2 state-controlled financial holding firm, is considering reviving its plan to acquire smaller rival Taiwan Business Bank, a finance ministry official said.

* Insurance firms Prudential Financial and MetLife have submitted separate bid proposals for South Korean insurer Kumho Life Insurance, Kumho’s parent group said.

Hexion’s weak quarterly results are going to hurt the chemical company and its private equity owner in more ways than one.

It could take away the punch in their argument against Huntsman, the company that they once wanted to buy.

Hexion and its parent Apollo Management agreed to buy Huntsman for $6.5 billion a year ago, but the deal has been in jeopardy since June, when Apollo and Hexion filed suit against Huntsman seeking to limit their liability in the event that their proposed buyout falls apart.

Apollo Management and Hexion are hinging their argument on an exit clause, which could allow them to walk away from the deal if Huntsman’s business suffers a materially adverse change.

They were quick to point out a month ago that Huntsman’s 19 percent decline in second-quarter operating profit was proof it had.

Now, Hexion has posted a 30 percent decline in operating profits, after excluding a merger related write-off.

Given that the two are in the same industry, it’s raising the question of who has really suffered a material adverse change: Hexion or Huntsman?

Hexion’s results could severely weaken their argument as the so-called MAC clause is typically invoked if a company has been hurt disproportionally to its peers, and Huntsman in this case has actually done better.

The case goes to trial next month, and this might mean Hexion and its parent may have some sleepless nights ahead.

Private equity buyouts of Clear Channel and BCE have already gone to court due to tightening credit markets, and now it looks like Apollo Management’s $6.5 billion buyout of U.S. chemical company Huntsman Corp may be next. Apollo’s Hexion Speciality Chemicals filed a lawsuit against Huntsman on Wednesday that would seek to limit its liability if the deal falls apart, saying financing for the buyout– one of the last still to close from the private equity boom of 2007 — was in jeopardy because of Huntsman’s weakened financial position. Huntsman called the move “a blatant attempt to deprive our shareholders,” and a countersuit seems to be all but inevitable.

Spanish retail bank Santander is looking at taking over insurer Allianz’s loss-making Dresdner Bank, according to sources familiar with the matter. Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest bank, is already in advanced talks about a deal with Dresdner. But foreign banks like Santander are keen not to miss a rare chance to get a foothold in Europe’s biggest economy, whose banking market is largely closed to outsiders because of the dominance of not-for-profit community savings banks.The Dresdner sale is only part of the merger mania in Germany’s banking sector: Top retail bank Deutsche Postbank is also up for sale and Citigroup is selling its retail business here.

Vodafone has dropped out of the auction for Tiscali, according to the the Financial Times, driving the Italian broadband company’s shares down more than 9 percent. Vodafone had been seen as the most likely buyer for Tiscali as it could acquire both the Italian and British divisions to combine them with existing assets. BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse, Italy’s Wind and Swisscom are still in the frame, and the FT said that Vodafone could even re-enter the process if an agreement with the remaining bidders could not be reached. At a time of tight credit markets, slowing consumer spending and flagging broadband growth, it seems that bidders can afford to play hardball.

More Deals of the Day:

** Google Inc and Yahoo Inc face intense U.S. Justice Department scrutiny of their deal to share some advertising revenue, and the heat will likely increase under a new administration, antitrust experts said.

** French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis plans to make a 40.04 billion crown ($2.6 billion) offer for Czech drugmaker Zentiva trumping a bid from financial group PPF. ** Miner BHP Billiton Plc/Ltd is due to file with Chinese competition authorities this month for its planned $170 billion takeover of Rio Tinto Plc/Ltd, but lawyers said a new anti-monopoly law threw up uncertainties.

** Healthcare technology company MEDecision Inc said on Wednesday it agreed to be bought by insurer Health Care Service Corp for about $121 million, or $7 a share.

** Polish chemicals maker Ciech plans to buy a majority stake in smaller state-owned rival Tarnow, Ciech said in a statement on Wednesday.

** Spain’s FCC is considering buying two building companies in the United States, the construction and services company said on Wednesday.

** Private equity firm Apax Partners has not set a specific time to divest its 44 percent stake in German telecoms company Versatel AG, an Apax partner said on Wednesday.

** Shares of natural gas and oil producer GMX Resources jumped 8 percent to a lifetime high on Wednesday, a day after it bought additional property in the Haynesville/Bossier gas shale in Texas and Louisiana.

** Alstom on Wednesday called again for a merger with nuclear reactor maker Areva, a move that would help the heavy engineering group reap the benefits of a global nuclear industry boom.