DealZone

The world’s largest generic drugmaker, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries plans to buy U.S. specialty drugmaker Cephalon for $6.8 billion,  topping an unsolicited bid by Canadian rival Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.

Warner Music’s $3 billion buyout could be done by the end of the week, according to a person familiar with the matter. Final buyout bids for the company are due today. Warner Music’s board effectively put itself up for sale in January when it appointed Goldman Sachs and AGM Partners to assess interest from external parties.

Danisco, the Danish food ingredients and enzymes producer urged shareholders to accept a higher takeover bid from chemicals group DuPont as fund managers welcomed the “decent offer” and said it would likely succeed. DuPont raised its offer for Danisco by 5 percent to 700 Danish crowns ($139) per share from 665, making its cash offer worth $6.64 billion.

Arch Coal said it will acquire International Coal Group in a $3.4 billion all-cash transaction to create the second-largest U.S. producer of steel-making coal. The news boosted International Coal shares in premarket trading.

Quest Diagnostics announced last month it would buy genetic-testing firm Celera Corp for $671 million, but word of a crucial scientific study helped the company negotiate a nearly $200 million discount in its deal. In this Wall Street Journal article, author John Jannarone asks, just how did Quest learn of the study months prior to its official publication?

The latest clampdown by German and U.S. authorities on tax-evading clients at banks such as Credit Suisse could make Swiss wealth management firms alluring takeover targets, bankers say. Swiss private banks have been intensifying their cleanup of untaxed assets in an effort to limit the attention of foreign authorities, reducing risk for potential acquirer, writes Martin de Sa’Pinto and Edward Taylor. Union Bancaire Privee, EFG and Julius Baer are seen as targets.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals said it was not interested in a bidding war for drugmaker Cephalon and was willing to walk away. But Chief Executive Michael Pearson also said Valeant may consider raising its offer if Cephalon opens up its books and the deal looks right. Shares of Cephalon surged more than 29 percent on Wednesday, above the $5.7 billion unsolicited offer from Valeant, in a sign investors are expecting a higher bid.

Conditions are better for a wave of U.S. bank mergers, with large deals that carry a price tag of $5 billion or more possible by the end of the year, a UBS AG investment banker said on Tuesday.