DealZone

Goldman’s decision to scale back a heavily publicized sale of shares in Facebook shows how the bank risks losing its edge as financial regulation intensifies, writes Dan Wilchins. Goldman posted a 53 percent decline in quarterly profit earlier today.

Agribusiness giant Cargill plans to spin off its $24 billion majority stake in fertilizer producer Mosaic. The move could put Mosaic in play, with global mining giants being the likely bidders.

The NYT’s Deal Professor asks, are the parts worth more than the whole?

A string of stake buys and takeover bids has shown how merger rules in the euro zone’s two biggest economies can be used to gain control of a target quietly or on the cheap.

Goldman Sachs said it will limit its private placement of shares of social networking site Facebook to investors outside the United States, citing “intense media coverage.”

Federal regulators could approve Comcast Corp’s purchase of NBC Universal as early as Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter said.

Another breakup wave is hastening the end for some conglomerates. The financial benefits of specialization have long been in style, writes Breakingviews columnist Robert Cyran.

Banks will meet in New York City today to make their case for the right to sell the Treasury’s stake in AIG, three people familiar with the matter said.

Despite all the rhetoric about restricted lending, Chinese banks don’t seem to be listening.

AIG accepted a $2.16 billion cash offer for its Taiwan Nan Shan Life unit from a group led by local conglomerate Ruentex. Regulatory issues have dogged the sale of the unit and might yet delay it further.

Sara Lee could fetch more from an outright sale than if it were split up, but only if it can find a buyer that wants a wide array of assets, write Martinne Geller and Jessica Hall.

Asia’s private equity industry has quickly turned into a sellers’ market, as firms cash out of investments made on the back of the region’s robust economic growth.

Private equity funds in China are nervously eyeing a push by the country’s top securities regulator to gain oversight of the fast-growing sector, fearing increased scrutiny and tougher new rules.

A small but growing number of hedge fund investors believe the once-free spirited portfolios, viewed as the cutting edge of finance for most of the past decade, have become too conservative and boring.

Goldman Sachs, responding to pressure from shareholders, regulators and clients, said it will disclose more information about how it makes money.

The U.S. power sector could be among the hottest industries for deals in 2011, but shareholders may not see the benefits for some time.

Duke Energy agreed to buy Progress Energy for $13.7 billion in stock, creating the largest U.S. power company in terms of market value and generating capacity.

DuPont said on Sunday it will buy Danish food ingredients and enzymes firm Danisco for $5.8 billion to boost its position in the fast-growing food sector.

Genzyme shares rose more than 3 percent after Sanofi-Aventis confirmed the companies were in direct talks about a takeover deal.

LinkedIn plans to go public in 2011 and has selected its financial underwriters, three sources familiar with the process told Reuters.

Interest in Facebook shares is so strong that Goldman Sachs plans to stop soliciting interest from potential investors on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Felix Salmon lists reasons why Facebook won’t go public.

TechCrunch rebuts some recent themes surrounding Facebook in the blogosphere.

Rising protectionism could kill off some multi-billion-dollar Asia takeovers this year, bankers say, noting that governments are increasingly keen to protect their national icons.

Qualcomm plans to buy Atheros Communications for roughly $3.2 billion in cash. Atheros makes chips for Bluetooth wireless and global positioning system devices.

Goldman Sachs is not giving its multimillionaire clients a lot of time or information to think about investing in a $1.5 billion Facebook private offering. The WSJ asks if Mark Zuckerberg is ready for prime time.

Sinovel, China’s top wind turbine producer, plans to raise up to $1.4 billion in one of the most expensive main board IPOs in Shanghai. The listing may well be a test for China’s IPO market, which had a mixed performance late last year.

Shares in BP hit a six-month high after reports rival Royal Dutch Shell considered a takeover bid, and that economic damages from its oil spill will be lower than forecast.

Brazil’s Petrobras offered to buy Eni’s 33.3 percent stake in Portuguese oil company Galp for 4.7 billion, business daily Diario Economico reported without citing sources.

Facebook has raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs and Russian Internet investment group Digital Sky Technologies in a deal valuing the social networking site at $50 billion, the New York Times reported, citing people involved in the transaction.

“Facebook doesn’t need to stay worth $50 billion forever — Goldman just needs to engineer an IPO valuation somewhere north of that, then exit quietly in the public markets,” writes Felix Salmon about the deal.

Italy’s Fiat set its sights on a majority stake in Chrysler after completing a long-planned demerger of its car-making activities from its truck and tractor business. Click here for a factbox on the demerger.