DealZone

Drugstore chain CVS Caremark agreed to buy Universal American’s Medicare prescription drug business for about $1.25 billion, doubling the size of CVS Caremark’s business that provides prescription drug coverage under the U.S. government’s Medicare Part D program.

Miner BHP Billiton’s acquisition strategy was back in the spotlight as market talk resurfaced it was looking at a $40 billion-plus bid for Anadarko Petroleum, although banking sources said they were unaware of any imminent offer.

Silicon Valley could see a modest return to the IPO market of prerecession days, writes NYT’s Evelyn M. Rusli.

VentureBeat’s Iris Kuo takes a look at green technologies worth watching in 2011.

Nunavut Iron Ore sweetened its hostile bid for control of Baffinland Iron Mines, extending a battle with steel giant ArcelorMittal for a vast iron ore deposit in the Canadian Arctic.

Groupon, the social buying site that spurned a $6 billion takeover bid from Google earlier this month, has attracted several big institutional investors, writes NYT’s Evelyn M. Rusli.

Carlyle Group has sold a 2.5 percent stake worth around $860 million in China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd, sources said, helping the buyout fund recoup its investment in what could be one of its best Asian deals to date.

The new year is offering hope to deal advisers, as U.S. bank M&As promise to return at a healthy clip after three years of gloom. The return of the mega transaction, however, is still some time away, writes Paritosh Bansal.

Norilsk Nickel launched a $4.5 billion share buyback after failing to persuade co-owner UC RUSAL to sell its 25 percent stake in the company, opening a new front in core shareholder Vladimir Potanin’s campaign to secure strategic control over the world’s top nickel and palladium miner.

After record solar-plant approval in 2010, the California Energy Commission believes its “big push” in solar-thermal projects is over.

Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co will take full control of Tower Australia Group Ltd for $1.2 billion in cash, the latest in overseas acquisitions by Japanese insurers keen to move away from a stagnant home market.

ChemChina plans to buy 60 percent of Israel’s MA Industries in China’s latest move to expand in the global agricultural chemicals market.

The red-hot trading market that has developed in the shares of privately held stocks has drawn the attention of the SEC, writes the NYT’s Peter Latman.

A spokesman for Taiwan’s Hon Hai said he had not heard about a deal reported by the Nikkei newspaper that would see the manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone and iPad become the world’s top-ranked maker of small and medium sized LCDs in a majority stake, $1.2 billion buy of a Hitachi display unit.

Spanish construction group ACS has moved closer to control of German bid target Hochtief.

After a year in which most U.S. IPOs clocked in at less than $200 million, investors can expect a larger slate of billion-plus offerings in 2011, writes WSJ’s Lynn Cowan.

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto offered $3.9 billion to buy African-focused coal miner Riversdale in an agreed deal that is likely to be challenged by rivals seeking to secure coking coal reserves.

Companies issuing yuan denominated bonds are finding that raising funds in Hong Kong  is the easy part. It’s getting the money into China that’s hard.

Retailers have been prominent buyout targets again this year, and one private-equity firm has been particularly busy: Leonard Green & Partners, writes the NYT’s Dealbook

The healthcare industry is poised for a robust year of dealmaking in 2011 as a wider variety of players from scientific tool makers to hospital companies looks for new growth.

With many buyout firms fighting for survival and others hard-up for fresh funds, there’s an opportunity for investors to reform the private equity model in their favor. They shouldn’t squander it, writes columnist Jeffrey Goldfarb.

For private equity to be successful abroad it will need to leave behind many of its established profit models, writes Steven M. Davidoff in the NYT.

Toronto-Dominion Bank will buy Chrysler Financial from private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for $6.3 billion. The deal is the latest in a series of foreign asset purchases by Canada’s big banks. For some back of the envelope math on the deal see Fortune.com’s Term Sheet.

Google is in talks with smaller players in the online discount coupon market after Groupon turned down the Web giant’s $6 billion buyout offer, the New York Post said, citing a source close to the situation.

M&A bankers should prepare for a surge. If deal activity follows a similar pattern to previous cycles, 2011 ought to be a considerably better year, writes columnist Jeffrey Goldfarb.

Corporate broking relationships are experiencing a shake-up this year as relative newcomers and smaller advisors look to grow by charming disillusioned clients from rivals.

Two fledgling European clearing houses, EMCF and EuroCCP, are in merger talks as they face the prospect of increasing competition from larger rivals, three industry sources with knowledge of the matter said.

India’s Hero Group will buy Honda Motor’s entire 26 percent stake in their Honda motorcycle venture Hero Honda Motors, paving the way for the Japanese firm to focus on its wholly-owned Indian unit.

Novartis has wrapped up its long-awaited buyout of the remainder of U.S.-listed Alcon for $12.9 billion, after sweetening its original offer with cash.

Power producer Dynegy agreed to be bought by Icahn Enterprises, a firm controlled by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, for $665 million in cash. The deal comes after Dynegy rejected Blackstone Group’s $602 million bid in November.

General Electric Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt’s problems have changed an awful lot in the past two years. Worry about a hidden time bomb in its financial arm has been replaced with concerns the company has built up too much cash.