Ranked by Forbes as India’s richest man with a net worth of $32 billion, Mukesh Ambani is no stranger to taking risks.

The move by conglomerate Reliance Industries, controlled by Ambani, to bid for bankrupt LyondellBasell is a calculated one. Markets seem to think this is a bargain and investors pushed up Reliance’s stock nearly 4 percent on Monday.

If the deal, which sources say may be worth $12 billion,  goes through, it would catapult Reliance into the ranks of top petrochemical makers such as Saudi Arabia’s SABIC, Germany’s BASF and Dow Chemical Co.

The bid comes at a time when asset prices have fallen globally in the wake of the economic crisis but there are still some lingering doubts over whether the worst is over for the global economy.

Reliance hasn’t shied away from making mega investments during downturns.

Last December, Reliance commissioned a 580,000 barrels per day refinery next to its existing 660,00 bpd plant  in the western Indian state of Gujarat, creating the world’s biggest oil refining complex just as global oil demand began to collapse.

Reliance has a cash pile of $4 billion and $8 billion in treasury stock that can be sold, so funding is unlikely to be an issue for the company, Macquarie said in a research note ahead of the bid. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is among the advisers for Reliance, sources said.

In its bid for Luxembourg-based LyondellBasell, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, after being unable to make its debt obligations, Reliance, India’s largest listed firm, with a market value of about $75 billion, might be taking advantage of the lack of any competing bids.

LyondellBasell had sales of close to $51 billion in the 2008/09 financial year, while Reliance, which has interests in petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas exploration, and retail, logged revenue of about $32 billion.

General Motors abandons a long-expected sale of Opel, saying it is now keeping its European arm rather than selling it to a group led by Canada’s Magna.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to sell half of its holdings in Shineway Group, China’s top meat processor for $150 million, earning five times its investment from a 2006 deal.

For more on these stories, and all the rest of the latest deal-related news from Reuters, click here.

And here’s some picks from the papers:

* Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) has joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) in a bid to buy $3 billion in tax credits from mortgage giant Fannie Mae, says the Wall Street Journal.

* A settlement is near in a lawsuit that could have blocked eBay Inc (EBAY.O) from selling a majority stake in Web phone service Skype to Index Ventures and other investors for $1.9 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain’s two largest retail lenders, have ageed to sell hundreds of branches and key businesses to appease EU concerns over state aid and competition.

For more on these stories, and all the rest of the latest deal-related news from Reuters, click here.

And here’s some picks from the papers:

* French investment company Wendel (MWDP.PA) has started looking for “modest” acquisitions, its new chief executive Frederic Lemoine tells the Financial Times.

* Russian-born tycoon Len Blavatnik has bought British cinema distribution business Icon Group, which owns rights to around 500 films including the Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves, Russian business daily Vedomosti says.

* Over at the New York Times’s DealBook blog, the site’s “Deal Professor” searches for themes in the M&A market, scrutinising the nine big deals announced in October.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) says its deal with EU regulators and the UK government could include “divestments not initially contemplated” as radical shake-up of the UK bank sector looms in the coming days.

For more on these stories, and all the rest of the latest deal-related news from Reuters, click here.

And here’s some picks from the papers (some external links may require subscriptions):

* Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) and General Electric Co (GE.N) are closer to a deal to give Comcast a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal and a formal announcement may be made in the coming week, the New York Times says, citing people briefed on the talks.

* German retailer Metro (MEOG.DE) is losing interest in acquiring the stores of Karstadt, the department store unit of insolvent Arcandor (AROG.DE), Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, a German newspaper says.

* Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is in talks to buy millions of dollars of tax credits from Fannie Mae (FNM.N), but the U.S. Treasury could block the deal, says the Wall Street Journal.

* British real estate developer Quintain Estates and Development (QED.L) says it is considering raising equity, after a report it will raise up to 180 million pounds ($298 million) of fresh funds from the Sunday Times.

* Lebanon may launch a public sale of 25 percent of national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) after the world economy improves and a new government backs the plan, the central bank governor told a television.

Here are this week highlights from the Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Scorecard:
INFRASTRUCTURE FUND ACQUIRES UK AIRPORT

On Oct. 21, Global Infrastructure Partners of the US, a joint venture between Credit Suisse Group and GE Infrastructure agreed to acquire London Gatwick Airport, from BAA, for $2.4 billion in cash, in a leveraged buyout transaction.

This is sixth largest infrastructure acquisition of a UK company ever and the largest UK private equity acquisition year-to-date.

FOLLOW-ON ISSUANCE UP 30% YEAR-TO-DATE

Follow-on issuance reached $467 billion so far this year, up 30% when compared to the same period last year. Some 45% of this can be attributed to financial sector activity.

This week Qatar Holding sold a 3.4% stake in Barclays via an accelerated book build worth $2.2 billion. The shares represent half of the warrants held by the Qatari state, but it still retains a 13.3% holding in Barclays.

SOVEREIGN DEBT ISSUANCE AT ALL TIME HIGH

Agency, supranational and sovereign debt issuance reached $1,677 billion this year the largest level of activity ever. This is almost treble the level of activity for the same period last year.

UK and Italy issued two sovereign bonds this week each worth $11 billion and $5 billion respectively. The UK debt issue is the third largest agency, supranational and sovereign issue year-to-date

Insurance companies are the focus of many deals pages on Thursday, with Prudential eyeing a listing in Asia, AXA moving to sell a stake in China’s Taikang and Aviva detailing its restructuring now the Delta Lloyd IPO is moving.

Other deal news today includes:

* South Korea’s Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) has agreed to buy Canada’s Harvest Energy Trust for C$1.8 billion, the Canadian company said.

* Brazilian telecoms company GVT hired the local investment banking units of Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs to help it respond to takeover attempts by two global rivals.

* Zambia has eight suitors remaining in the hunt to buy Zamtel, Zambia’s fixed-line telephone operator, a source told Reuters.

With just over two months to the end of the year, there is a sense that time is running out for getting deals done in 2009. Many of the long-running deal sagas are coming to a close, or are getting done. Overnight, news emerged that BAA has finally agreed a 1.5 billion pound sale of British airport Gatwick.

Other deal news in the papers on Wednesday include:

* U.S. Bancorp is eyeing FBOP Corp, an owner of eight banks that may be put up for sale by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the situation.

* National Express’s largest shareholder, Spain’s Jorge Cosmen, supports a merger proposal by British bus and rail operator Stagecoach, the Financial Times reported.

The end of the year looks set to be full of news of rights issues and IPOs as share investors are offered a bet on next year’s economic recovery.

The travails of UK transport firm National Express fill many of Tuesday’s business pages, with rivals First Group and Stagecoach both in the frame for a bid, while the debt-laden company finalises plans for a rights issue. For other Reuters stories on deals, click here.

Other stories in Tuesday’s newspapers include:

- Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is in advanced preparations to take rifle and ammunition maker Freedom Group Inc public, the Wall Street Journal reports.

- India’s Reliance Capital is entering into a strategic alliance with Japan’s Daiwa Securities to set up an investment banking business in India, the Economic Times reports.

A consortium led by Spain’s Cosmen family has decided against making a takeover offer for National Express after spending a month poring over the British bus and train operator’s books, Reuters reported on Friday.

In other news:

Stricken Dutch bank DSB failed to reach a deal with major Dutch banks in late night talks on Thursday aimed at finding an option for DSB’s survival, Dutch media reported.

China Merchants Bank, which is raising 22 billion yuan ($3.22 billion) through a rights issue, won’t unveil new fund raising plans over the next three years, the China Securities Journal reported on Friday, citing president Ma Weihua.

Cisco Systems plans to buy advanced wireless equipment maker Starent Networks Corp for $2.9 billion to boost its product offerings as phone carriers build out next generation networks, Reuters reports.

In other stories on Wednesday:

Royal Bank of Scotland Group is considering a government-backed plan to give up all 312 of its RBS-branded branches in England and Wales in a move to satisfy European authorities, the Financial Times says.

Las Vegas Sands, which is seeking to raise up to $2.5 billion by listing its Macau assets on the Hong Kong stock exchange, could launch the initial public offering by late November, the South China Morning Post reports.

Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on track to pay employees about $140 billion in total compensation and benefits this year, the Wall Street Journal says, citing an analysis of securities filings for the first half of 2009 and revenue estimates through the end of the year.