DealZone

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.

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):

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.

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.

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.

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.

American International Group has agreed to sell it’s Taiwan life insurance unit for $2.15 billion, a key step in its effort to raise cash after a U.S. government bailout last year saved the company from collapse, Reuters reports.

CIT Group Inc is seeing little interest from bondholders in a debt exchange offer aimed at repairing its fragile balance sheet, making bankruptcy increasingly likely, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The following other corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Tuesday: