DealZone

German automaker Volkswagen has revealed it has amassed a $20-billion war chest it intends to use to finance its ambitious Strategy 2018, VW finance chief Hans Dieter Poetsch told Reuters.

Analysts expect the majority of VW’s cash reserve to be used to bid for the 70 percent of German truckmaker MAN it does not already own and to possibly buy the Porsche AG sports car business and Austria’s Porsche Holding. Even with those three purchases, VW would still have money left over.

Bernstein analyst Max Warburton told Reuters the $22.9 billion cash pile Poetsch claimed the company has accrued is “a ridiculous level of liquidity” unless VW aimed to top up its underfunded pensions or pursue M&A plans.

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Rental car rivals Avis and Hertz were also kicking the tires on their respective takeover bids for the Dollar Thrifty Rental Group, according to New York Times DealBook blog contributor Stephen Davidoff. The latest news had Avis Budget Group matching Hertz’s initial takeover offer with their own with Avis CEO Ronald L. Nelson submitting a letter to the Dollar Thrifty board requesting  “removing the matching rights, eliminating the break-up fees, and increasing the commitment to secure antitrust approvals” in any future Hertz bid.

Davidoff argues the motivation behind the unusual Avis request signifies “it fears being stuck in a never-ending bidding war in which Hertz is able to outbid the company by one penny every time, safe in the assumption that Hertz still can pocket the termination fee even if it loses.”

Kraft Foods Inc sweetened its offer for British confectioner Cadbury, lifting the cash component of its $10 billion hostile bid by 60 pence a share. While a sweetened offer was widely expected, less anticipated was a deal by the U.S. food giant to sell its North American Pizza unit to Swiss rival Nestle for $3.7 billion. Nestle has since ruled itself out of the race for Cadbury, ending speculation about one potential rival bidder.

Nestle had fanned the flames of speculation with a deal to sell its majority stake in eye care firm Alcon to minority partner Novartis, but it’s now clear the money is not destined for Cadbury shareholders.

French oil company Total signed a $2.25 billion deal to take a 25 percent stake in Chesapeake Energy’s Barnett Shale gas fields in north Texas, following similar investments by U.S. and European rivals in North American shale gas.

Nobody ever got poor betting on Chinese demand for gambling, though the big players in Macau have seen a few busted flushes along the way. With more than a billion fatalists eager to hit the tables, and only one place to do it (Macau is China’s only legal gambling venue), it’s not hard to see the case that Wynn Macau and Las Vegas Sands are making for Hong Kong investors. It’s the same story Hong Kong and Macau magnate Stanley Ho has made for decades.

Wynn Macau’s $1.63 billion Hong Kong IPO, the sixth-largest in the world this year, was considered rich, despite the hype and that “sure thing” ring. After all, the colony is covered with half-finished projects and other remnants of the last time this too-good-to-be-true investment turned out to be what it was.

Wynn Macau shares ended 6 percent higher on Friday, valuing the casino giant at $6.9 billion. The solid debut bodes well for rival Las Vegas Sands, which plans to raise up to $2 billion in a Hong Kong offering for its Asia assets, most notably in Macau.