Pity the guys who dreamt up two of Wall Street’s coolest tickers — DNA and BUD — both of which look set to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Genentech grabbed the three letters synonymous with biotechnology by being in on the ground floor of the gene revolution. Anheuser-Busch was lucky enough to have a beer brand known everywhere by one syllable. Now both look doomed.

Genentech faces a $43.7 billion bid from Roche for the 44 percent of the Californian biotech group that it doesn’t already own. Genentech is expected to succomb, albeit after a possibly sweetened offer. Anheuser has already agreed to a $52 billion takeover by InBev.

Their demise may take some of the fun out of stock trading – but investors shouldn’t despair. The thoughtful punter still has other options.

For example:

- BID for auctioneer Sotheby’s

- HOG for Harley-Davidson

- TAP for brewer Molson Coors

- JAVA for Sun Microsystems

- CAR for Avis Budget

- PZZA for pizza company Papa John’s

- BLUD for blood test group Immucor

- LUV for Southwest Airlines (after its Love Field airport in Dallas)

- LVB for Steinway Musical Instruments (after Ludwig van Beethoven)

- LIZ for Liz Claiborne

- PUB for Britain’s Punch Taverns

- WOOF for pet healthcare provider VCA Antech…does that take the biscuit?

And not forgetting the grandaddy of them all:

- T for AT&T (it stands for telephone, of course).

Genentech, meanwhile, will at least keep one thing when it becomes part of a Roche — an ultra-cool address at 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco.

(Photos: Reuters)

U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch accepted a hopped-up $52 billion takeover bid from Belgium-based InBev. InBev agreed to pay $70 per share for the maker of Budweiser, up from its original unsolicited bid of $65 per share, both companies said on Monday. The improved offer marked a 27 percent premium to Anheuser’s record-high stock price in October 2002. The deal is expected to gain regulatory approval. It would be the largest in the industry and the third-biggest ever foreign takeover of a U.S. company. Now, let the naming begin. While not nearly as bouncy as Microhoo, the union does lend itself to some intriguing combinations. The company seems to be settling on Anheuser-Busch Inbev. ABI Brewing, or ABIB, could suggest beer drinkers need to protect their shirts. The company could certainly be forgiven for seeking something more mouth friendly. Some DealZone suggestions from reporters who have spent far too much time thinking about it: InBusch, AmBusch, InBever-Busch, AmBever, BudBev or BevBud, lending itself to BevBuddies and BuddyBev.

Spain’s Santander is buying British bank Alliance & Leicester for 1.3 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in an agreed deal that will bulk up its existing UK bank Abbey. Santander, Europe’s second-biggest bank after HSBC, has long been considered a potential buyer of A&L, but has been able to secure a knockdown price after a collapse in its target’s share price in the past year. Santander said it was offering 1 of its shares for every three A&L shares, plus a cash dividend of 18 pence per share. The deal values A&L stock at 317p, compared with a 12-month high of 1,170 pence. A&L shares soared 54 percent to 338 pence by 1000 GMT after Santander confirmed the deal, reflecting the prospect that a takeover battle could ensue.

GlaxoSmithKline could pay Swiss company Actelion up to 3.3 billion Swiss francs ($3.28 billion) to develop a promising insomnia drug in the largest biotech partnering deal. Glaxo, Europe’s biggest drugmaker, beat many of the world’s top pharmaceuticals companies to partner Actelion’s sleeping pill almorexant and the deal sent the Swiss biotech’s stock soaring nearly 10 percent. “The deal terms already allow significant value to be transferred to shareholders,” said Landsbanki Kepler analyst Denise Anderson. Glaxo, which like other big drugmakers is keen to snap up promising new medicines to bolster its pipeline, had been tipped as a likely partner for almorexant, currently in late-stage clinical development. But some analysts had questioned whether it would go for the deal as it has the only other similar drug in clinical development, on hold in mid-stage trials.

Other deals of the day:
* Australian gaming company Tatts Group has said merging parts of its business with rival Tabcorp might make sense, following tougher state controls on their operations.

* An associate of India’s Kotak Mahindra Group has bought 27.76 percent stake in publisher Business Standard that was held by Great Eastern Shipping, the publisher said at the weekend.

* Israeli holding company Koor Industries said it has accumulated 8.97 million shares of Credit Suisse Group for 1.28 billion shekels ($378 million).

* Israel’s Hadera Paper said it agreed to buy 53 percent of Carmel Container Systems for $20.77 million, to bring its stake in the maker of paper-based packaging to 89.3 percent.

* United Capital Corp said its Chief Executive Officer has offered to buy the company for $23 per share in cash.

The subprime crisis has come to this: The U.S. government is considering taking over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if their funding problems worsen, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter. Fannie and Freddie, government-sponsored entities that have the implicit backing of Washington, would be placed into conservatorship, with shareholders left with little or nothing, and the losses on the $5 trillion in home loans they own or guarantee — what amounts to half of all U.S. mortgages — would be paid by U.S. taxpayers.

General Electric is set to sell its Japanese consumer finance operation to Shinsei Bank for 580 billion yen ($5.4 billion), people familiar with the matter said. The business includes a moneylender, Lake, as well as a credit card and housing loan operation. GE had previously said it was looking to sell Lake, but did not say anything about the entire Japanese consumer finance business.

How’s this for an about-face? Anheuser-Busch is in active talks to sell itself to InBev in a friendly deal, the New York Times said on its website, citing people briefed on the matter. Price seems to be a factor, with InBev seemingly open to raising its $65 per share offer, along with pressure from major shareholders like Warren Buffett. What will politicians like Sen. Claire McCaskill and presidential candidate Barack Obama say now that “America’s Beer” may be selling itself willingly?

Citigroup is selling its German retail business to France’s Credit Mutuel for more than $8 billion. The cash proceeds of around $4 billion will go to bolster Citi’s Tier 1 capital ratio, a key measure of a bank’s financial health, by 60 basis points to 9.4 percent.

InBev, seeking to avoid a lengthy courtroom battle in its takeover attempt of Anheuser-Busch, has asked a court to make a summary judgment on its suit over the removal of all 13 Anheuser board directors. Inbev had previously filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to confirm the right of Anheuser shareholders to remove the entire board without cause, and Anheuser has said it would challenge InBev’s claim. The court of public opinion may move more slowly than the one in Delaware in this case, as politicians weigh in about the potential tragedy of Budweiser becoming a little less American if the Dutch Belgian brewer’s $46.3 billion offer wins.

WPP Group, the world’s second-largest advertising company, made a hostile 1.08 billion pound ($2.13 billion) bid for Britain’s Taylor Nelson Sofres, challenging its agreed merger with GfK Holdings. TNS is the world’s third-biggest market research company with clients such as Procter & Gamble. The WPP offer has a significant amount of cash, so the lack of a premium to current prices may not bother TNS shareholders wanting to reduce exposure to the advertising environment, with the pervading frosty economic conditions. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday that Germany’s GfK was considering making a counter-offer for TNS with a co-investor to head off the WPP bid and safeguard its own deal.

Other deals of the day:

* Huron Consulting said it bought management consulting firm Stockamp & Associates for about $219 million in a cash and stock deal to expand its footprint in the hospital consulting space.

* Chinese logistics giant Sinotrans has agreed to merge with China Yangtze Transportation, the listed units of the two companies said.

* Belgian-Dutch financial services group Fortis said on Wednesday it had sold former ABN AMRO unit International Asset Management as part of a strategy to bolster its balance sheet.

* Suez Tractebel, part of France’s Suez Energy International, plans to sell its 32.8 percent stake in Oman’s United Power before next March at the government’s behest, a company official said.

* Russian electricity holding Integrated Energy System plans to raise up to $1 billion selling off non-core assets, the head of the company told reporters late on Tuesday.

* Polish media group Agora plans to take over news channel Superstacja to secure a foothold on the local television market, daily Rzeczpospolita reported on Wednesday, without citing sources.

* KPIT Cummins Infosystems said it has bought the mechanical design services of Harita TVS Technologies for an undisclosed sum.

Sovereign wealth funds meet this week to uncloak any political motivations that might lurk behind their rich capital infusions. The talks are focused on devising a code of ethics to allay Western fears and could help create transparency. Alas, most of substance is being debated behind closed doors. It is being held in Singapore, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that transparency is not a particularly high priority. The funds, controlling an estimated $3 trillion in assets, are owned by national governments and often armed with cash piles from soaring oil prices and trade. They have sunk billions into Citigroup and UBS, which were reeling from the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market. Goldman Sachs estimates U.S. and European banks may need a further capital infusion of more than $200 billion.

It’s a good thing for Anheuser-Busch that Bud Light is so popular. If Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev manages to take over the company, it will probably put it on a serious diet as it aims to trim up to $1.4 billion of costs. Employees and union officials at InBev describe the tightest of budget controls: mobile phones taken back and returned only to employees who justified a need for one; new pens given out only in return for used ones; and an elevator at the global headquarters closed for several months. The elevator is back in use now, although signs in the lobby read: “Why not take the stairs?” InBev says many such measures, and notably larger water and energy conservation efforts, also serve sustainability targets and that its cost-saving push is simply one pillar of an overall strategy also focused on boosting beer volumes.

Shares in British retailer Marks & Spencer are up on market talk of possible bid interest in the retailer. Rival department stores owner Philip Green, who was linked with a stakebuild in M&S in January, was again mentioned as a possible suitor, traders said, but some attributed the bounce to expectations for upbeat news from an upcoming M&S annual general meeting. Boss Stuart Rose, lauded for reviving the landmark British retailer just a year ago, is battling to save his job after a big profit warning and bungled management changes.

Want more evidence the credit markets are on ice? CIT completed a $100 million loan agreement with Daryl Katz for the purchase of Canadian ice hockey team the Edmonton Oilers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Katz agreed to purchase the Oilers in February for $200 million. “The debt markets have been a little finicky,” Gordon Saint-Denis, managing director of media, entertainment and sports for CIT, told the paper. “But this is a deal for a hockey team in Canada, where hockey is king, and Edmonton has been doing very well from an economic standpoint,” he was quoted as saying.

Other deals of the day:

* Spanish oil company Repsol is in talks with Russian oil major Rosneft about taking a stake in the Sakhalin-III oil and gas fields, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

* Singapore conglomerate Fraser and Neave said its property unit has bought 17.7 percent of Allco Commercial REIT and all of the real estate investment trust’s manager for S$180 million ($132 million).

* Spanish low-cost airlines Vueling and Clickair have agreed to merge, Vueling said, in a move to create a carrier better equipped to tackle stiff competition and high fuel costs.

* U.S. asset manager Janus Capital Group said it is paying $90 million cash to raise its stake in Chicago-based money manager Perkins, Wolf, McDonnell and Company to 80 percent from 30 percent.

* Ameriprise Financial, an asset manager and broker specializing in retirement plans, said it agreed to buy asset manager J & W Seligman & Co for $440 million.

* China’s Sinosteel took a big step closer to acquiring Australian iron ore prospector Midwest Corp, with Midwest’s directors lining up to sell their shares after a merger with Murchison Metals collapsed.

* Designer Roberto Cavalli has decided not to sell his fashion house, he told Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper, because prices have fallen during the financial market crisis.

Anheuser-Busch is set to reject InBev’s $46.3 billion takeover offer, a source tells Reuters. After a few weeks of stonewalling by the company and posturing by Missouri politicians, is that really such a surprise? The company’s defensive strategy will hinge on restructuring  the workforce and spinning off non-core assets like the SeaWorld theme parks, but as DealZone’s David Jones notes, those same strategies have already been offered up by InBev as a justification for its bid. Might as well crack open a few icy cold Budweisers — looks like this is going to take a while to sort out.

Fortis shareholders might also be in need of a Stella six-pack, as the Belgian-Dutch financial services group announced plans to shore up its finances with measures worth more than 8 billion euros ($12.54 billion), including issuing new shares, hitting its stock on dilution worries. Fortis will issue 1.5 billion euros in new shares plus up to 2 billion euros of non-dilutive preference shares, save 1.3 billion euros by not paying an interim 2008 dividend, and will also sell non-core assets and sell and lease back real estate. “We believe that 2008 will be a difficult year for our industry and we do not expect an improvement in the economic environment soon,” said CEO Jean-Paul Votron. “The measures announced today will help Fortis navigate through the current challenging market circumstances.”

Goldman analyst William Tanona has pulled a page from the Meredith Whitney playbook, questioning the viability of the Citibank’s dividend, predicting $8.9 billion in second-quarter writedowns, and adding its stock to the “conviction sell” list. He also said that the bank may have to issue common stock or sell assets to raise capital because regulators may forbid it from issuing more preferred or convertible securities. Citi shares were down 3.7 percent in pre-open trading.

Other deals of the day:

* BT Group is to acquire German IT services specialists Stemmer GmbH and SND GmbH.

* Swedish telecom operator Tele2 divests Tele2 luxembourg and Tele2 liechtenstein to Belgian telecom operator Belgacom for approximately SEK 2 billion.

* World number one bearings maker SKF said it had signed a deal to buy U.S.-based Peer Bearing Co for an undisclosed sum.

* Oriola-KD Oyj said it has increased its holding in Kronans Droghandel, based in Sweden from 85.62 percent to 98.13 percent.

 * Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said it will pay 780 million yuan ($114 million) for a 15.38 percent stake in China’s Evergrowing Bank.

* German chemical maker Lanxess said it planned to acquire two inorganic pigments production facilities from a previous Chinese partner, marking its first acquisition in China. 

* Tyson Foods said it is selling its Canadian beef operation to XL Foods, a Canadian-owned beef processing company, for C$107 million.

* Russian metals giant OAO Severstal agreed to acquire U.S. steel company Esmark after increasing its previous offer, which had been rejected, the companies said.

* Hedge fund SAC Capital reported that it owns a 5.3 percent stake in the common stock of Take-Two Interactive Software, publisher of the blockbuster ‘Grand Theft Auto’ video game.

InBev has timed its $46.3 billion bid for Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch well. Anheuser's shares have gone nowhere for five years, Chief Executive August Busch IV is not the leader his father was, while InBev is buoyed by strong revenues from Brazil, where the real is riding high.

That probably explains the wall of silence from the Budweiser brewer's home town of St Louis. What does it do to fight off the $65 a share bid -- sack its chief executive, sell
off its non-core assets or look for a friendly white knight?

The Busch family has had influence over the group well beyond its small 3.5 percent stake. But with hard cash on the table, hedge funds moving in and investment guru Warren Buffett sitting on 5 percent, the family no longer pulls all the strings.

It could move to sell off its SeaWorld entertainment parks and its packaging non-core assets for $4 billion, but the Stella Artois and Beck's Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev has already said it will do that anyway if its bid is successful.

And finding a friend? Well, SABMiller already owns U.S. No 2 brewer Miller, Diageo doesn't want a massive gamble on the U.S. economy and beer market, and Heineken simply can not afford it so soon after swallowing half of Scottish and Newcastle.

InBev may well have to pay a few dollars more to win, but with half its earnings coming from Brazil and the real on a roll, it is confident it can get the financing -- credit crunch or no credit crunch.

Time for a Bud?

InBev thinks so.

By Richard Cowan

Swallowing the popular American brew Budweiser in a $46.3 billion takeover is just business for Belgium’s InBev. But InBev CEO Carlos Brito found himself sipping a bottle of Bud Lite on Tuesday when he met with a Missouri senator who opposes the deal.

en. Claire McCaskill pointedly served Brito and his aides a selection of Budweiser, Bud Lite and Bud Select when they met in McCaskill’s office on Tuesday.

“I offered everyone a Budweiser. They all politely took a Bud Lite,” the first-term senator told reporters after a frosty, 45-minute meeting. “I think I’m the only one who almost finished mine.”

Also attending the meeting were Sabine Chalmers, an InBev lawyer, and lobbyist Sean Richardson, according to one of the senator’s aides. The InBev executives tried to woo McCaskill’s support for the deal to buy St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch by promising to respect and maintain the longtime Budweiser brand.

That wasn’t enough to get McCaskill hopped up on the deal’s prospects.

“Anheuser-Busch is a company that we feel connected to … as Americans,” McCaskill said. “It’s an iconic company that symbolizes something about our country that’s important to us and that a premium profit for hedge fund investors is not something that I find terribly compelling at this point.”

On Wednesday, InBev executives may get another taste of Bud when they meet with Missouri’s other senator, Republican Christopher Bond, who also opposes the merger.

InBev’s $46 billion bid for Anheuser-Busch is stirring up some Budweiser pride in the brewer’s home tome of St Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a crowd of about 100 demonstrators marched this weekend, chanting “Hell no, Bud won’t go.”

Some wore “This Bud’s for U.S.A.” T-shirts, perhaps not surprising since Anheuser-Busch spends about $475 million each year on ads that often tout Budweiser as “America’s Beer.” Rally attendee Dave White promised that he would never let a drop of Bud pass his lips if InBev, the Belgian brewing giant, was successful in its takeover bid.

“I’m not a Miller guy, so I’ll have to go with micro beers or brew my own,” he told the Post-Dispatch.

It was unclear if the people at the Budweiser rally, aimed at keeping the hometown brewery from “falling into foreign hands,” were aware of the brand’s tangled roots. “Budweiser” originally designated a resident of the Bohemian town of Budweis, part of the Czech Republic. The trademark has been in dispute since the early 20th century, due to the existence of a Bohemian brewery called Budweiser-Budvar.

As a result, Anheuser-Busch sells its flagship beer as “Bud” in France and other countries, and as “Anheuser-Busch B” in Germany. The Czech beer is sold as “Czechvar” in the United States and Canada.

Back to the protesters — they’ve set up a website, saveab.com, with an online petition where concerned citizens including Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt have committed to “joining the effort to keep Anheuser-Busch owned and operated right here in America.” Also featured is a parody Budweiser ad from a local radio station:

“It’s a condiment to the American life: A beer and a hot dog, a beer and peanuts. You Belgian guys? What do you have to offer: Beer and a waffle — won’t that taste great?”

(Photo: Teresa Prince, St Louis Post-Dispatch)

Oprah, meet Howard. Reports in the Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal say the head of the FCC will support the merger of XM, home to Ms. Winfrey, and Sirius,  where Mr. Stern holds court, removing the last regulatory hurdle to the long-awaited merger of the country’s only two satellite radio operators. Aides to the FCC chief said he decided to give his support after the companies agreed last week to concessions intended to prevent the new company from raising prices or stifling competition among radio makers, the Post reported.  As of last week there was still some static coming from members of Congress, but with the FCC backing the deal it’s unclear how they will make themselves heard.

In his first public comment on the end of the Yahoo/Microsoft merger talks, billionare financier Carl Icahn, said on Sunday the subsequent deal Yahoo forged with Google “might have some merit.” He had previously said a Google deal should be considered a secondary alternative to the Microsoft offer. “While the Google deal is not the same as an offer of $34.375 per share for Yahoo, I am continuing to study it,” Icahn told Reuters. Icahn declined to comment on whether he would continue to press his proxy battle to replace the board of Yahoo.

Belgian brewer InBev warned U.S. rival Anheuser-Busch that it should fully explore its $46 billion takeover offer before doing a deal with Mexico’s Modelo. In a letter that appeared to be aimed at Anheuser-Busch shareholders, InBev suggested that doing a deal with Modelo could impact the value of its $65-a-share takeover offer. Inbev’s Chief Executive Carlos Brito wrote to Anheuser-Busch’s CEO August Busch IV that he was committed to a “friendly combination,” and “we would expect that prior to proceeding with any alternative transaction, especially if your shareholders will not be given the opportunity to vote on it, you would first fully explore our offer and the potential adverse consequences any such transaction could have on the ability of your shareholders to receive our premium offer.”

Other deals of the day:

* French market watchdog AMF has approved the merger document of Gaz de France and Suez, removing one of the last hurdles to the utilities’ long-delayed 100 billion euro ($153.3 billion) merger.

* Shareholders in Australian miner Zinifex approved a A$4.3 billion ($4.0 billion) takeover by fellow miner Oxiana, creating Australia’s third-largest diversified mining group. The new company said it would look at any assets BHP Billiton may need to sell to satisfy anti-trust regulators in its bid to acquire Rio Tinto

* Rio Tinto dismissed concerns that it could be barred from digging a huge iron ore mine in Africa, as it builds its defense against a $180 billion bid from bigger rival BHP Billiton.

* De La Rue, the world’s largest banknote printing company, has agreed to sell its Cash Systems business to private equity firm Carlyle Group for 360 million pounds ($700 million) in cash.

* Australian oil firm Roc Oil offered to buy Anzon Australia in a deal valuing Anzon at about A$612 million ($572 million), after agreeing to acquire UK-listed Anzon Energy.

* Swiss machine maker Schweiter Technologies said it is selling its Satisloh Holding unit to French eyeglass maker Essilor International for 340 million euros ($521.3 million) in cash, boosting its shares.

* ProSiebenSat.1 has agreed to sell its Scandinavian pay-TV group to Sweden’s TV4 in a deal with an enterprise value of 320 million euros ($492 million) that will help it cut debt, lifting its shares.

* Vodka label Stolichnaya is to be put up for sale after Russian company SPI asked Lehman Brothers to find a buyer, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

* Credit Suisse said that it has won approval from regulators to set up a securities joint venture in China, which will allow it to underwrite domestic stock and bond offerings in the country.

* Enmax Corp said that it extended the deadline for the takeover of junior natural gas producer Cordero Energy as the two sides agreed to sweeten the deal with a special dividend.

* Cogeco Cable plans to acquire all the shares of city-owned Toronto Hydro Telecom for C$200 million ($194 million), the cable company said.

* Chip equipment maker Applied Materials said it remained interested in buying some businesses of Dutch rival ASM International and wants to enter discussions on possible transactions.

* ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, bought a 11.31 percent stake in the Turkish steel company Erdemir, bringing its total ownership to 24.9 percent and sending Erdemir shares sharply higher.

* Swedish engineering group Sandvik agreed to buy a 49 percent of U.S. tool maker Precorp for an undisclosed sum.

* Gemini Communication said it has acquired 51 percent stake in Chennai’s Veeras Infotek in a deal valued at 70 million rupees.

* Shares in Banco Popular fell more than 3 percent after Mexican telecoms company Axtel denied reports that it or its chief executive could buy a stake in the Spanish bank.

* French catering and services company Sodexo said it had bought a 90 percent stake worth 23 million euros ($35.3 million) in Yachts de Paris, which operates cruises on the river Seine in Paris.

* The Philippines rebuffed an offer to sell its 40 percent stake in oil refiner Petron Corp to investment fund Ashmore Group for around $550 million, saying it wanted a higher price.