Australia’s competition watchdog blocked National Australia Bank’s $13 billion agreed deal for wealth manager Axa Asia Pacific Holdings, opening the door for rival bidder AMP to make a comeback. Australia’s competition regulator defied expectations it would give conditional approval for a deal, instead issuing a flat rejection on the grounds a tie-up would hurt competition for retail investors.
British train and bus operator Arriva said it is in advanced talks with Deutsche Bahn about the German state rail company’s 775 pence a share bid, valuing the company at 2.7 billion euros including debt.
European consumer goods group Unilever will kick off the sale of its frozen food arm Findus next week, expecting to draw bids from private equity groups including Permira, Lion Capital and BC Partners.
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More M&A and corporate finance news from other media:
U.S. government controlled insurer AIG is considering pursuing Goldman Sachs over losses incurred on $6bln on mortgage-backed securities. The move follows the SEC’s decision to file civil fraud charges against Goldman and could spark actions from other investors who have lost money, the FT writes.
Guy Hands’s Terra Firma may ask investors for 360 million pounds – three times the amount previously suggested — to see troubled music group EMI through its debt obligations until 2015, Bloomberg reports.
