NEW YORK/BANGALORE (Reuters) – The crippled law firm Dewey & Leboeuf LLP filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday night and will seek approval to liquidate its business after failing to find a merger partner, marking the biggest collapse of a law firm in U.S. history.

Once one of the largest law firms in the U.S., Dewey has been hit by the loss of the vast majority of its roughly 300 partners to other firms amid concerns about compensation and a heavy debt load.

Dewey had warned employees earlier this month of the possibility the firm may shut down, and a person familiar with the matter had told Reuters that the firm was considering a bankruptcy filing.

“Dewey’s failure is rocking the industry in the sense that most firms are saying to themselves, if Dewey could go down, could we?” Kent Zimmermann, a legal consultant at the Zeughauser Group, said in an email Monday night.

Dewey said in a filing it had decided to wind down its business following unsuccessful negotiations with other law firms to strike a deal. It said it would ask about 90 employees to remain on staff to assist in the liquidation, which it expects to be completed in the next few months.

Negative economic conditions, along with the firm’s partnership compensation arrangements, created a situation where its cash flow was insufficient to cover capital expenses and full compensation expectations, Dewey said.

“During the first quarter of 2012, the firm was confronted with liquidity constraints that led to the precipitous resignation of over 160 of the firm’s 300 partners by May 11,” the New-York based firm said.

April 2 (Reuters) – Pinnacle Airlines Corp, parent of Pinnacle Airlines and Colgan Air, filed for bankruptcy protection late on Sunday, the latest victim of high fuel prices and dampened travel demand.

Memphis, Tennessee-based Pinnacle operates as various regional airlines – most notably Delta Connection – for bigger-name partners including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways.

Pinnacle said it would rework contracts with Delta and end flying for United and US Airways. The company also wants to cut its labor and operating costs.

The U.S. airline industry has been battered by soaring fuel costs and economic weakness that has drained travel demand. Regional carriers have felt the squeeze as their major partners cut back on flights to smaller cities.

“Quite simply, our current business model is not sustainable, as increasing operating expenses, liquidity constraints, business integration delays and difficulties associated with combining our operations have hindered our ability to maximize our growth potential,” said Sean Menke, Pinnacle’s president and chief executive, in a statement.

Pinnacle, which has 8,000 employees, flies as Delta Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. It operates more than 1,540 daily flights to 188 cities and towns in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Belize.

The company said it had received a commitment for $74.3 million of debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from Delta that would help it to carry out normal operations.

By Sakthi Prasad and Rachel Armstrong

(Reuters) – Bankruptcy threatened plantation operator Sino-Forest Corp said an independent committee had wound up its probe into allegations the firm had exaggerated its assets, but its report is unlikely to pacify investors as it left key questions unresolved.

China-focused, Canadian-listed Sino-Forest has been reeling since last June, when short-seller Carson Block and his Muddy Waters firm alleged it had exaggerated its Chinese forestry assets in what it described as a “Ponzi scheme.”

Sino-Forest shares fell more than 70 percent in the two days after the Muddy Waters remarks and have been on a trading halt since August.

The company, which remains under investigation by police and the securities regulator in Canada, said in November the investigating panel’s preliminary report had found no evidence of fraud.

In its final report, the committee acknowledged it had been unable to unravel all the questions surrounding the company’s business practices in China, including some related-party transactions, or the valuation of all its forestry holdings.

“I don’t think the report addresses most of the issues highlighted in the last one and restores investors’ confidence, it looks like it’s just trying to meet the deadline,” said Annisa Lee, Asia credit analyst at Nomura in Hong Kong.

ZURICH, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Swiss engineering group ABB said on Monday it had agreed to buy U.S. electrical components maker Thomas & Betts for $3.9 billion in cash to broaden its inroads into the world’s largest market for low-voltage products.

Under the terms of the deal ABB will pay $72 per share in cash for Thomas & Betts, a 24 percent premium over the stock’s Friday’s closing price.

ABB, which makes products used by oil, mining and utility companies, has looked to expand its presence in North America, buying industrial motor business Baldor Electric for $4.2 billion in 2010.

Thomas & Betts, which competes with companies like Cooper Industries and Hubbell Inc, makes products ranging from connectors for cables to heating and ventilation products.

The company sells many of its products to U.S. utilities, which are expected to increase spending over the next several years to build new transmission and distribution lines and bring older plants in line with new environmental regulations.

“Because our products are complementary, we’ll go to market with one of the broadest offerings in the industry,” Chief Executive Joe Hogan said in a statement.

“This is another big step toward our goal of expanding our presence in the key North American market.”

By Sakthi Prasad

(Reuters) – Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) is offering $5.7 billion (3.6 billion pounds) in cash to buy U.S. gene sequencing company Illumina Inc (ILMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) in a hostile takeover bid that marks a major play by the Swiss drugmaker into the gene technology field.

Gene sequencing is central to personalised medicine, which allows scientists to predict a patient’s response to a particular drug, both during clinical practice and in drug trials.

Roche is already the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, where gene analysis is progressing fastest, as well as a major maker of diagnostic tests.

The Basel-based group said it would offer to acquire all of Illumina’s shares for $44.50 each in cash, an 18 percent premium to Illumina’s closing price on Tuesday of $37.68 on the Nasdaq.

Roche plans to commence a tender offer because Illumina was not willing to negotiate a transaction, it said.

“Roche has made multiple efforts to engage with Illumina in order to reach a negotiated transaction, but Illumina has been unwilling to participate in substantive discussions,” the company said in a statement.

By Sakthi Prasad

(Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) offered about $5.7 billion in cash to buy U.S. gene sequencing device maker Illumina Inc (ILMN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), in a potentially hostile takeover bid to boost its position in life sciences and diagnostics.

Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies can utilize gene-sequencing on a larger scale to predict a patient’s response to a particular drug, especially during drug trials.

Roche, the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, said it would offer to acquire all of Illumina’s shares for $44.50 each in cash, an 18 percent premium to Illumina’s closing price on Tuesday of $37.68 on the Nasdaq.

Roche would commence a tender offer because Illumina was not willing to negotiate a transaction, it said.

“Roche has made multiple efforts to engage with Illumina in order to reach a negotiated transaction, but Illumina has been unwilling to participate in substantive discussions,” the company said in a statement.

The Swiss company also said it will nominate a slate of independent candidates for election to Illumina’s board.

BANGALORE/MUMBAI, Jan 24 (Reuters) – U.S.-based Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc said it bought the Australian and South East Asian generic drugs business of India’s Strides Arcolab for A$375 million ($396 million), boosting Strides’ shares by more than 18 percent.

Watson said on Tuesday it acquired 94 percent of Ascent Pharmahealth Ltd from Strides and the rest from the Australian company’s chief executive, Dennis Bastas.

Watson said the deal made it the fifth largest generic pharmaceutical company in Australia in terms of revenue, as well as the largest generic drugmaker in Singapore.

The U.S. company said it had also gained an established commercial base in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand.

Watson said it expected the transaction, funded by cash-on-hand and borrowings, to immediately add to 2012 non-GAAP earnings.

For Bangalore-based Strides, the sale of will help it cut debt by $250 million and lower its debt-to-equity ratio to 0.6-0.7 from about 1.6, Group Chief Executive Aun Kumar said.

“Post the sale, we will continue to focus on injectables and specialty businesses,” Kumar told CNBC-TV18.

BANGKOK/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Workers pouring cement into blocks in searing heat to build a new rail line northwest of Bangkok illustrate what many see as the early stages of a long-delayed Southeast Asian infrastructure resurgence.

From Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi, policymakers are dusting off ambitious plans for railways and other projects, emboldened in some cases by investment from China.

After delays brought on by the global financial crisis, at least $20 billion in projects are under construction or due to start this year, as governments focus on stimulating economic growth and attracting foreign investments.

Driven by large-scale rail projects, builders in Malaysia and Thailand such as IJM Corp Bhd and Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Pcl look set to benefit the most in the next few years, strategists say.

But Indonesia is struggling to pass a land reform bill, the Philippines faces funding problems and Vietnam grapples with red tape.

Thailand and Malaysia are believed to be in the early stages of a new infrastructure investment cycle. Contractors in both countries are posting record construction orders, strong enough to boost revenue growth over the next few years.

“We believe infrastructure spending is poised to rise sharply in the coming quarter and could remain robust in the next two to three years,” said Credit Suisse analyst Danny Goh in Kuala Lumpur.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Sime Darby , the world’s top planter by landbank size, said it expects to beat its targets for this financial year due to strong crude palm prices, better contributions from other divisions and a plan to cut non-core assets.

Sime made a commitment last year to cut non-core assets after suffering two consecutive quarters of losses owing to losses at its energy division.

As a part of its reorganization, Sime said on Friday it has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell its oil and gas-related fabrication yards for 695 million ringgit ($228 million) to state oil company Petronas .

The company was also on track to exceed its announced financial targets for 2011 thanks to higher crude palm oil (CPO) prices and better performance from its industrial and motors divisions.

CPO prices surged to levels not seen since 2008 in the first three months of the year, but have moderated due to uncertainty over the global economic recovery.

Sime reported a net profit of 820.1 million ringgit ($269.3 million) during the third quarter ending in March, compared to a net loss of 308.6 million ringgit for the same period a year ago.

Results in the year-ago quarter were hit by cost overruns totaling $656 million at Sime’s energy unit, which led to intense investor scrutiny and a number of ongoing legal suits.[ID:nSGE64N1JA]

LONDON (Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) agreed to buy MWM Holding GmbH, the German maker of gas and diesel engines, from British private equity firm 3i Group Plc (III.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for about 580 million euros ($810 million) in cash.

Caterpillar’s rich offer pre-empted a formal auction that was likely to have attracted a string of big strategic buyers, two people familiar with the matter said.

The agreement hands Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment, a company it has long coveted, having been out-bid by 3i three years ago, one of the people added.

It comes a day after Caterpillar’s Chief Financial Officer Ed Rapp told Reuters the company was prepared to use part of its $2.3 billion cash pile to strike more deals, after agreeing an $820 million acquisition in August.

And it follows General Electric Co’s (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $3 billion purchase earlier this month of Dresser Inc, a maker of gas engines used in oil production and mining.

MWM, or Motoren-Werke Mannheim, will become part of the Peoria, Illinois-based company’s Electric Power division.

MORE 3I SALES AHEAD