Reuters - Deals Today

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Thursday, December 28, 2017

Brazilian regulator recommends conditional approval of Itaú-XP deal

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A unit of Brazil's antitrust watchdog has recommended the conditional approval of Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco Holding SA's purchase of a stake in financial services firm XP Investimentos SA, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

China commerce ministry conditionally approves Becton Dickinson-C R Bard merger

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's commerce ministry said on Thursday that it has conditionally approved a merger between U.S. medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson and its U.S. peer C R Bard .

Aegon to sell stake in U.S. unit to French reinsurer Scor

(Reuters) - Dutch insurer Aegon NV on Thursday said it would sell part of the remaining stake it holds in U.S. life insurance unit to France-based property and life reinsurer Scor SE .

One bidder still interested in buying airline Niki, Lauda pulls out

VIENNA (Reuters) - One bidder is left in what was a four-party competition to take over Air Berlin's insolvent Austrian airline Niki, its administrator said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

GE raises stake in Sweden's Arcam by buying shares from hedge funds

(Reuters) - General Electric Co said on Wednesday it would raise its stake in Swedish 3D printer maker Arcam AB to around 95 percent from 77 percent after buying shares from hedge funds Elliott and Polygon.

Founding family ups stake in Japan's Idemitsu to 28.5 percent

TOKYO (Reuters) - The founding family of Japanese petroleum company, Idemitsu Kosan , locked in a battle with the firm's management over a proposed integration with a smaller rival, said it had further increased its stake in the Japanese refiner by about half a percentage point to about 28.5 percent.

China's Geely turns to Volvo trucks in latest Swedish venture

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - China's Geely Holding [GEELY.UL], owner of the Volvo car brand, is buying an 8.2 percent stake in Swedish truckmaker AB Volvo from activist investor Cevian Capital, worth around $3.3 billion at current market prices.

UK office firm IWG gets bid approach from Canada's Onex, Brookfield

(Reuters) - British serviced office provider IWG Plc has received a bid approach from Canadian private equity firm Onex and Brookfield Asset Management , it said on Wednesday.

Potash Corp, Agrium win final approval to merge, forming Nutrien

WASHINGTON/CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc and Agrium Inc have received final regulatory clearance to merge, forming a new company to be known as Nutrien, the two firms said on Wednesday.

Brigade Capital hedge fund criticizes Humana-Kindred deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund Brigade Capital Management, a top shareholder in Kindred Healthcare Inc , said on Wednesday the deal by U.S. health insurer Humana Inc and two private equity firms to buy Kindred was "disappointing and grossly inadequate."