M&A

20 November, 2009

UPDATE 1-Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digest

(Adds Goldman, Barneys, Minsheng)

BANGALORE, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Friday:

* Some of Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (GS.N) largest shareholders have asked the company to cut the size of its bonus pool and pass along more of its profits to investors, the Wall Street Journal reported. [ID:nBNG411172]

* Supermarket mogul Ron Burkle and his investment arm, Yucaipa, have purchased a large amount of U.S. luxury retail chain Barneys New York's debt, the Wall Street Journal said. [ID:nBNG100509]

* U.S. regulators blocked Chinese bank Minsheng from acquiring United Commercial Bank in a deal that could have saved $1.7 billion in taxpayers' money and insurance, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. [ID:nN19201304]

* A consortium including a Middle East-based fund and a South Korean investment firm has been picked as preferred buyer for a controlling stake in Daewoo Engineering (047040.KS), a report said, in a deal expected to fetch about $2.6 billion. [ID:nSEO304541]

* Five major private equity groups are among the first-round bidders for discount retailer Matalan [MTLAN.UL], which is being auctioned with an estimated price tag of about 1.5 billion pounds ($2.5 billion), the FT said. [ID:nLK544180]

* State-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB) will "aggressively" consider buying Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS), a media report quoted KDB CEO as saying, in his first public expression of interest in the domestic rival. [ID:nSEO304869]

* Australian gaming firm Tabcorp Holdings (TAH.AX) is in talks to buy conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd's (WES.AX) more than A$200 million ($184 million) pub business as part of a strategy to diversify earnings, the Australian Financial Review reported. [ID:nSYD476897]

* India's Bhushan Steel (BSSL.BO) is looking to sell a 5 percent stake to strategic investors for about 4 billion rupees ($86.2 million), the Economic Times reported, citing an unidentified source. [ID:nBOM486196]

* Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia (AIRA.KL) plans to list on the Thai stock exchange and later in Indonesia, its chief executive Tony Fernandes told the Business Times newspaper. [ID:nKLR483627]

For Deals of the day, please click on [ID:nSP326819]

(Compiled by Purwa Naveen Raman in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)

Source: http://www.reuters.com