French investment firm Wendel and Nordic Capital are the remaining bidders for Germany's medical patch maker LTS Lohmann. The acquisition deal could bring in EUR1.2 billion to the company owned by Novartis, BWK and German tycoon Dietmar Hopp.
Japan
SwissRe projects emerging markets driving growth in 2014-2015
SwissRe's recent report titled "Global insurance review 2013 and outlook 2014/15" provided an otherwise positive global economic outlook, which was a good sign in the non-life business as more people will seek financial protection for their properties.
Bank of Japan's bond purchases can absorb a planned bond sale of Government Pension Investment Fund - dealers
Because Japan's central bank absorbs JPY7 trillion worth of debt, primary dealers of Japanese government bonds are not concerned over plans of Government Pension Investment Fund to reduce its government debt holding.
Toshiba to takeover OCZ in bankruptcy sale
Japanese chipmaker Toshiba offered to acquire solid-state hard drive maker OCZ Technology Group Inc. in a planned bankruptcy proceeding. The California-based company will immediately file for bankruptcy and liquidate if the deal with Toshiba falls apart.
Top deals of the day - bids, mergers and acquisitions
The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Wednesday including Sinopec, Apache, AMR, US Airways, Deutsche Bank, EDF, Oxford, Andor, Bank Zachodni WBK, Shuanghui, Campofrio, OCZ, Toshiba and CVS Caremark.
Latest News
Line, a message app based in Japan, proudly announced at a press conference in Tokyo that it has added another 100m people to its registered user count, totaling the number of registered users since its launch at 300 million. It hopes to hit 500 million registered users by 2014.
The Japanese government is set to launch the Cool Japan Fund which aims to use USD1 billion of public funds to boost the exports of certain foods, drinks, fashion, animated movies, and other products.
Japan's Fast Retailing Co. is planning a secondary public offering in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange next year. If successful, the Tokyo-listed retail holding company would become the third Japanese company to list in Hong Kong.
Following a nuclear deal reached in Geneva, the European Union has removed the ban on insuring tankers transporting Iranian oil. The EU also agreed to release USD4.2 billion in frozen oil assets and permit Iranian crude exports to continue at its current levels.
A survey taken by professional services company Ernst & Young has shown that India has toppled China from the top spot as the world's most attractive destination for investments.
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection to treat macular edema following Central Retinal Vein Occlusion, expanding Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc's reach in the Asian market.
The partnership of Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy with Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) would lead to the building of integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) stations in Fukushima.
Sony Pictures Entertainment executives announced that it would cut down the number of films it produces per year and will focus instead on higher-margin television production and operating TV channels.
Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc. and British Intermediate Capital Group Plc agreed to form a joint venture to provide mezzanine debt to be used for acquisitions.
