Deals du Jour

Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) continues to pile cash ahead of the expected Porsche deal, one of the biggest European deals on the horizon. The giant German carmaker’s net cash stood at 12.3 billion euros at the end of June. Meanwhile, two top Porsche executives have left the company, removing further obstacles to a takeover of the firm.

In other M&A related stories reported by Reuters and other media on Thursday:

Britain’s leading institutional investors are considering options to take control of rights issues because they are frustrated by high underwriting fees and deep-discount deals, the Times said, citing one of London’s biggest long-term shareholders.

French drugs group Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to pay $4 billion to Merck for a 50 percent stake in animal health venture Merial. The group has also agreed a possible wider new joint venture that would combine the Merial business with the similar activities of the pending $41 billion merger of Merck and Schering-Plough Corp.

New York-listed Software firm Patni Computer (PTNI.BO) told Reuters in an interview that it will seek acquisitions in Europe and the Asia-Pacific to help lower its dependence on the U.S market. CFO Surjeet Singh said the company will look at targets in the range of $50-$200 million.

This item provided by DealZone