European Stocks May Climb, Led by BHP, Rio Tinto on Takeover Speculation

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks may rise for the
first time in three days, led by BHP Billiton Ltd. and Xstrata
Plc on takeover speculation in the mining industry after a report
that Rio Tinto Group will make a bid for Canada's Alcan Inc.

Rio Tinto shares were suspended from trading in Australia
after the Wall Street Journal reported the company is in the
final stages of an agreement to buy Canada's Alcan for $37
billion. Shares of Ericsson AB may be active after Sony Ericsson
Mobile Communications Ltd. reported the slowest profit growth in
almost two years.


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Silver Lake says going public not on radar

(Reuters) - "I'm not ruling anything out," said Glenn Hutchins, co-founder
and managing director of Silver Lake, on the sidelines of a
conference held by the Wall Street Journal. "But, look, we are
nine years old. Blackstone is over 20 years old. There's a lot
that you do in terms of developing your business over the course
of that time period. It's just not something that is on our radar
screen."




Blackstone became the first major U.S. private-equity firm to
go public, debuting last week and rising 13 percent in its first
day of trading, minting billions of dollars of new wealth for its
founders.


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Futures point higher on growth optimism

(Reuters) - Dobson Communications Corp. kicked off a fresh round of merger-and-acquisition chatter as the rural wireless provider mulls strategic options, including a possible sale, the Wall Street Journal Online reported.




Dow Jones & Co. Inc. and News Corp. are nearing a pact that would preserve the editorial independence of the Wall Street Journal if News Corp. acquired the media company, according to newspaper reports.


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U.S. Stocks Gain on Acquisitions; Shares of Alcoa, Dow Jones Lead Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose for a fourth day on
takeover speculation, including a report that BHP Billiton Ltd.
may bid $40 billion for Alcoa Inc.

Dow Jones & Co. advanced after the Wall Street Journal
reported General Electric Co. and Pearson Plc are in talks to make
a joint offer for the newspaper's publisher, possibly beating out
News Corp. CBOT Holdings Inc., the owner of the second-largest
futures market, climbed after two suitors said they may raise
their bids for the company.


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Stocks set to open higher on M&A

(Reuters) - Shares of Alcoa rose 2.4 percent in trading before the bell after the Times newspaper in London reported BHP Billiton Ltd./Plc , the world's biggest mining group, may bid for the aluminium producer.




General Electric Co. and Pearson Plc may challenge News Corp.'s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co. with a plan that could let Dow Jones's controlling Bancroft family keep an interest in the company, the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal reported on their Web sites.


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Investors Should Cut Holdings of Dow Jones & Co. Shares, UBS Analysts Say

(Bloomberg) -- Investors should reduce holdings of
shares in Dow Jones & Co., the target of a $5 billion takeover
bid by News Corp., because there is no guarantee that the
controlling Bancroft family will accept the offer, UBS AG said.

Brian Shipman, a New York-based analyst at Europe's biggest
bank by assets, lowered his recommendation for the publisher of
the Wall Street Journal to ``reduce'' from ``neutral.''


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Google acquires Feedburner

(Reuters) - Feedburner of Chicago is a pioneer in the market for delivering the latest updated information to other Web sites using technology known as Really Simple Syndication . Customers include The Wall Street Journal, BBC and Amazon.com.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Citigroup may cut 15,000 jobs: papers

(Reuters) - The proposed cuts would affect 5 percent of Citigroup's work force of 327,000, and may include attrition, according to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

Citigroup may take a charge exceeding $1 billion, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News