“The founder of Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is preparing to make a fully financed offer for the company no later than this Sunday. The offer is expected to be in the range of $5 billion to $6 billion.

According to a report at the StarTribune, Best Buy founder Richard Schulze has lined up financing from bankers and private equity investors, including Cerberus and Leonard Greene & Partners.

When Schulze first made some noise about acquiring the floundering big-box electronics retailer, shares were above $20 and it was generally believed an offer of around $25 a share would be needed to get the deal down. Best Buy’s shares fell below $12 in mid-November, and a per share price of around $17 may get the deal done…”

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“Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) offered to take over its Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) in a $2.1 billion deal, ending a four- year joint venture that struggled to build a nationwide network capable of challenging Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. (T)

Sprint, which already owns more than 50 percent of Clearwire, is seeking to acquire the remaining shares at $2.90 each, according to a regulatory filing today. That’s 5.5 percent more than the stock’s closing price in New York yesterday. Sprint proposed to provide interim financing of as much as $800 million to help keep the money-losing Clearwire afloat.”

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“GrainCorp Ltd. (GNC), the largest grain handler in eastern Australia, rejected Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM)’s higher A$2.8 billion ($3 billion) bid as too low.

“The increase in the proposed price has not changed the board’s view that ADM’s proposal materially undervalues GrainCorp,” the Sydney-based company said today in a statement. “GrainCorp’s board will be constructive in any dealings in relation to proposals that have the potential to be in the best interests of shareholders.”

ADM raised its bid by 3.8 percent last week as it seeks control of the only major publicly traded grain merchant in Australia. A successful deal would give the world’s largest corn processor control of seven of the eight ports that ship grain in bulk from the east coast of Australia, the second-biggest wheat exporter.

“It was very unlikely that GrainCorp would get won over by such a small sweetener,” Peter Esho, Sydney-based chief market analyst for City Index Ltd., said by phone. “While the momentum is behind the business I think shareholders will be quite pleased to let the board either seek out another interested party or continue to talk up the business.”

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“Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (8306) is poised to announce the 39 billion yen ($471 million) purchase of Bank of America Corp. (BAC)’s stake in their Japanese private banking venture, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

The purchase of the 49 percent holding in Mitsubishi UFJ Merrill Lynch PB Securities Co. will be announced as soon as tomorrow, pending final approval from the boards of both companies, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. Japan’s biggest lender will own the whole private bank through two subsidiaries, they said…”

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“LONDON (Reuters) – Diageo , the world’s biggest spirits maker, has pulled out of talks to buy a stake in top-selling tequila brand Jose Cuervo in a surprise move that could slow its race into fast-growing emerging markets.

The collapse of discussions with Cuervo, which has a distribution deal with Diageo due to end in June 2013, will leave Diageo without a major tequila brand and Cuervo without a leading distributor.

It could fuel speculation Diageo will seek a deal with U.S. group Beam , home of the world’s No.2 tequila brand Sauza, while an industry source said French rival Pernod Ricard might now link up with Cuervo.

Faced with sluggish growth in recession-hit European economies, Diageo has been looking to tap burgeoning middle classes in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where it aims to make around half of its turnover by 2015….”

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“Honeywell International Inc. said it’s buyingIntermec Inc., an Everett maker of radio frequency identification (RFID) products, for $600 million.

New Jersey-based Honeywell will pay $10 per share for Intermec (NYSE: IN). Shares in Intermec were up about 23 percent, or up $1.83 to $9.79 in pre-market trading.

In May, after reporting a first-quarter adjusted loss of $12.7 million, or a loss of 21 cents per share, Patrick Byrne, president, CEO and board member was replaced by an interim CEO, Allen Lauer. Intermec said it is suspending its search to find a permanent CEO. In June, the company slashed 7 percent of its workforce, or 170 jobs…”

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“A Chinese group agreed to buy 80.1 percent of American International Group Inc. (AIG)’s plane-leasing unit for $4.23 billion in the nation’s largest acquisition of a U.S. company.

The International Lease Finance Corp. acquirers, led by New China Trust Co. Chairman Weng Xianding, have an option to buy another 9.9 percent, New York-based AIG said today in a statement. The transaction, which values ILFC at $5.3 billion, passes China Investment Corp.’s $3 billion purchase of a stake in Blackstone Group LP (BX) in 2007 as the biggest Chinese-U.S. deal.

The acquisition gives the group control of the world’s second-largest aircraft lessor as rising travel in China and Asia spurs demand for planes. AIG, which counts the U.S. government as its largest investor, is selling the Los Angeles- based unit as Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche focuses on insurance operations and works to reduce debt….”

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“Canada’s approval of two Asian takeovers worth $20 billion may spark more foreign acquisitions of natural gas producers in the country while capping state- owned control of Alberta’s oil sands.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper approved China-owned Cnooc’s Ltd.’s $15.1 billion bid for Nexen Inc. (NXY) and a C$5.2 billion ($5.2 billion) offer for Progress Energy Resources Corp. (PRQ) by Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s state-owned energy company on Dec. 7. At the same time, Harper unveiled foreign investment guidelines to prevent future takeovers of oil-sands companies by state-owned companies, except under “exceptional circumstances.”

“Canada is open for business but it’s not going to be a garage sale,” Robert Cooper, an analyst at Haywood Securities Inc., said by phone from Calgary. Cooper highlighted Painted Pony Petroleum Ltd. and Tourmaline Oil Corp. as takeover candidates in the gas sector. “If I was a betting man and that’s where you were in the markets, those names will catch a bid.”

The two takeovers tested Harper’s ability to balance the need to bolster economic relations with Asian economies without letting them gain too much influence over the world’s third- largest pool of proven oil reserves…”

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“Suntory Holdings Ltd., the closely held Japanese whiskey and beer maker, is exploring the possibility of making an offer for the U.S. distiller Beam Inc. (BEAM), according to an official of the Osaka-based company.

Suntory has held talks with Diageo Plc (DGE) about a potential joint offer, though the two aren’t currently in discussions and the Japanese company can make a bid by itself, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.”

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“PHOENIX & HOUSTON & NEW ORLEANS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP) and McMoRan Exploration Co. (MMR) announced today that they have signed definitive merger agreements under which FCX will acquire PXP for approximately $6.9 billion in cash and stock and FCX will acquire MMR for approximately $3.4 billion in cash, or $2.1 billion net of 36 percent of the MMR interests currently owned by FCX and PXP. Upon closing, MMR shareholders will also receive a distribution of units in a royalty trust which will hold a 5 percent overriding royalty interest on future production in MMR’s existing shallow water ultra-deep properties.

The combined company is expected to be a premier U.S.-based natural resource company with an industry leading global portfolio of mineral assets, significant oil and gas resources and a growing production profile.”

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“Sharp Corp. (6753), the Japanese TV maker that warned last month about its ability to survive, reached a two-month high after saying it plans to raise as much as 9.9 billion yen ($121 million) selling shares to Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM)

Sharp, the world’s second worst-performing major stock, rose 4 percent to 181 yen in Tokyo trading, its highest close since Oct. 4. The Osaka-based company will sell 30.12 million shares at 164 yen apiece to Qualcomm this month for a 2.6 percent stake, and may sell another 4.94 billion yen of stock if certain conditions are met, the TV maker said in a statement after the market closed yesterday.”

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“Baxter International Inc. BAX -1.29% agreed to buy Swedish medical-equipment maker Gambro for 26.5 billion Swedish kronor ($4 billion), in what would be the biggest acquisition in the U.S. company’s history, as it aims to bolster its position in the growing market for kidney-dialysis products.

The deal, if completed, would combine Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter, the world’s second-largest maker of dialysis equipment by revenue, with Gambro, the third largest.

Buying Gambro, which has been owned by two Nordic private-equity firms since 2006, would enable Baxter to round out a kidney-dialysis business that is focused on a form of dialysis called peritoneal, which can be performed at home. Gambro, meanwhile, is one of the largest makers of equipment for hemodialysis, which is generally performed in a hospital or clinic.

More than 2 million patients around the world receive some form of dialysis, with treatment rates growing by more than 5% a year, partly because of increased rates of diabetes and hypertension, Baxter said in a statement issued jointly with Gambro Tuesday announcing the deal. Baxter added that the deal will enable it to expand Gambro’s business in high-growth parts of Latin America and Asia, where the U.S. company has steadily widened its peritoneal-dialysis footprint.”

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“(Reuters) – Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) is unlikely to make a counteroffer for MetroPCS Communications Inc <PCS.N, as it focuses on closing its $20.1 billion deal with Japan’s Softbank Corp (9984.T), three people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless service provider, and Softbank, a mobile operator, announced in mid-October that the Japanese company would buy up to a 70 percent stake in Sprint.

Sprint thinks that making a bid for MetroPCS, which agreed to a takeover by Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile U.S.A., would complicate the ongoing regulatory review of its deal with Softbank, the people said.

Sprint, however, remains interested in U.S. consolidation and may revisit a potential deal after it secures approval for the proposed investment by Softbank, the people said. The people asked not to be named because the matter is not public.”

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“Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL)’s purchase of a stake in Israel’s largest natural gas deposit takes Asia- Pacific oil and gas acquisitions to a record $99 billion this year, tying the U.S. for the first time.

Australia’s second-largest petroleum producer yesterday said it will pay partners including Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) an initial $696 million and as much as $2.3 billion for part of the Leviathan field. Deals by U.S. energy companies have fallen 35 percent to $98.7 billion in 2012, while Asia-Pacific purchases increased 3.8 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”

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“U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) this morning announced that it has increased its offer for Australian grain grower and marketer GrainCorp from AUS$11.75 (about US$12.25 at today’s exchange rate) to AUS$12.20 (about US$12.72). Current GrainCorp shareholders would be allowed also to keep the company’s dividend payment of AUS$0.35 that was announced on November 15.”

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“Facebook could bid to acquire WhatsApp, the mobile messaging app, as it aims to extend its mobile reach.

The rumoured acquisition, reported by TechCrunch today, comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared last month that the future of his company lay in mobile devices.

“The big thing is obviously going to be mobile,” Zuckerberg told BusinessWeek in early October. “There are 5 billion people in the world who have phones.”

WhatsApp is an app that allows users to message one another via smartphone over the internet, and aggregates users’ contacts from email, chat and social networks.”

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“LONDON—Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL -0.50% has approached Singapore Airlines Ltd.C6L.SG +0.75% to discuss buying its 49% stake in British carrier Virgin Atlantic Airways, three people familiar with the situation said Sunday.

The Asian carrier has been considering selling its stake in Virgin over the past five years and has held talks with a number of airlines including Delta in the past. The people familiar with the talks said there was no certainty they would succeed this time.

A spokesman for Singapore Airlines said: “We review our investments regularly, but no decision has been made about a divestment of our shareholding in Virgin Atlantic.”

Singapore bought its minority stake in Virgin from founder Richard Branson in 2000 for £600.3 million ($962 million).”

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“MADRID—Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRKB -0.34% will pay CaixaBank SACABK.MC +0.89% €600 million ($778.7 million) for the future cash flow from a portfolio of life insurance policies, the Barcelona-based bank said Friday, a rare dip into a fiscally stressed euro-zone country for the investment firm run by Warren Buffett.

CaixaBank—a lender that, like many of its Spanish competitors, has large insurance operations—said the reinsurance agreement will result in a one-off gain of €524 million for the bank, reinforcing its capital core.

A spokesman said the bank contacted a number of reinsurers on the possible deal after the summer. CaixaBank will continue handling the policies, the spokesman said, adding that the deal will have no commercial impact on its insurance operations.

CaixaBank is one of Spain’s strongest banks, but its operations have been hurt by the collapse of the country’s real estate market nearly five years ago. The ensuing economic crisis resulted in a decrease of new lending by the bank and the depreciation of its asset portfolio, including a stake in oil firm Repsol REP.MC -0.90%.”

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“BP Plc (BP/), the energy producer that’s disposing of assets in the wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, sold stakes in North Sea fields to Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) for $1.1 billion.

Taqa, as the state-controlled power and oil company is known, will acquire interests in BP’s Harding, Maclure and Devenick fields, BP said in a statement today. The deal also includes non-operated interests in the Brae and Braemar fields. The price doesn’t include future payments dependent on oil prices and production that BP expects to reach $250 million.”

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