France&#39;s AXA drops bid for Australian subsidiary
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SYDNEY, Oct 18  - Shares in Australian financial services group AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd tumbled Monday after its France-based parent AXA SA withdrew a AUD 3.1 billion (USD 2.2 billion) offer to take 100 percent control, dealers said.
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Dutch financial group SNS Reaal  said on Monday it will acquire the Dutch insurance operations of France's AXA  for 1.75 billion euros ($2.35 billion), which will be partly funded by an equity issue.
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Qantas Airways Ltd and Air New Zealand Ltd have abandoned their proposed alliance in its current form after it was stymied by New Zealand authorities.
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Australian nickel and copper miner WMC Resources has turned down an offer from Swiss-based Xstrata that valued the company at Aust.
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BRUSSELS : French-Belgian bank Dexia said that it has decided to terminate its plans to form an alliance with Italian bank Sanpaolo IMI.
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Australia&#39;s political leaders hunkered down on Thursday to selling their multi-billion dollar platforms for an October 9 election, pledges which have been described as a bidding war to buy votes.
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France Telecom's  Orange  unit has pulled out of the bidding for the UK Internet  connection business of Time Warner Inc.'s  AOL, an  industry source close to the matter said on Thursday.
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By Karen Attwood  The Dutch healthcare and chemicals group Akzo Nobel ditched plans to float its biopharmaceutical division in favour of a sale yesterday, triggering speculation it would next make a move on the chemicals group Imperial Chemical Industries.
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Shares in insurance company AXA Asia Pacific have tumbled after a takeover offer from its French parent company was rejected by the Australian directors.
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SYDNEY: Directors of Australian mining giant WMC Resources Ltd. have rejected a renewed A$7.4b (US$5.7b) takeover offer from British-Swiss Xstrata Plc.
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European aircraft maker Airbus SAS has withdrawn its petition to intervene in the European Commission&#39;s antitrust case against Microsoft Corp.
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Cable firm NTL  has dropped plans to bid for ITV  after its 4.7-billion-pound ($9.3 billion) proposal was rejected by the British broadcaster and rival BSkyB  swooped to take a blocking stake in ITV.
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Virgin&#39;s French arm saw the antitrust suit it filed against Apple (yes, Apple, not Microsoft) dismissed by the French Competition Council.
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Dexia SA, Belgium&#39;s second-largest financial-services company, terminated talks with Italy&#39;s Sanpaolo IMI SpA on a possible partnership, saying ``the conditions are no longer right.
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America West has pulled out of the bidding for ATA, the bankrupt low- cost carrier, the day before bids were due in, citing doubts about whether &quot;the potential value justifies the anticipated cost&quot;.
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Akzo Nobel said on Monday it was selling its pharmaceuticals unit Organon BioSciences to Schering-Plough for 11 billion euros ($14.5 billion), dropping plans to float it in a public share offer.
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Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways has rejected a 10.9 billion dollar (8.6 billion US) takeover bid from a private equity consortium, sending its shares into a nosedive.