Acquisitions Monthly

| The US$60bn battles for potash intensify 23 August, 2010
The Russians are in the process of forming a US$20bn potash company by merging Uralkali with Silvinit. And BHP Billiton, the world�s largest diversified mining group, has launched a fully-financed US$40bn hostile bid for the world�s biggest fertiliser business, Canada�s Potash Corporation. Now, China�s Sinochem is studying the situation closely. Potash has even confirmed that it has been approached by �a number of third parties�.
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Acquisition Finance

Counteroffer for Cairn India looms 16 August, 2010
Cairn Energy PLC, the British-based oil-and-gas explorer, may have agreed a US$8.48bn cash deal to sell most of its 62.4% stake in Cairn India to London-listed diversified Indian mining group Vedanta Resources, but it is by no means a done deal.

Bain and Advent buy WorldPay 6 August, 2010
Private-equity groups Bain Capital and Advent International have agreed to buy 80.1% of RBS WorldPay, the world�s fourth-largest provider of card payment services and the largest in the UK and Europe, for �2.025bn by enterprise value.

MasterCard buys DataCash for �333m 19 August, 2010
Payment solution provider MasterCard agreed to buy AIM-listed DataCash for �333m (US$520m) in a cash deal aimed at boosting its secure e-commerce payment platform.

Law firms chase the global challenge 1 August, 2010
Amid consolidation pressure, legal deals are in the air. But for those law firms on the merger offensive, the hunting ground has shifted east. Quentin Carruthers reports.

Aviva resists RSA chop 16 August, 2010
UK insurer Aviva has explained today why it rejected a �5bn cash proposal from RSA which would have chopped it in two.

France Telecom targets Meditel 10 August, 2010
France Telecom, which owns the Orange brand, has Morocco�s second-largest telecoms operator, Meditel, in its sights, with reports that it could end up buying a 40% stake worth �650m. A deal could even be agreed as early as this summer.