Letts Filofax, the Midlothian-based diary maker with 510 staff, has been acquired by Phoenix Equity Partners for £45m.... [more]

Whitbread has acquired seven Holiday Inns for £34m, and will convert them to its Premier Travel Inn brand over the next six months.... [more]

Gala has acquired 41 VCbet betting shops from Victor Chandler International for an estimated £30m.... [more]

Royal Dutch Shell has drawn up a shortlist of bidders forthe auction of its liquefied petroleum gas division. The shortlisted bidders are said to be: Total, the listed French oil company; Ultrapar Pa... [more]

Scott Tod, the listed UK automatic teller machines company, has received a tentative approach which may or may not lead to an offer, the company announced in a press release. Scott Tod focuses on sell... [more]

Caspian, the listed UK publishing group, has denied it is for sale, following reports it has hired advisors. According to one source, Caspian has been talking to Rothschild and Cavendish Corporate Fin... [more]

SkyePharma, the UK-listed pharmaceuticals group, has appointed UBS to handle the sale of its US-based injectables division. The division could command a price up to $100m. Abbott Laboratories, the US-... [more]

Ananda Krishnan, the Malaysian investor, has been tipped as the leading bidder in the auction of Earls Court and Olympia. The unattributed report said Krishnan planned to merge the Earls Court and Oly... [more]

Corus, the Anglo-Dutch steel manufacturer, will soon announce that it plans to sell its aluminium operations. Corus could secure up to £400m from the sale. Sual and RusAl, the Russian aluminium produc... [more]

Financial News, the UK-based financial newspaper, has been sounded out regarding potential takeover bids. Financial News has received four or more bid contacts in the past month, mentioning a potentia... [more]

Moneysupermarket.com, the independent UK-based shopping website, has attracted bid interest from media groups. Chief executive officer Simon Nixon has received bid approaches. No decision on the timin... [more]

Sweet China is to acquire Essential Box Confectionery, the supplier of confectionery gift products, in order to establish a trading and manufacturing base in China.... [more]

Petards has acquired European Innovation Manufacturing Centre, the camera technology company, for up to £1.8m.... [more]

BSS Group has acquired Price Tools Sales, the Birmingham-based supplier of hand-held power tools, for £8.5m.... [more]

Healthcare Homes Group has acquired Pri-Med Group, the Suffolk-based chain of seven care homes with 300 staff.... [more]

WightCable North, the cable TV and broadband company with 76 staff in Lancaster, Carlisle and Irvine, has been acquired by the owner of Netfonics for undisclosed terms.... [more]

Francis Clark of Exeter is to merge with Whites of Taunton, creating a combined accountancy group with 26 partners and more than 230 staff.... [more]

Center Parcs, the operator of four holiday villages, is to be acquired by private equity firm Blackstone for £205m.... [more]

Gilles Pelisson, the new chief executive of Accor, said the French leisure group is going to focus its strategy on two global businesses, hotels and business services. Potential divestiture of other a... [more]

It has been reported that Finning International, the Canadian distributor and servicer of Caterpillar equipment, may not abandon its struggling UK unit. Raymond James analyst Ben Cherniavsky has said ... [more]