purchase

Home and auto insurer Allstate is buying Esurance and Answer Financial from White Mountains Insurance for about $1 billion. Allstate Corp. says the deal will help it tap consumers who prefer certain brands along with consumers who want choices among insurance carriers.

Last week, power-plant operator Dynegy agreed to be acquired by top shareholder Icahn Enterprises for about $665 million. But Dynegy's second-largest shareholder, hedge fund Seneca Capital, rejected the bid, calling it "the wrong price at the wrong time for the wrong reasons."

Power plant operator Dynegy has agreed to be acquired by Icahn Enterprises for $5.50 per share in cash, or about $665 million. Dynegy has about $3.95 billion of outstanding debt, net of cash. The agreement follows a recent failed bid from private equity giant The Blackstone Group.

Hyundai Group landed a preliminary $4.8 billion deal to purchase South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., that nation's largest contractor, but concerns over whether Hyundai Group can pull the financing together is raising questions among top investors.

More than two years after beginning the acquisition process, Swiss pharmaceutical Novartis said Thursday that it had completed the purchase of a 77% stake in U.S. eye-care company Alcon from food giant Nestlé, paying $28.3 billion for the remaining 52% of Alcon that Nestlé owned.

Bank of America Corp (BAC) and Visa Inc. (V), the world's largest payment processor, will begin a test program next month that allows consumers to pay for purchases in shops using their smartphones. The program will run from September through the end of 2010 in the New York area, Reuters...

In an effort to boost sales, Chrysler said Thursday it is expanding a program that allows customers to return new vehicles within 60 days if they aren't happy with their purchase. In addition, the automaker is also offering zero-interest financing on most 2010 vehicles.

Pharmaceutical firm Sanofi-Aventis is preparing a major acquisition in the U.S. worth $20 billion or more, according to Bloomberg, which cited five people with knowledge of the situation.

Computer maker Dell has signed an agreement to purchase privately-held software company Scalent for an undisclosed price, the company announced Thursday. Scalent's virtualization software solutions provide dynamic IT infrastructure to businesses.

Several weeks ago, Oracle (ORCL) said that Sun Microsystems (JAVA), which it is in the process of buying, is losing $100 million a month due to EU delays in approving the deal. That is not surprising. Sun is in the very competitive business of selling servers to businesses, and it's nowhere near...