** Swiss insurance giant ACE Ltd will buy upmarket property insurer Chubb Corp for $28.3 billion to get access to wealthy clients who pay higher premiums at a time when fierce competition has cut deeply into the industry's profit margins.
** FourPoint Energy LLC, a private exploration and production company, said it would buy oil and gas assets from units of Chesapeake Energy Corp for $840 million to increase its footprint in the Western Anadarko basin in Oklahoma.
** U.S. Justice Department antitrust lawyers have opposed Electrolux AB's plan to buy General Electric Co's household appliance business, a source familiar with the investigation told Reuters.
** Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo has received expressions of interest to buy its majority stake in highway operator A4 Holding, sources close to the matter said on Wednesday.
** Lufthansa is considering selling its 13 percent stake in Luxair and has been in touch with other shareholders, including the Luxembourg government, to discuss the matter.
** Medical device supplier Patterson Companies Inc said it would sell its business that makes products that assist in a patient's recovery to private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners for $715 million.
** The chief executive of Indonesia's Surya Semesta said on Wednesday that he was considering buying Rajawali Group's entire 21 pct stake in Nusantara Infrastructure and that any deal may include a partnership with Malaysia's Plus Expressways.
** Playtech Plc, founded by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi, said it had agreed to buy currency trading platform Ava Trade for $105 million to expand its online trading platform.
** Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Sao Martinho SA said on Wednesday that it had canceled plans for a joint venture running a plant with U.S. renewable polymers company Amyris Inc, according to a securities filing.
** Power group UIL Holdings said on Wednesday it would quickly address regulators' concerns after its $3 billion takeover by Spain's Iberdrola IBE.MC was rejected by a U.S. antitrust watchdog in a preliminary decision.
** The key investor in Pininfarina and its creditor banks are still seeking to agree a sale of the indebted Italian car designer to Indian vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra , two sources close to the matter said.
** Kazakh state oil company KazMunaiGas (KMG) said on Wednesday it plans to sell 50 percent of its stake in the Kashagan oilfield to the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna and use the proceeds to reduce its debt.
** Montagu Private Equity is preparing a sale of its healthcare packaging group Centor in a potential up to $700 million deal, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
** U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group has raised its stake in Italy's Twin-Set to 90 percent and named a new chief executive, stepping up efforts to promote the fashion brand's retail expansion.
** French environmental services company Suez said on Wednesday it aims to enlarge its Chinese water and waste business and is looking for opportunities outside China through a new partnership with the city of Chongqing.
** Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc has approached Australia's Asciano Ltd with a $6.8 billion takeover bid, but uncertainty about whether the deal would go through capped gains in the stock price of the rail freight firm.
** South Africa's government has sold its stake in mobile phone firm Vodacom at a 10 percent discount to market prices to raise funds for cash-strapped power utility Eskom , the Treasury said on Wednesday.
** Chambers Street Properties said it would merge with Gramercy Property Trust Inc to create the largest U.S. industrial and office net lease real estate investment trust. Gramercy shareholders will get 3.1898 shares of Chambers Street for each Gramercy share held. The deal is worth $1.45 billion, according to Reuters calculations.
** The family that owns German car-parts maker Getrag is in advanced talks to sell a stake in the company to a North American parts maker, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Getrag, one of the world's largest suppliers of automatic transmission systems, was approached recently by a North American company with an offer of about 1 billion euros ($1.11 billion) for the stake, the sources said.
** CVC Capital Partners will back its acquisition of French smart card connector manufacturer Linxens with around 1 billion euros ($1.11 billion) of debt financing, banking sources said.
** Indian jeweler Rajesh Exports Ltd said it would finalize an acquisition on Thursday from a handful of targets that have been identified, after a local daily reported the company could buy a stake in a Swiss gold refinery for about $400 million.
** Constellation Brands Inc said it would buy the Meiomi wine brand for about $315 million.
** Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will invest $280 million to begin Jeep production in India through an expanded joint venture with Tata Motors Ltd, the carmaker said on Wednesday.
** Global private equity fund CVC and Poland's fourth-largest power firm Energa SA have submitted the highest offers to buy PKP Energetyka, an utility arm of Polish state rail company PKP, sources close to the transaction said. Both offers for PKP Energetyka are similar and exceed 1 billion zlotys ($266.4 million) as of enterprise value, the sources said.
** French gas and power group Engie said it bought 95 percent of French solar park developer and operator Solairedirect for just under 200 million euros ($222 million), which would make it the leading solar operator in France and bring it a portfolio of projects abroad.
** Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Philips are together investing up to 100 million shekels ($26.5 million) over eight years in medical device and health technology start-ups in Israel.
** Oman's Bank Sohar SAOG and Bank Dhofar SAOG have entered into a non-binding agreement on a proposed merger, the duo said, in the latest move towards consolidation in the country's bloated banking sector. The two lenders agreed to proceed with due diligence, subject to receiving regulatory approvals, they said in separate statements.
** Spanish bank Santander SA and British mobile banking software provider Monitise Plc have launched a joint venture to invest in fintech businesses, they said on Wednesday.
** Slovenia is seeking expressions of interest in the purchase of 91.58 percent of state-owned national air carrier Adria Airways, state investment company SDH, which is coordinating the privatization, said on Wednesday.
** Tanzania's competition commission has initiated a process to cancel approval for East African Breweries Ltd's 2010 acquisition of a controlling stake in Serengeti Breweries.
** Janus Capital Group Inc said on Wednesday that it had acquired a majority interest in Kapstream Capital Pty Ltd and that Kapstream's Kumar Palghat would support Bill Gross as co-portfolio manager of the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond strategy.
