** Britain has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group Plc to below 16 percent, taking the total raised through the sale of the government's shares in the bank to more than 12.5 billion pounds ($19.5 billion).
** German potash miner K+S rejected Potash Corp of Saskatchewan's 7.9 billion euro ($8.7 billion) takeover bid on Thursday, saying it was too low and that the Canadian suitor could be planning to dismantle the company, putting jobs at risk.
** Mondelez International Inc said it was in talks with multiple parties for the sale of French coffee brand Carte Noire to address European antitrust concerns as it closed a deal with D.E Master Blenders to create the world's biggest standalone coffee company.
** Brazil's JBS SA, the world's largest meat packer, said in a presentation on Thursday that it expects relevant synergies of more than $75 million from its $1.45 billion acquisition of Cargill Inc's U.S. pork assets.
** Dutch lender ING Group is set to win the auction to buy HSBC's Turkish business, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
** Qatar National Bank and Bahrain's Arab Bank Corp did not follow up early interest in acquiring HSBC's Turkish business because they are more interested in National Bank of Greece's Turkish arm Finansbank, two people familiar with the matter said.
** Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever is to buy U.S. skincare company Murad, its fourth premium skincare deal in recent months.
** Yelp Inc, operator of consumer review website yelp.com, had temporarily decided not to pursue a sale, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
** Poland does not plan a rapid sale of shares of insurer PZU, bank PKO BP or utility PGE to finance the state investment project Polskie Inwestycje, Deputy Treasury Minister Wojciech Kowalczyk said in a statement.
** The head of Sweden's Electrolux said he believed a $3.3 billion deal to buy the GE Appliances business could be salvaged after the United States moved to block it.
** Portugal has agreed to sell the operating rights for the Lisbon Oceanarium for a larger-than-expected 114 million euros ($127 million), helping to meet some of the debts of the public company that managed it.
** China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) has secured European Union antitrust approval for its 7.1-billion-euro ($7.86 billion) bid for Italian tire maker Pirelli & C SpA , creating a global leader with a 10 percent market share.
** U.S. health insurer Centene Corp will buy smaller rival Health Net Inc for $6.3 billion, underscoring the healthcare industry's rush to bulk up to negotiate better prices with suppliers and hospitals, and attract new customers.
** Carlyle Group LP and MBK Partners are among the shortlisted bidders for Tesco Plc's South Korea business which is valued at about $6 billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
** Buyout firm Kelso & Co is in advanced discussions to acquire US LBM Holdings LLC, in a deal that could value the U.S. building materials distributor at around $1 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
** PayPal Inc said it would buy digital money transfer provider Xoom Corp for $890 million as it muscles into a growing international remittance market and expand in countries such as Mexico, India and China ahead of a spinoff from eBay Inc.
** Morocco's Platinum Power, a subsidiary of U.S. private equity firm Brookstone Partners, plans to invest 500 billion CFA francs ($845.9 million) to build a hydroelectric project in Cameroon, the company said.
** Spanish travel technology company Amadeus IT Holding SA said it would buy Navitaire, a subsidiary of Accenture Plc, for $830 million, to focus mainly on digital services for airline passengers.
** U.S. video content developer Scripps Networks Interactive Inc has completed its purchase of a 52.7-percent stake in Polish broadcaster TVN SA from local holding ITI and Vivendi's Canal+ Group, the sellers said on Thursday.
SNI unit Southbank Media paid 584 million euros ($646.4 million) for the stake and SNI will assume debt worth 856 million euros.
** The planned sale of the Philippine government's majority stake in United Coconut Planters Bank has drawn interest from U.S. private equity companies and domestic conglomerate San Miguel Corp, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
** Australian investment manager Challenger Ltd said on Thursday that it sold its 25 percent stake in global fixed income fund manager Kapstream Capital Pty Ltd to Janus Capital Group Inc for A$45 million ($34.4 million).
** Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA agreed to sell its 20 percent interests in the Bijupira and Salema oil and natural gas fields in Brazil's Campos Basin northeast of Rio de Janeiro to Petro Rio SA for $25 million, according to a statement.
** British electrical goods and mobile phone retailer Dixons Carphone Plc has sealed a deal with Sprint Corp, the U.S. mobile network operator, that could see it open and manage up to 500 Sprint-branded stores in the United States.
** Qatar Navigation QSC (Milaha) said on Thursday its unit Qatar Shipping Company had acquired the remaining 60 percent interest in two firms which own Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers from France's Societe Generale.
** Indonesian state energy firm Pertamina said it was considering acquiring a 60 percent stake in engineering contractor Rekayasa Industri (Rekind), among efforts to improve its engineering resources.
** The chief executive of Indonesia's Surya Semesta said on Wednesday that he was considering buying Rajawali Group's entire 21 percent stake in Nusantara Infrastructure Tbk PT and that any deal might include a partnership with Malaysia's PLUS Expressways International Bhd .
** John Fredriksen will merge tanker companies Frontline Ltd and Frontline 2012 Ltd, the Norwegian shipping tycoon announced on Thursday.
** Norway's Statoil ASA and Lithuania's Lietuvos Energija plan to join forces to develop a small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply operation, competing with Finnish gas utility Gasum.
