COMPANIES

AIG is soliciting bids for its International Lease Finance Corp after a group led by the unit's chief offered to buy a small portion of the aircraft lessor's fleet, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Kraft Foods Inc posted its offer document to Cadbury Plc shareholders on Friday outlining its cash and shares takeover bid.

American International Group Inc is soliciting bids for its International Lease Finance Corp after a group led by the unit's chief offered to buy a small portion of the aircraft lessor's fleet, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Royal Bank of Canada said on Friday that quarterly profit rose 10 percent as strong domestic banking offset losses in its big U.S. operations, but the results were not as impressive as rivals have reported.

Asia's largest wind power generator, Longyuan Power Group Corp, and China's biggest shipbuilder, China Shipping Industry, will each raise over $2 billion in initial public offerings in Hong Kong and Shanghai, testing market appetite strained by a glut of recent listings.

Japanese brewer Suntory Holdings, which is in talks to merge with domestic rival Kirin Holdings, said on Friday it will buy a U.S. Pepsi bottler and may consider more such acquisitions.

Kraft Foods posted its offer document to Cadbury Plc shareholders on Friday, triggering a 9.8 billion pound ($16.3 billion) takeover fight for the British chocolate maker.

Autumn selling boosted British housebuilders Berkeley Group and Bellway, but uncertainties such as a looming general election, unemployment and mortgage shortages are curbing enthusiasm.

Virtua's Miller said he first became interested in GE's consulting capabilities when Immelt visited during his time running GE's health care arm, before becoming CEO in 2001.

Boeing Co is urging airlines to carry out a major retrofit on over 220 of its 777 jets in the light of a series of potentially dangerous incidents of overheating and chronic structural damage to engine parts, the Wall Street Journal reported.

U.S. firearms maker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp's quarterly results beat analysts' estimates, but forecast weak third-quarter revenue as it expects demand for firearms to normalize, sending shares down 13 percent in trading after the bell.

Korean Air said on Friday it would purchase five Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental jetliners worth $1.5 billion at list prices in a potentially key deal for the successor to the jumbo jet.

Japan's All Nippon Airways said it and fellow StarAlliance members United Airlines and Continental Airlines plan to apply for antitrust immunity to allow closer cooperation on transpacific routes.

The United States may be emerging from recession but some firms are canceling holiday parties for a second year in a row and others are bragging about having fun on the cheap.

Luxury U.S. homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as revenue slumped and it wrote down the value of its land holdings, sending its shares down 7.5 percent.

Kraft Foods will post its offer document to Cadbury Plc shareholders on Friday, triggering a two-month 9.8 billion pound ($16.4 billion) takeover fight, sources with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday.

Standard & Poor's Maalot unit said on Thursday it lowered its rating on bonds issued by Israel's MA Industries to AA- from AA, citing an erosion of the financial profile of the world's biggest maker of generic agrochemicals.

Airbus sold 52 A320 single-aisle jetliners worth $4 billion in an unexpected bounce in plane demand in November, but the name of the airline betting on a recovery in depressed travel demand was kept under wraps.

SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest automaker, said on Thursday it suspended its trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as it plans a major asset restructuring.

A costly tie-up between PSA Peugeot Citroen and Japan's Mitsubishi risks landing Europe's number-two carmaker with a partner too small to exploit Asia's booming markets.

General Motors Co sees limited sales of electric cars over the next five years and will ramp up output of its much-anticipated Volt plug-in cautiously, the automaker's vice-chairman said on Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei average climbed nearly 4 percent on Thursday to hit its highest close in five weeks as exporters such as Canon Inc (7751.T) jumped on a weaker yen, while metal shares climbed after gold hit a new record.

Sweden's SKF said on Thursday its automotive business had fared better than expected so far in the fourth quarter, but warned the phasing out of incentive schemes in Europe could dent sales going into 2010.

French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen could buy a large stake in Japanese peer Mitsubishi Motors Corp as part of a plan to deepen ties to ride out the industry's worst ever slump.

Not long ago, General Motors UM.UL as the biggest company in the United States could have attracted a legion of CEO candidates, but the automaker only looked within.

Chilean retailer Hites raised $43 million on Thursday, selling a near 30 percent stake in the company in an initial public offering that the company said would help expand its businesses.

Belgian drugmaker Movetis priced its initial public offering at 12.25 euros on Thursday -- just below the middle of an indicated range of 11.25-14.25 euros, a further sign of the resurgence of the European IPO market.

Outdoor-products retailer Gander Mountain Co's third-quarter profit rose four fold, helped by higher sales at its retail segment, sending its shares up 5 percent.

Price increases put in place a year ago boosted quarterly profit at Del Monte Foods Co and prompted the company to raise its full year earnings view, sending shares up 5 percent Thursday morning.