COMPANIES

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc posted lower net income on Wednesday, as the generic drugmaker added spending to launch two brand-name medicines and saw lower revenue from its distribution unit.

The Walt Disney Co has received Beijing's nod to build a theme park in Shanghai, in a major advance for the media and entertainment company in the tough China market ahead of President Obama's first China visit.

China Merchants Securities Co won regulatory approval for an initial public offering in Shanghai that could fetch $2 billion, setting off a return of big IPOs to the mainland stock market after share prices stabilised.

Shares of Hyatt Hotels Corp will price on Wednesday and are set to start trading on Nov. 5, a day earlier than previously planned, according to some of the company's underwriters.

Direcional Engenharia, a Brazilian building company, said on Wednesday that it was seeking to raise up to 228 million reais ($130 million) through the sale of common stock in an initial public offering.

General Motors' move to scrap the sale of its Opel unit and raised forecasts from Nissan Motor Co lifted confidence in the global auto industry's recovery on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to sell half of its holding in Shineway Group, China's top meat processor, to a Chinese fund for about $150 million, earning roughly five times its investment from the landmark 2006 deal, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Fertilizer maker Terra Industries Inc rejected a sweetened $4.1 billion takeover bid from rival CF Industries Holdings Inc on Wednesday in the latest twist in a takeover battle going on since January.

Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica raised its offer for Brazilian rival GVT on Wednesday by 5.2 percent, seeking to trump a potential counteroffer by French media group Vivendi and seal a deal by the end of the month.

Merck & Co and Schering-Plough Corp said their $41.1 billion merger will be completed later on Tuesday, marking the close of the second huge deal in the pharmaceutical industry in recent weeks.

The global meltdown and resulting implosion in vehicle sales over the past year have pressured everyone in the automotive sector, creating opportunities for some players while leaving others subject to bankruptcy, consolidation or concessions.

Automotive suppliers can look forward to a wave of consolidation as businesses hit hard by the crisis seek to restructure, boost economies of scale and gain access to new technologies, industry executives said at the Reuters Auto Summit.

German and Russian leaders seethed and unions tore up a deal to cut costs in protest at General Motors' completely unacceptable decision to keep Opel, its European unit, after months of talks.

U.S. mortgage applications rose for the first time in four weeks, reflecting a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates on 30-year loans dropped below 5 percent, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Time Warner Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit, and the media powerhouse raised its full-year earnings forecast in a sign that advertising sales at networks like CNN and TBS are showing life.

Kraft faces a tougher task winning over Cadbury shareholders in its bid battle after disappointing results late Tuesday cut analyst estimates of what it could afford to pay for Cadbury.

The Walt Disney Co's breakthrough deal to build one of its signature theme parks in Shanghai marks a major advance for Western media and entertainment firms trying to crack a tough China market.

Toyota Motor withdrew from Formula One on Wednesday, leaving Japan without a team in motorsport's premier series.

Toyota Motor is set to announce its withdrawal from Formula One racing after this year, Japan's Mainichi newspaper reported Wednesday.

Kraft Foods Inc posted weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue and cut its full-year sales forecast on Tuesday ahead of a deadline to make a formal bid for British chocolatier Cadbury Plc .

The board of General Motors Co has opted to keep Opel, sources briefed on the deliberations said on Tuesday, undoing months of painstaking negotiations to sell the European unit to a Russian-backed group led by Canada's Magna .

General Motors posted its first monthly sales increase in nearly two years on Tuesday as a rebound in industrywide U.S. auto sales in October pointed toward a gradual recovery for the battered sector.

Nearly five months after Chrysler Group LLC emerged from bankruptcy under the leadership of Italian automaker Fiat SpA, Rocco Massarelli faces almost certain ruin.

Johnson & Johnson plans to cut up to 7 percent of its workforce in order to generate cost savings needed to finance increasingly costly drug research and to weather future challenges, the diversified healthcare company said on Tuesday.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to back a Senate plan to extend a popular homebuying tax credit through April and also expand its scope, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Tuesday.

Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday its U.S. sales in October rose 3 percent and it gained market share due to strong demand for cars and crossover vehicles.

Polo Ralph Lauren Corp posted a quarterly profit far above Wall Street estimates and strengthened its full-year revenue outlook, as demand for its fashions picked up as the quarter progressed.

Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday that its U.S. sales rose 3.1 percent in October from a year earlier among all of its brands, supported by sales of cars and crossovers.

Opel's labour force has agreed to contribute 265 million euros ($390 million) in annual savings if General Motors finally sells a majority stake in its European arm to a group led by Canada's Magna.