COMPANIES

Canadian grain handler Viterra Inc said on Monday it will pay shareholders of ABB Grain A$751.7 million ($652.5 million) in cash, plus shares in Viterra, to complete its takeover of the Australian company.

GM Europe is forming a group to discuss the future of Opel's plant in Antwerp, Belgium and will give details on its restructuring plan after talks are concluded, it said on Monday.

High U.S. unemployment keeps pushing up the rate of mortgage delinquencies, which could in turn drive personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures, monthly data from the Equifax Inc credit bureau showed on Monday.

Modine Manufacturing Co, a maker of heating and cooling systems for vehicles, said it has started a public offering of 9 million common shares.

First Busey Corp expects to breach two of its financial covenants, and to report a third-quarter net loss due to higher provisions for bad loans, sending its shares down 7 percent.

Biogen Idec Inc launched a hostile $355 million takeover bid for Facet Biotech Corp on Monday, two weeks after Facet's board rejected an identical offer.

Metallurgical Corp of China, the firm that helped build Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympic stadium, made a modest debut in Shanghai on Monday, in a sign that a flood of new equity is weighing on market sentiment.

Julius Baer has looked at the private banking assets Dutch bank ING is putting up for sale and is open to discussing a deal, the bank said, clarifying a press report that said Bear was no longer interested.

Electronic components-maker Molex Inc raised its first-quarter earnings and revenue forecast, citing higher orders in all key markets, sending its shares up 10 percent.

Lennar Corp reported a deeper-than-expected quarterly loss as the No. 3 U.S. homebuilder wrote down the value of land and generated less revenue than Wall Street had forecast, sending its shares down more than 6 percent.

Russian regional telecom company Sibirtelecom on Monday reported a 57.6 percent drop in first-half net profit, hit by higher operating expenses and foreign exchange losses.

Adecco currently has a opportunities for acquisitions but will keep financial discipline, the chief executive of the world's largest staffing company said in a press interview on Monday.

Vivendi declined to say on Monday what it planned to do with its 20 percent holding in U.S. media and entertainment group NBC Universal amid mounting speculation that it could decide to unload the stake this year.

Biogen Idec Inc launched a hostile bid for all shares of Facet Biotech Corp on Monday for $14.50 per share, two weeks after Facet rejected its previous proposal.

Daimler's (DAIGn.DE) chief executive is sticking to the company's long-term EBIT profit margin target of 10 percent for its Mercedes-Benz Cars division but is unclear when the company will reach it, he was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview on Sunday.

Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE) premium unit Audi (NSUG.DE) expects to reach its unit sales target for China two years earlier than previously planned, Audi's head of sales told industry publication Automobilwoche.

Wells Fargo Securities cut Starwood Hotels & Resorts IncGaylord Entertainment Co and Host Hotels & Resorts Inc to underperform from market perform on valuation.

The head of Porsche's (PSHG_p.DE) core sports car business said the company could sell 150,000 cars a year in the mid to long-term but new models would be needed to achieve this goal.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc said it expects third-quarter sales of its gel Acthar for treatment of infantile spasms (IS) to be about 20 percent lower than the 161 new, shipped and paid prescriptions in the second quarter.

Biopharmaceutical company Nektar Therapeutics said it entered into a worldwide licensing deal with AstraZeneca Plc to develop two of its experimental drug candidates.

U.S. holiday spending is expected to be flat versus a year ago, as consumers remain cautious and the national unemployment rate hovers at nearly 10 percent, Deloitte said in a forecast released late on Sunday.

U.S. Agenda at G20; Tax Evaders' Last Chance; Stocks lower on higher dollar

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Zaragoza in northeast Spain on Saturday to protest against Canada's Magna acquiring 55 percent of General Motors' Opel, Spanish media reported.

Soft drink maker Pepsico Inc said on Saturday that Michael White, vice chairman and PepsiCo International chief executive, would retire later this year after nearly 20 years with the company.

Members of the union representing more than 10,000 workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co have ratified a four-year labor deal, Goodyear and the United Steelworkers union said on Saturday.

Soft drink maker Pepsico Inc said on Saturday that Michael White, vice chairman and PepsiCo International chief executive, would retire later this year after nearly 20 years with the company.

Shareholders in Italian bank Credito Valtellinese approved on Saturday an issue of a convertible bond worth up to 625 million euros ($918.8 million) by June 30, 2010, under its capital strengthening plans.

Equatorial Guinea seeks steady oil output of 500,000 barrels per day but not necessarily membership in OPEC, the African nation's oil minister Owono Edu Marcelino said Friday.

Vivendi appears likely to sell its 20 percent stake in General Electric's NBC Universal this year, paving the way for a possible initial public offering of the studio in 2010, sources told the New York Times on Friday.