PetroChina has reportedly agreed with its parent company China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to buy a 50% stake in CNPC Exploration & Development in a deal worth US$11.8bn. CNPC Exploration has assets in several countries including Indonesia, Venezuela and Oman. PetroChina owns the other 50% of the company and started work on acquiring CNPC's stake in mid-March,... 2008-08-26

The privatisation of Kyrgztelecom has attracted the interest of six parties. The Kyrgyzstan government announced that it would sell its 78% stake in the country's fixed-line telecom in July for a minimum of US$45mn. Turk Telecom announced on August 28 that it has placed a bid, while other potential bidders include Germany's Axos Capital, Russia's Rostelekom, and a number of local-foreign... 2008-08-28

Global inter-dealer broker (IDB) BGC Partners has expanded its global reach with the acquisition of Brazil's Liquidez. With offices in 16 countries, and only one of those in Latin America, the deal will allow BGC to serve South America's largest market and serve as a platform for further expansion in the region. Liquidez, formed in 1985, is the second-highest ranked broker in... 2008-08-28

The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced on August 25 that France's BNP Paribas has purchased a 25% stake in SAIB Asset Management, an affiliate of Saudi Investment Bank. SAIB Asset Management will change its name to SAIB BNP Paribas for Asset Management. SAIB currently invests 35% of its assets in Saudi Arabia, 34% in the UAE, 18% in Kuwait, 8% in Qatar and 4% in Bahrain.... 2008-08-27

On August 26, Hewlett-Packard finally completed its acquisition of computer services giant EDS, as it increasingly looks to rival IBM. The US$13.9bn deal is one of the largest yet seen in the technology sector, and for Hewlett Packard is second only in size to its 2002 acquisition of Compaq. Combined, Hewlett and EDS can combined revenue in 2007 of US$38bn, but the combination... 2008-08-28