Mergers and Acquisitions

Three Malaysian banks have announced plans for a merger to create Southeast Asia's fourth-biggest commercial lender and an Islamic bank.

Lions Gate has agreed to an exchange of stock with affiliates of John Malone that will see the Liberty Media Corp. chairman join the movie and television company's board.

General Electric is selling most of GE Capital as it focuses increasingly its industrial business.

Building products maker Masco is spinning off its installation and other services division in a series of moves aimed at boosting shareholder value.

Executives at the highest ranks are now taking proactive measures, including spinning off less profitable businesses and rolling out more cash to shareholders, fearing a target by activist investors. 

Verizon Communications Inc has given Tim Armstrong, chief executive officer of its AOL unit, a leading role in exploring a possible bid for Yahoo Inc's assets, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.

European telecommunications and cable company Altice has agreed to buy New York cable operator Cablevision for $17.7 billion, including debt, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Dish Network Corp. is in talks with banks about funding a bid for T-Mobile U.S. Inc. that would include as much as $15 billion in cash, in the latest sign the takeover effort is progressing.

French telecommunications group Altice SA is in talks with several banks about raising debt for a bid for Time Warner Cable Inc, the second-largest U.S. cable operator, according to people familiar with the matter.

Altice SA says it's buying a controlling stake in Suddenlink Communications in a deal that values the Missouri-based cable TV provider at $9.1 billion.

Charter Communications Inc. is buying fellow cable operator Bright House Networks LLC in a deal valued at $10.4 billion.

Liberty Global will expand operations in Puerto Rico through the acquisition of the country's second-largest cable operator, Choice Cable TV.

Nokia Corp. appears to have turned around its fortunes after the sale of its ailing cellphone unit to Microsoft, reporting a third-quarter net profit of 747 million euros ($950 million), from a loss of 91 million euros a year earlier.

A blockbuster year for deal making: 2014 is on track to see the greatest volume of M&A transactions on record thanks to 7,823 year-to-date proposals.

Sprint is replacing its longtime CEO Dan Hesse with Brightstar CEO Marcelo Claure on the heels of a report that it is dropping its bid for rival wireless carrier T-Mobile.

SoftBank cleared a major hurdle in its attempt to buy the U.S. wireless provider after Dish Network declined to make a new bid. 

To help fight a counter bid from Dish, SoftBank agreed to raise its offer for Sprint Nextel to $21.6 billion.

The proxy advisory firm has recommended Sprint Nextel shareholders vote for SoftBank's increased offer.

The satellite TV provider increased its bid for mobile-broadband operator Clearwire, beating Sprint's latest offer by 29%. Clearwire then delayed its shareholder meeting until June 13.

The companies have reached an agreement with U.S. authorities on the national security aspects of the Japanese firm's pending $20.1 billion deal.