One of the top parlor games among undertakers reporters covering the newspaper business is figuring out who would buy The Boston Globe if The New York Times Co ever decided to sell it.

That game might get harder to play, now that the top candidate is out of the running. Here is the Globe’s competitor, the Boston Herald, with the scoop (see the second item):

A group of Boston businessmen that included Connors and former GE chief Jack Welch had “expressed interest” in negotiating with the New York Times Co. to buy the Globe. Welch and Connors were willing to pay between $500 and $600 million, but the Times wasn’t interested.

…
Connors told MediaBiz he’s retired and Welch is showing signs that he wants to spend more time in New York. “I’m fully retired now and engaged in a lot of philanthropy,” Connors said, “and the industry hasn’t gotten any healthier.”

Rack up Connors and Welch with Cheryl Chase, whose family-owned real estate development firm Chase Enterprises had been the only group to step forward to buttonhole Tribune Co for the Hartford Courant. She told Reuters in May that the business isn’t good enough to make a purchase worthwhile.

Then look at the other development in newspaper M&A this week: Rupert Murdoch said that News Corp unit Dow Jones & Co would sell the remaining local papers in the Ottaway chain, but those papers reported that he’s pulling back.

Conclusion: You know things are bad in the newspaper business when it’s cheaper to keep the albatross.

(Photo: Reuters)

And then there were two.

With the demise today of the takeover deal for casino and racetrack operator Penn National Gaming Inc, the last big leverage buyouts still waiting to be put out of their misery are the takeovers of chemicals company Huntsman Corp and Canadian phone company BCE Inc.

The $6.1 billion takeover of Penn National died after the buyers, Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners, and their lenders were unable — or unwilling — to come to terms and save the deal.

It seems the Grim Reaper had shed his hood and plowshare, and taken out his calculator to see how much money he wouldn’t lend buyout firms, and reinvented himself as the ghastly Credit Crisis.

The Grim Reaper has been a busy boy, making his way down the LBO “death list” of imperiled deals like a prison warden picking off death row prisoners one by one. In the past year, his deadly touch has killed eight LBOs worth a total of $56 billion, including the $8 billion deal for audio equipment maker Harman International Industry and the attempted $25 billion buyout of student lender Sallie Mae.

The last major LBOs still standing are the Huntsman and BCE deals. But even those deals are in the intensive care unit.

The battle over BCE’s $34.1 billion buyout could continue through the end of the year as the banks funding the deal press for economic concessions, such as the interest rates paid and the covenants or safeguards put on the loan, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Huntsman, meanwhile, is locked in a legal battle with Hexion Specialty Chemicals and private equity firm Apollo Management. The Grim Reaper may have a bit more work to do though if he wants to kill the $6.5 billion LBO of Huntsman since the European Union just okayed the deal.

Let’s hope the BCE and Huntsman heed the advice of 70’s arena rock group Blue Oyster Cult: Don’t Fear the Reaper. 

As airlines try to cut costs and stay afloat without consolidation, more of them are looking at alliances that seek antitrust immunity as an alternate to mergers.

Airline alliances allow partners to streamline costs while sharing revenues. Without antitrust immunity, the data and revenue shared on the routes would normally be considered collusive.

The question is, will all these alliances get the green light from regulatory authorities? That’s anyone’s guess. But it’s likely that they will, at the very least, have a long taxi before hitting the skies.

After Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines agreed to merge in April, creating the world’s largest airline, U.S. airlines have been scrambling to find ways to streamline themselves. Without mergers.  

Last month, Continental Airlines and United Airlines announced a co-operation plan of their own and today, sources said joint venture talks between American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia Lineas Aereas are picking up steam and the three parties could announce an agreement in the next week or so.

Their plan is to apply for antitrust immunity as soon as they sign off on a deal, one source said. But one would think they are likely to run into obstacles to get approval.

American, the largest U.S. airline, and British Airways have tried and failed to gain anitrust immunity twice before, but are now likely to argue a case with U.S. regulators that the competitive landscape has changed due to the “Open Skies” agreement.

That agreement between the United States and the European Union came into force in March, allowing airlines to access any U.S. city from any point in the EU and vice versa.

So their argument would say the agreement makes the market more competitive. But we thought competition was good…?

Ah, for the consumers, yes. For the airlines, no. So these carriers want to change the market by reducing competition. Is that a good idea? The Department of Transportation may have some thoughts on that.

An immunized alliance between American, BA and Iberia, Spain’s largest airline, could build the most extensive network between Europe and the Americas. Iberia is the largest operator of flights to Latin America.

Another problem: British Airways is the largest holder of takeoff and landing rights at the Heathrow terminal in London. BA has 40 percent of the slots at London’s Heathrow, the world’s busiest airport. And in 2006, BA and American held over half the capacity between Southeast England and the United States between them.

In the past, U.S. antitrust authorities have asked the carriers to give up some slots at Heathrow if they wanted approval for the alliance. But they chose to say no.

Times have changed: fuel prices have skyrocketed, the economy has weakened and the bad housing market is prompting more people to spend less. Still, the same requirements for Heathrow will likely apply again.

British carrier Virgin Atlantic, controlled by billionaire Richard Branson, has already expressed opposition to the possible alliance.

“We would oppose this attempt to create an anti-competitive alliance,” Paul Charles, a spokesman for London-based Virgin Atlantic, said today.  “It would form a dominant mega- power on trans-Atlantic air routes from two of the largest EU members, forcing up ticket prices for passengers and restricting choice.”

But after racking up more $35 billion in losses in the past few years and the prospect of losing billions more, airlines are faced with few choices and greater risks. Risking another failed alliance is probably worth the shot.

Not trying is probably not even a choice.

In the end, he wasn’t in some sub-Saharan refuge, an Asian island paradise or a secluded European spa … fugitive former hedge fund manager Samuel Israel III (pictured right) was holed up in a mobile home (pictured below). Israel handed himself over to authorities in Massachusetts to start his 20-year prison sentence after having faked his suicide to avoid doing time. Israel, who co-founded Connecticut hedge fund Bayou Group, in 2005 pleaded guilty to a scheme to fabricate returns and cheat investors out of $450 million. He was sentenced in April. Police said his mother convinced him to turn himself over to police. If he was hoping for another shot at fleedom, he can forget about it. “There is not the slightest possibility that I or any other judge would release you at this point,” Judge Michael Ponsor told Israel before turning him over to U.S. Marshals.

Landmark Communications could announce the sale of the Weather Channel to a group made up of NBC Universal, Blackstone and Bain Capital in the next day or two, sources briefed on the matter said. The final price on the cable network, which produces national, regional and local weather-related programs, is expected to be between $3 billion and $3.5 billion, and likely at the higher end of that range, the sources said. The parties have been negotiating directly with Landmark since Time Warner withdrew its bid two weeks ago. There is always a small chance things could fall apart or slow down at the last minute, but absent any such unforeseen problems, the deal should be announced in the next couple days, one of the people said.

BHP Billiton said U.S. antitrust authorities have cleared its unsolicited $170 billion bid for rival miner Rio Tinto. The company’s announcement said the clearance satisfied part of U.S. antitrust law requirements. U.S. law gives antitrust authorities the right to re-open their investigation if new information comes to light before the transaction closes, experts say. However in reality, the United States has now given full clearance to the deal, not that U.S. opposition is a major issue for the mega merger. Problems are more likely to be raised in Asia and Europe.

British market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres rejected an improved approach worth 1.08 billion pounds ($2.14 billion) from WPP, saying it still preferred its merger with German peer GfK. WPP’s latest proposal substantially undervalued the company, said TNS, which had previously opened its books to WPP after rejecting previous approaches. TNS is the world’s third-biggest market research company, with clients such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever, while GfK is the world’s fifth-biggest and counts Panasonic and Henkel among its customers. A completed tie-up would step up pressure on market leader AC Nielsen in an industry which has become increasingly important as companies hunt for more information on their clients and services. Analysts have said from the start that WPP, which would merge TNS with its Kantar business, could disrupt the TNS-GfK deal, bidding up the price.

Storied New York public relations advisor Kekst & Co sold out to French advertising and communications company Publicis Groupe SA for an undisclosed sum. Kekst, known for advising on high profile financial takeovers, was founded in 1970 by its current chief executive, Gershon Kekst, 73, and employs about 70 people. The company, based on Madison Avenue, New York, has advised on more mergers and acquisitions than any other public relations agency over the last two decades, according to data from Corporate Control Alert. One industry insider who asked not to be identified, but is not involved with the deal, speculated that the transaction could be worth around $150 million. The figure assumes estimated profits of $20 million and an estimated deal multiple of 6 or 7 times, plus a premium, that person said.

Other deals of the day:

* U.S. private equity house Lone Star could offer shares in Korea Exchange Bank in a block sale if the pending $6.3 billion deal to sell control of KEB to HSBC falters, KEB chief executive said.

* Australian bank Macquarie has applied to Chinese regulators to buy a nearly 20 percent stake in a trust company, in order to expand its corporate banking and wealth management services in China, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said.

* Huawei Technologies, China’s largest mobile phone equipment maker, has narrowed the field of bidders for a stake in its mobile devices unit — reported to be worth more than $2 billion — to five private equity companies, sources said.

* Telecommunications firm Pacnet said it had signed a joint venture with China-based firm Zhong Ren Telecom, to offer Internet protocol services to Chinese companies and expand its presence in the country.

* International Business Machines said it has bought privately held software maker Platform Solutions Inc and the two companies have dropped their legal complaints against each other.

* Northstar Neuroscience said it received an unsolicited offer from Tang Capital Partners to buy the company for $2.25 per share.

* Hedge fund SAC Capital reported that it had cut its stake in Take-Two Interactive Software to 4.4 percent from 5.3 percent.