Seven-year itch

Satellite TV provider Dish Network is mulling another attempt at a merger with rival DirecTV, according to the Wall Street Journal, seven years after regulatory pressures forced them to abandon such efforts. While no concrete plans have yet emerged, the Journal reports the two companies have been discussing the idea for a few months.

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone, whose company effectively controls DirecTV, told CNBC that although he loves the idea, “I think with the current regulatory regime and probably the one that’s going to follow, it’s just not really practical to plan
on something like that.”

Cablevision is open to pretty much any idea to shore up its sagging shares, including spinning off one of its units, the company said on Tuesday. In fact, it plans to hire investments banks to evaluate spin off at least one if its businesses. The news sent shares up 7 percent.

Hedge fund Citadel Investment Group LLC has jumped into the fray of the soured $10.6 billion merger plan between Huntsman Corp and Hexion Specialty Chemicals, www.thedeal.com reports. In a regulatory filing submitted Friday, Citadel mentioned providing financing through an investment in Hexion, the buyer in the stalled merger, to help things move along.

OTHER DEALS OF THE DAY:

** Sony Corp agreed to purchase its 50 percent stake in Sony BMG music unit from joint venture partner Bertelsmann, the two said in a joint statement on Tuesday. No sale price was disclosed but a source close to the company said the deal had a transaction value of $1.5 billion. The music company, which will now be called Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SMEI), will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.

** Katanga Mining which is developing Africa’s biggest copper mine, has agreed a new joint venture deal with Congo’s state mining group Gecamines, the firm said on Tuesday. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding affirming ownership in the joint venture would remain at 75 percent for Katanga and 25 percent for Gecamines.

** Switzerland’s Adecco, the world’s biggest staffing group, has made a bid approach to Michael Page, sending shares in its UK rival up by over a third to give it a price tag above $2 billion.

** Austrian government leaders said they would only sell their stake in Austrian Airlines if another domestic investor buys a core shareholding in the company, limiting the stake available to foreign airlines.

** Norway’s Skagen AS investment fund has acquired a 5.2 percent stake in Hungarian drug maker Richter Gedeon, Richter said on Tuesday in a filing with the Budapest Stock Exchange.

** Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov agreed a $10 billion cash-and-stock deal to gain control of Polyus Gold and allow ex-partner Vladimir Potanin to own almost half of miner Norilsk Nickel.

** IGM Financial Inc will buy smaller Canadian investment-management firm Saxon Financial Inc in a friendly cash deal worth about C$287 million ($276 million) that will boost IGM’s assets under management, the companies said on Tuesday.