2008 had the largest number of cancelled deals ever, and the year isn’t even over yet.

Kuwait’s decision to pull out of a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture with Dow Chemical could hinder the chemical company’s plans to buy rival Rohm & Haas.

The company had planned to use the proceeds from the JV to repay a large part of a $13 billion bridge loan it would have to shoulder to buy Rohm & Haas.

And without those proceeds, that bridge would be hard to cross — Dow could have to tap into perilous credit markets.

The Dow/Rohm & Haas deal already seems like a throwback to another era, when companies had access to easy money and could pay heady sums to build their business. At the time of the deal’s announcement in July, Dow agreed to pay a 74 percent premium for its rival — in cash.

It seems somewhat apt, then, that if the deal falls apart, it would join a long list of cancelled deals for the year, including such latter-day blockbusters as BHP Billiton’s $188 billion bid for Rio Tinto and Microsoft’s unsolicited bid for Yahoo.

DEALS OF THE DAY

** Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc, Aioi Insurance Co and Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co are in merger talks, a company source said, aiming to survive an economic downturn that has battered demand for car and housing insurance.

** Citigroup Inc is injecting $800 million of new capital into its South Korean banking arm, Citibank Korea said, joining other banks in efforts to shore up their financial bases.  

** Dmatek Ltd , which sells technologies that monitor people remotely, said it had agreed to be bought for 52.9 million pounds ($77.6 million) by an investor group led by private equity fund Francisco Partners.

The Fed donned the red suit on Christmas eve for GMAC, giving the troubled auto finance company the nod to become a bank holding company.

The speedy approval should not come as a surprise, given that GMAC lends to consumers and GM depends on the finance company to sell cars — factors that could make its survival seen as key to fixing the economy.

The new status gives the company access to government lending programs and should allow it to continue financing loans for GM cars.

“In light of the unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets … the board has determined that emergency conditions exist that justify expeditious action on this proposal,” the Fed said in a statement.

The bank holidng status will come at a cost to GMAC’s majority owner Cerberus and minority owner GM: Both must cut their stakes in the company to comply with regulations that prevent many kinds of companies from owning too big a share of a bank.

DEALS OF THE DAY

** Nissin Foods Holdings, Japan’s top instant noodle maker, said it would buy a one-third stake in Russia’s largest instant noodle group Angleside Ltd for about $296 million, making a foray into the fast-growing market.

(Photo credit: Cheryl Ravelo, Reuters)

Cadbury Plc is taking its last steps out of the beverage market.

The maker of Dairy Milk chocolates agreed to sell its Australian beverage business to Japanese brewer Asahi Breweries for 550 million pounds, or $811 million, completing its exit from soft drinks.

In May, the British candy maker spun off its North American beverage business, Dr Pepper Snapple. It has refocused on the resilient confectionery sector with brands such as Trident, Halls cough drops, Roses chocolates and Wispa.

The Australian beverage deal has a little catch, though. Coca-Cola has a right dating back to 1999 under which it has the option until March next year to negotiate to buy the business.

If Coca-Cola doesn’t step up, Cadbury will enter into a binding agreement with Asahi.

DEALS OF THE DAY

** AIG said that it would halt the merger between its two Japanese life insurers, AIG Star Life Insurance and AIG Edison Life Insurance.

** Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s third biggest lender, will acquire up to A$4 billion ($2.7 billion) of home loans originated by local finance company Wizard.

** AGL Energy, Australia’s top energy retailer, offered A$171 million ($116.4 million) in a friendly bid for coal seam gas producer Sydney Gas to boost its gas reserves.

** British property investment company Carpathian said it was in talks with potential buyers for the sale of the company or sale of certain assets within its portfolio.

** Indonesia’s heavily indebted Bakrie & Brothers said it had found buyers for as much as $725 million of its debt, exchanging part of that sum for shares in its coal mining unit Bumi Resources.

** Hutchison Port Holdings and Greek pharmaceutical group Alapis, highest bidders for Thessaloniki port’s (OLTH) cargo facilities, pulled out of the tender.

(Photo credit: Darren Staples, Reuters)

Tata Motors, which bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford earlier this year, may now have to pump at least $1 billion into the brands to keep them alive. That’s bad news for U.S. automakers trying to sell brands.

While auto assets up for sale by U.S. automakers were expected to linger for a while, Tata’s rough road with Jag and Land Rover are likely to keep those assets on the block for much longer.

Tata has agreed to inject “tens of millions” of pounds into the company to tide it over while the government mulls a bailout,  media reports have said. This is in addition to “hundreds of millions” of working capital provided since Tata bought Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in March.

That’s a lot of cash for any automaker. And it’s a lot of cash for an Indian automaker, which makes most of its profit in Indian rupees.

And that’s bad news for U.S. automakers hoping to lure buyers — some from emerging markets — for various assets. As Detroit’s three surviving automakers seek interest for Volvo, Saab, Viper and Hummer, the most likely buyers are Asian automakers. But Tata has its hands full with the two brands it bought from Ford. And Mahindra & Mahindra, another Indian contender, is bound to be discouraged by Tata’s experience. Investment bankers have said that Chinese automakers were waiting on the sidelines to see how the Tata experience works out.

Hummer and Viper have both been on the block for a few months in auctions that have gone on a lot longer than anyone had anticipated.

Part of the problem is that the finacing markets are bad and it’s tough to get a deal done. But another part of the problem — and a larger one perhaps — is that no one is really interested in buying a U.S. auto asset right now.             

U.S. vehicle sales in November plunged 37 percent to their lowest level since 1982. The slowdown has spread to Europe and Asia, and Japanese automaker Toyota this week forecast its first-ever loss, showing that no one is immune to the slowdown in auto sales.  

It was already going to be a hard sell for U.S. automakers. Now the likelihood of Tata having to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into brands it bought just a few months ago is going to keep buyers at bay for even longer.