Ratiopharm’s owner called a news conference for 1300 GMT to address the sale of the German generic drugs maker, after a three-way race that could trigger the richest takeover of a copycat drugmaker in nearly two years. One source close to the deal says a buyer has been picked, but declined to give any more details.

JPMorgan has lost a court dispute over fees relating to a client’s $1.2 billion Australian takeover defence. An Australian court dismissed the bank’s claim for millions in fees from Consolidated Minerals, which was taken over by Ukrainian billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov’s Palmary Enterprises in 2008. Read the Reuters story here.

And the UK press widely questions whether Prudential boss Tidjane Thiam should have taken on a role on the board of French bank Societe Generale, given that he has just launched a $35.5 billion takeover bid for AIG’s Asian life insurance business. He’s got enough on his plate, they say, with the need to convince investors to buy in to a $21 billion rights issue.

For all other Reuters stories on deals, click here. Elsewhere in media (some links may require subscription):

Liberty Media Corp and hedge fund Elliott Management Corp have decided not to bid for Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc, Bloomberg says.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is in talks to buy a stake in unlisted Indian steel producer Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd to gain access to its plant and mining rights, according to the Economic Times.

Sweden’s Ericsson will buy a controlling stake in a joint venture between South Korea’s LG Electronics and Nortel Networks Corp, the Seoul Economic Daily’s Web service reports.

Private equity firm Apax Partners has been talking with Polycom Inc to take the U.S. video conferencing company private for more than $3 billion, the Financial Times says.

WestLB’s real estate finance unit is attracting interest from private equity houses Blackstone, Apollo and Colony, the Financial Times Deutschland reports.

Raj Rajagopal will graduate from business school in May and he’s currently looking for a job. But don’t expect the Cornell University student to get a call anytime soon from Warren Buffett.

That’s because Rajagopal recently put together a report in which he recommended selling shares of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in part because “adoration is not an investment strategy.” In short, Rajagopal said anyone who sinks money into Buffett’s empire is chasing past returns and buying shares “at the tail end of his career.”

Rajagopal’s 15-page presentation is making the rounds on Wall Street and being circulated by some hedge fund managers who aren’t particualy big fans of the so-called Oracle of Omaha.

The presentation points out some common criticism of Buffett’s company, including the failure to develop a clear succession plan and the firm’s seeming reliance on a handful of individuals to make investment decisions.

But the report prepared by Rajagopal, who was a former Wall Street analyst according to his blog, also accuses Buffett of being a bit of a hypocrite on the subject of derivatives. He notes that Buffett famously decried derivatives as a “financial weapon of mass destruction,” yet continues to use them as part of Berkshire’s investment and hedging strategy.

Rajagopal, who could not be reached for comment, also blasts Berkshire’s most recent big deal–the $34 billion acquisition of railroad giant Burlington Northern. He said Buffett overpaid for a “boring” regulated utility company.

But what’s more likely to grab attention are some of the sharp zingers aimed at Buffett and his financial empire.  One such line is: “The buffet is cold, stale and ending (pun intended).”

Clearly, Rajagopal isn’t interested in getting invited to any dinner parties hosted by Buffett–something the legendary investor has been known to do with people who send him investing tips.

The global market for initial public offerings is showing new signs of life after a spate of downsizings and postponements. Issue prices are not always what companies originally hoped for, however, and investors are being selective.

Following are some recent Reuters stories from the different regions that track the activez IPO market.

Americas:
* GM CFO sees chance for profit, IPO in 2010
* Brazil’s OSX slashes IPO in setback for Batista
* Citi unit Primerica files for $234 mln IPO
* Nobel laureate’s firm spikes 44 pct in debut
* Mirion Technologies files for $202.4 mln IPO

Asia:
* Korea Life gains; buoys hopes for Samsung Life IPO
* Blackstone in $600 mln China agricultural deal -sources
* Zurich Fin, partners eye New China Life fundraising

Factbox:
* Brazil’s biggest initial public offerings

Great reads from the Web:

Panasonic Profit May Be Boosted More Than $885 Million by Sanyo Purchase (Bloomberg)

Porsche H1 Profit Skids 83 Percent on VW Merger Costs (AP)

China in Midst of ‘Greatest Bubble in History,’ Rickards Says (Bloomberg)
” ‘As I see it, it is the greatest bubble in history with the most massive misallocation of wealth,’ James Rickards said at the Asset Allocation Summit Asia 2010 organized by Terrapinn Pte in Hong Kong yesterday. China ‘is a bubble waiting to burst.’ ”

What Will Happen to GMAC? (WSJ)
“Why does this matter? Because taxpayers still have $17 billion invested in GMAC.”