And in news reported by other media on Thursday:

Dubai World will present its first concrete proposals to local banks on Thursday on restructuring $22 billion of debt, The National newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources. The state-owned conglomerate has requested meetings with Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank to present its proposals.

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South Korean Offering is Third Largest IPO of the Year

The recently announced $1.6 billion IPO from Korea Life Insurance Co is the largest South Korean IPO of the year and the largest offering from a South Korean company since January 2006. The listing is also the third largest global IPO in 2010. Year-to-date, IPOs in South Korea total nearly $1.9 billion from 13 issues, up nearly seven times from the same time last year.  This IPO bolsters South Korea’s ranking in the global IPO market, accounting for 8% of total proceeds this year.

MetLife Announces Largest Acquisition on Record

US-based MetLife Inc’s $15.5 billion announced acquisition of American Life Insurance Co Inc from AIG is the company’s largest acquisition on record. So far this year, insurance M&A activity in the United States totals $18.7 billion, just over 11% of total United States M&A.  Overall, M&A transactions in the United States are up 12% from the same time last year and deals in the global insurance industry are up over six times compared to 2009.

Securitizations Boost Global Debt Markets

With year-to-date securitized issuance up nearly three-fold so far in 2010, mortgage and asset-backed securities account for 12.1% of overall activity this year, compared to 2.6% for year-to-date 2009. Overall activity in the global debt markets is down 15% from the same time last year. With a nearly $1.1 billion mortgage-backed offering from UK-based Fosse Master Issuer Plc, securitized issuance is up over 500% in Europe from the same period last year.

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From Fool.com: The Motley Fool. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

From Fool.com: The Motley Fool. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.

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Norway’s Yara International said on Friday it would not raise its offer for Terra Industries to match or exceed a rival bid from CF Industries Holdings Inc, Reuters reported. Yara agreed last month to buy Terra for $4.1 billion to create the world’s biggest mineral fertiliser producer.

And in news from other media on Friday:

Buyout firm Advent International has appointed advisors to assess a possible sale of budget store chain Poundland, the Financial Times said. The group has hired Close Brothers to look at options.

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The court-appointed examiner who investigated the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holding Co made his report public after a judge ruled he could do so on Thursday. Here are some highlights from the report, which is available here. A full story will follow shortly:

* Examiner says “business decisions that brought Lehman to its crisis… may have been in error but were largely within the business judgment rule”

* Examiner says a limited amount of assets of (Lehman affiliates) were “improperly transferred” to Barclays PLC

* Examiner says there may be “colorable claims” against senior officers ” who oversaw and certified misleading financial statements”, naming Fuld, O’Meara, Callan and Lowitt

* Examiner says there may be “colorable claims” against Ernst & Young and senior officers for failure to meet professional standards in connection with lack of disclosure

* Examiner says “Lehman’s valuation procedures may have been wanting and that certain valuations may have been unreasonable”

* Examiner says there is sufficient evidence to support that Lehman was insolvent on beginning on September 2, 2008

* Examiner says Lehman’s “small margin of equity relative to assets meant it did not need much loss of asset value to render it insolvent”

* Examiner says “a colorable claim is one for which there is sufficient credible evidence to support a finding by a trier of fact”

* Examiner says Lehman employed certain repo transactions for sole purpose of “balance sheet manipulation”

* Examiner says JPMorgan Chase & Co is still holding about $6.9 billion of Lehman collateral

* Examiner says Lehman may have a “colorable claim” that would let it recover some collateral transfers made to JPMorgan as part of a September guaranty

* Examiner says Lehman may have a “colorable claim” against one clearing bank – JPMorgan – arising from collateral demands in 2008

* Examiner says JPMorgan CEO Dimon told Fuld in every conversation “that he did not want to harm Lehman”

* Examiner says JPMorgan CEO Dimon said had Lehman CEO Fuld called him, JPM would likely not have insisted on collateral because it didn’t want to be blamed for Lehman’s demise

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