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Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC is planning an initial public offering for Associated Materials, a maker of home-building products that it bought for $1.3 billion in 2010, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Associated Materials, a maker of products like vinyl and aluminum siding and vinyl fencing under brands including Gentek and Alpine Windows, was previously owned by Investcorp and Harvest Partners.   Hellman & Friedman is set to interview investment banks next week to select underwriters to handle the proposed offering, the people said, asking not to be identified because the situation is not public. A spokeswoman from Hellman & Friedman did not respond to a request for comment. Associated Materials had net sales of $1.1 billion in 2012, flat from the year prior. It had adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $107 million in 2012. A potential public float would come at a time when other firms are also

British mobile firm Vodafone ( id="symbol_VOD.L_0"> VOD.L ) is considering raising its offer for Kabel Deutschland ( id="symbol_KD8Gn.DE KD8Gn.DE ) after an initial 7.2 billion euro ($9.6 billion) bid was knocked back by Germany's biggest cable operator, one person close to the matter said. _0"> "The offer could come as soon as next week," the person said on Friday.   _1"> Vodafone declined to comment. Vodafone sent a letter to Kabel Deutschland last week announcing its interest and indicating a price of 81 euros per share, three people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. Vodafone has confirmed that it made an offer to buy Kabel Deutschland but has not provided details. The world's second-biggest mobile operator has long been looking for its most important European market to meet growing demand from customers for television, broadband, mobile and fixed-line services - so-called "quad play" - from one provider.

Cinven Ltd CINV.UL has agreed to buy CeramTec for 1.49 billion euros ($1.99 billion), beating rival private equity firm BC Partners Ltd in bidding for the Germany -based industrial ceramics unit of U.S. chemicals maker Rockwood Holdings ( id="symbol_ROC.N ROC.N ). _0"> A statement issued on Sunday by Rockwood said Cinven had obtained fully committed financing for the deal, which was expected to close in the third quarter of this year once it obtained regulatory approvals.   _1"> Reuters reported on June 14 that Cinven was in exclusive talks to buy CeramTec for close to 1.5 billion euros, outbidding BC Partners' bid of just over 1.4 billion. CeramTec is a leading manufacturer of high performance ceramics for applications in the medical, automotive, industrial and electronic markets. Its proprietary product portfolio includes hip joint prostheses components, high-speed cutting tools and ballistic ceramics for armor. "We are keen to support (CeramTec&#

Aerojet Rocketdyne, the new company formed after GenCorp Inc's ( id="symbol_GY.N_0"> GY.N ) acquisition of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, said on Sunday it has promised the U.S. government savings of $1 billion in savings over the next decade as a result of the deal, and possibly $2 billion more in later phases of the merger. Aerojet Rocketdyne President Warren Boley told Reuters in an interview ahead of the Paris air show that he expected the new company's revenue to double over the next five years from a current combined estimate of $1.7 billion for both GenCorp unit Aerojet and Rocketdyne.   He said the company was also looking at other business opportunities, and would soon sign a memorandum of understanding on a "significant strategic relationship" with Israel Military Industries that could evolve into a joint venture in the future. U.S. authorities approved GenCorp's acquisition of Rocketdyne on Friday after a year-long review. [ID:nWNAB02

Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp ( id="symbol_UTX.N_0"> UTX.N ), expects to reach agreement with the Pentagon within the next 30 days on a contract for engines to power a sixth batch of F-35 fighter jets, Pratt President David Hess told Reuters. Hess said negotiations were still under way with the U.S. Defense Department but he expected the contract's final price to reflect a further cost reduction of less than 10 percent, continuing a trend seen in recent years.   "We're making progress there. We've gotten an offer from the (Joint Program Office) and I expect we'll get that closed pretty quickly ...certainly within 30 days," Hess told Reuters in an interview ahead of the Paris air show. Hess declined to give details on the projected value of the contract. The company, which is the sole producer of engines for the single-seat F-35 fighter jet, which is built by Lockheed Martin Corp ( id="symbol_LMT.N_1"> L

U.S. planemaker Boeing ( id="symbol_BA.N_0"> BA.N ) will launch a larger version of its lightweight 787 Dreamliner this week with up to 100 orders worth just under $30 billion, industry sources said on Sunday. The latest addition to Boeing's fleet, the 323-seat 787-10, is partly designed to serve fast-growing routes within Asia and sharpens a fight with Europe's ( id="symbol_EAD.PA_1"> EAD.PA ) Airbus for sales of the latest generation of efficient, carbon-composite jets.   The decision to go ahead and build a new version, backed by up to 100 orders spread between five or six launch customers, is expected to be announced on Tuesday at the Paris Airshow. Some orders may be converted from existing demand for smaller jets. Boeing ( id="symbol_BA.N_2"> BA.N ) declined comment. "We have no comment but we are having discussions with our customers about the potential for the 787-10X," a Boeing spokesman said, referring to the work

Brookfield Asset Management Inc ( id="symbol_BAMa.TO_0"> BAMa.TO ) said it will sell its Longview Timber holdings in the U.S. Pacific Northwest to Weyerhaeuser Co ( id="symbol_WY.N WY.N ) for $2.65 billion, including assumption of debt, and will sell a nearby paper and packaging business to KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp ( id="symbol_KS.N KS.N ) for $1.025 billion. _0"> Brookfield's Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging operations include a large paper mill in Longview, Washington and seven container plants in the region that produce Kraft paper, container board and corrugated boxes. Brookfield said it expects net proceeds from that transaction of about $250 million, after repaying debt and distributions to other investors. _1"> "While the timing of the (separate) sale transactions is coincidental, for investors in our funds these transactions represent monetization at excellent returns and puts each of these assets into the hands of

Stock Building Supply Holdings Inc filed with regulators to raise up to $175 million in an initial public offering, the latest building supplier looking to tap the market to take advantage of a U.S. housing recovery. _0"> North Carolina-based Stock Building Supply, which is backed by buyout firm Gores Group, sells lumber and building materials to new construction, and repair and remodel contractors.   A number of private equity firms are looking to capitalize on a housing rebound and a rallying stock market to exit their investments in the sector. Industrial and construction supplies company HD Supply Holdings Inc said this week that it planned to raise over $1 billion from an IPO. Shares of Taylor Morrison Home Corp, backed by TPG Capital and Oaktree Capital Management, have risen 15 percent since the homebuilder's $628 million IPO in April. Stock Building Supply operates in 13 states of the United States that accounted for about 48 percent of 2012 single-family hou

Stock investors eager to hear from the Federal Reserve about its plans for continuing economic stimulus may get some soothing words from the U.S. central bank next week. The Fed is unlikely to tip its hand about when it may begin to scale back its bond-buying program, but policymakers still may be inclined to try to tamp down recent volatility in financial markets with some mention of the issue.   The rally in stocks stumbled and Treasury bond yields rose to 14-month highs following Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments that the Fed may decide to begin scaling back its quantitative easing in the next few policy meetings if the economy improves. As part of its quantitative easing policy, adopted more than four years ago, the Fed has been buying Treasury and other bonds each month to keep interest rates low and promote growth. Interpreting Bernanke's words and recent signs about the economy have roiled markets since then. The Dow industrials climbed 200 points in eight of the 1

California lawmakers passed a $96.3 billion budget on Friday that would spend more on education, health care and other services while setting aside $1.1 billion for the state's first rainy day fund in years. The spending plan makes changes to the way the state funds education, increasing the base amount spent on all students while funneling more money to districts with children who live in poverty or who do not speak fluent English.   It also restores funds that had been cut from dental programs for the poor, mental health services and assistance for veterans. The $1.1 billion reserve was part of a deal negotiated with Governor Jerry Brown, who pressed fiscal restraint on the Democratic legislature. It marks a dramatic turnaround from four years ago, when the state was in the red by $16 billion. "This was the first year in many that we weren't negotiating how deep to cut and what to cut," Darrell Steinberg, president pro tem of the state senate, said in an interv

California lawmakers passed a $96.3 billion budget on Friday that would spend more on education, health care and other services while setting aside $1.1 billion from the first surplus in years for a rainy day fund. The spending plan makes changes to the way the state funds education, increasing the base amount spent on all students while funneling more money to districts with children who live in poverty or who do not speak fluent English. It also restores funds that had been cut from dental programs for the poor in the most populous U.S. state, and for mental health services and assistance for veterans.   The $1.1 billion reserve was part of a deal negotiated with Governor Jerry Brown, who pressed fiscal restraint on the Democratic legislature. It marks a dramatic turnaround from four years ago, when the state was in the red by $16 billion. "This was the first year in many that we weren't negotiating how deep to cut and what to cut," Darrell Steinberg, president pro

Colombia revised its 2013 fiscal accounts and financing plans for next year, lowering the amount of domestic bond sales this year and stepping up both local and overseas debt next year, Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas said on Friday.   Colombia plans to raise external debt in 2014 worth $5 billion, with $3 billion of that issued in overseas bonds and the remainder from multilateral lenders, Cardenas said during the annual revision of accounts. That is more than the government aims for overseas debt this year. Cardenas maintained the level of international debt for this year at $2.6 billion, with $1.6 billion in global bond sales. Another $1 billion will come from multilateral lenders this year, he said. In the local market, Colombia will issue a total of 30.5 trillion pesos ($16.1 billion) of Treasury bonds, known as TES, next year with 22.5 trillion sold at auction. Cardenas lowered the total sale of TES bonds this year to 29 trillion pesos from an earlier goal of 30 trillion

Brazil's Banco BTG Pactual SA agreed to buy 50 percent of the African operations of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the state-run oil giant said on Friday, expanding the high-flying investment bank's role as a backer of cash-squeezed Brazilian companies.   BTG Pactual agreed to pay $1.53 billion for 50 percent of Petrobras' African unit, Petrobras Oil & Gas BV, which has offices in Angola, Benin, Gabon and Namibia and operations in Nigeria and Tanzania, the statement said. Petrobras is trying to sell oil fields, exploration rights, refineries and other assets in the United States, Japan, Argentina , Peru and other countries to help finance a $237 billion, five-year investment plan, the world's largest corporate spending program. It tried to sell the Nigerian assets alone for as much as $5 billion, Reuters reported on March 13. "The operations represent an important step for Petrobras in its asset-sale program, allowing it to increase its activities in Africa and t

Czech President Milos Zeman said on Saturday that abuse of power and corruption charges against a close aide of Prime Minister Petr Necas and other officials were "very serious" and seemed well founded. _0"> When asked whether he thought the centre-right cabinet should stay in office, he said: "I consider the charges that have been brought to be very serious."   "After hearing from the police president and the supreme state attorney, I am coming to the conclusion that they are based on sufficient evidence," he added in his first remarks on the political turmoil. "This is an indirect but clear answer to your question."

When the heads of the World Bank and the United Nations flew into the violence-wracked African city of Goma on a cloudy day last month, it was the first time the giants of international development had joined forces in the struggle to help the world's most fragile regions. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon traveled to three countries in the Great Lakes region in East Africa to cement a new partnership, tying $1 billion in bank money to the U.N. peacekeeping efforts in the region.   They announced the funding in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), even as mortar shells were falling in the country's eastern edge in Goma. But the men, both born in South Korea, pledged to continue their trip. "We're going there because our belief is that peace, security and economic development are intertwined," Kim said in Kinshasa. "We're going with a very specific purpose in mind: there must be a peac

Both junior partners in Greece's fragile coalition government have turned down a compromise proposal by the prime minister to avert a government crisis over the shutdown of public broadcaster ERT. _0"> Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offered on Friday to rehire a smaller number of staff to resume news broadcasts, in an attempt to defuse an outcry over Monday's shock closure of ERT - part of savings under the terms of Greece's international bailout.   If no compromise is reached, the government might fall and new elections would be called, meaning almost certain derailment of the country's bailout programme. "Our position remains the same. Any restructuring of ERT has to take place with the broadcaster open, as it was before," Andreas Papadopoulos, spokesman of the Democratic Left party, told Reuters on Saturday. The proposal was also dismissed as inadequate late on Friday by the Socialist PASOK party, which is demanding the immediate reopening of

Egypt's government is in the late stages of verifying its economic reform programme with the International Monetary Fund before obtaining a $4.8 billion IMF loan, its central bank governor said on Saturday. The loan, needed to help stabilise Egypt's balance of payments and state finances, has been under discussion for two years but agreement has repeatedly been postponed by political unrest in the country and the government's reluctance to commit to austerity measures.   "The IMF is verifying numbers with the government regarding the programme and they are in late stages of verifying all the numbers," central bank governor Hisham Ramez told reporters after a meeting of regional central bank chiefs in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. There have been no changes to the plan or the amount of aid the country is seeking, he added. "The programme is as it was planned by the Egyptian government. It is $4.8 billion that they have been talking to them about." He said

A court decision to keep a close aide to Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas in custody due to corruption charges is seriously complicating the situation in the ruling coalition, his government partners said on Saturday. _0"> "This piece of information of course significantly changes the situation. It is the first decision, albeit only partial," Petr Gazdik, head of party TOP09's parliamentary club, told Reuters, adding his party leadership would meet on Saturday evening to consider what to do.   Karolina Peake, the head of the second coalition partner LIDEM, a small liberal party, also said the situation "is more serious from hour to hour".

When the heads of the World Bank and the United Nations flew into the violence-wracked African city of Goma on a cloudy day last month, it was the first time the giants of international development had joined forces in the struggle to help the world's most fragile regions. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon traveled to three countries in the Great Lakes region in East Africa to cement a new partnership, tying $1 billion in bank money to the U.N. peacekeeping efforts in the region.   They announced the funding in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), even as mortar shells were falling in the country's eastern edge in Goma. But the men, both born in South Korea, pledged to continue their trip. "We're going there because our belief is that peace, security and economic development are intertwined," Kim said in Kinshasa. "We're going with a very specific purpose in mind: there must be a peac

The coalition partners of Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said they were considering whether they could stay in government with him on Saturday after a court ordered the detention of a close aide to Necas over corruption charges.   A court in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava ruled that Jana Nagyova, who has been in charge of Necas's office for years, be remanded in custody. Prosecutors allege she bribed politicians and illegally ordered intelligence agents to conduct surveillance operations. After the court ruling, an official with TOP09, the bigger of two parties that are in coalition with Necas, said party leaders would meet on Saturday evening to decide what to do about staying in the coalition. Karolina Peake, leader of the second junior partner in the coalition, the small liberal party called LIDEM, told Reuters: "The situation is becoming more serious from hour to hour." Necas's Civic Democrat party alone does not have enough seats in parliament to hold on

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said a close aide must leave her job as the head of his office after she was charged with corruption and abuse of power and taken into custody on Saturday. _0"> Necas, under growing pressure to resign over the scandal, said in a statement he expected to meet his ruling coalition partners to discuss the political crisis after he returns from a scheduled foreign trip on Sunday.

Turkish riot police fired teargas and water cannon to try to clear protesters from a central Istanbul park on Saturday evening, hours after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned that police were ready to intervene. _0"> "We have our Istanbul rally tomorrow. I say it clearly: Taksim Square must be evacuated, otherwise this country's security forces know how to evacuate it," Erdogan had told tens of thousands of supporters at a rally in the capital Ankara.  

Coalition partners of Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said they were considering whether they could stay in government with him on Saturday after a court ordered the detention of his close aide on corruption charges.   A court in the eastern city of Ostrava ruled that Jana Nagyova, who had been in charge of Necas's office for years, be remanded in custody. Prosecutors allege she bribed politicians and illegally ordered military intelligence to spy on people in whom she had a personal interest. The lawyer for another of the eight people charged in the case, head of military intelligence Milan Kovanda, said Kovanda admitted issuing orders for people to be put under surveillance and that one of the subjects of that surveillance had been the prime minister's wife. Necas said earlier this week he and his wife, his college sweetheart, were jointly filing for divorce. The corruption operation threatening the prime minister's job was the biggest in 20 years in the Czech Repub

Both junior partners in Greece's ruling coalition have turned down a compromise by the prime minister over the shutdown of the public broadcaster ERT, raising the prospect that the rift among the parties might be impossible to mend.   Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offered on Friday to rehire a smaller number of staff to resume news broadcasts, in response to an outcry over Tuesday's abrupt closure of ERT to save money under the terms of Greece's international bailout. But his concession did not satisfy the left-wing parties in the fragile coalition, the Socialist PASOK and the Democratic Left, who are demanding the immediate reopening of ERT's television and radio stations. The failure to reach a compromise so far has led to speculation about an early election, which would almost certainly derail Greece's bailout programme - although all the party leaders have said they do not want a new vote. "Our position remains the same. Any restructuring of ERT has t