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Travel website owner Priceline Group Inc said it would buy restaurant reservation website operator OpenTable Inc for $2.6 billion in an all-cash deal. _0"> The offer of $103 per share represents a premium of 46 percent to OpenTable's Thursday close. (Reporting by Rohit T. K. in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will launch its business-to-business e-commerce platform in the Indian cities of Lucknow and Hyderabad in the first week of July, the world's largest retailer's India boss said on Friday. _0"> Sales through the firm's e-commerce service will be available only to its trader members, said Krish Iyer, India president and chief executive officer. Iyer said Wal-Mart would look at rolling out this service to other cities, but not for another six months at least. In April, Wal-Mart announced plans to open 50 more wholesale outlets in India and start online operations to sell to small shopkeepers, several months after it decided against opening its own retail stores. (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Mark Potter )

The world's biggest would-be drugs merger hit a wall last month but speculation about smart ways that Pfizer could yet seal a deal with AstraZeneca remains intense. Even as talks fell apart last month, some in Pfizer's camp remained optimistic the transaction could be revived - and certain AstraZeneca advisers have not ruled out renewed talks. Under British takeover law, the UK firm can approach Pfizer at the end of August to discuss a sweetened bid, or Pfizer can try again in November. While the most obvious method for Pfizer to win AstraZeneca around might seem to be more cash, some hedge funds think the U.S. firm could structure payouts by tying them to the performance of key AstraZeneca drugs. A so-called contingent value right, or CVR, was a winning formula for Sanofi in its 2011 battle for Genzyme and the tradeable product - promising additional payouts once future benchmarks are hit - has been used in several other drug industry deals when the two sides could not ag

William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management on Friday it filed a lawsuit against Allergan Inc seeking confirmation that its request to hold a special meeting of Allergan shareholders would not trigger poison pill takeover defense. Ackman and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International are pursuing in a hostile takeover of Allergan. Ackman, who owns nearly 10 percent of Allergan, has called for a shareholder meeting to elect new directors to the company's board. The suit seeks to confirm that Ackman is not about to trigger Allergan's poison pill takeover defense as it seeks shareholder support for the meeting. Allergan, which makes Botox for wrinkles and other uses, has rejected a $53 billion joint offer from Ackman and Valeant. Ackman last week filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would start a proxy battle. Allergan and Valeant both declined to comment on the suit. Allergan adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan, often called a po

Travel website owner Priceline Group Inc will buy restaurant reservation website operator OpenTable Inc for $2.6 billion, aiming to broaden its services outside the increasingly competitive online travel industry. Priceline's offer of $103 per share for the owner of OpenTable.com represents a premium of 46 percent to OpenTable's Thursday close. OpenTable's shares inched past the offer price to trade as high as $104.19 on the Nasdaq, suggesting that some investors expect a higher bid. Priceline's shares were down 1.6 percent at $1,205.50. Priceline, whose competitors include Expedia Inc and Orbitz Worldwide Inc, has a record of buying smaller companies and transforming them into large, successful businesses. With little room to expand, online travel companies are looking outside the industry to boost revenue and drive more customers to their websites by offering more of a one-stop shop for travelers by offering services at their destination. TripAdvisor Inc, for

Deutsche Bank : _0"> * CVC and Blackstone launch 100 mln share placing of Merlin via Deutsche Bank & Morgan Stanley Further company coverage:

Merlin Entertainments' private equity backers CVC Capital Partners Ltd and Blackstone Group LP are placing 100 million shares of the British theme park owner through Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, the German lender said. _0"> Merlin, the world's second-biggest operator of visitor attractions behind Walt Disney with brands such as Madam Tussauds and Legoland, counts Blackstone and CVC as its biggest shareholders after Kirkbi A/S, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bangalore, editing by David Evans)