Avaya to be acquired by PE firms
New York: Telecom company Avaya Inc has agreed to be acquired by private equity firms TPG Capital and Silver Lake for $8.2 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Avaya shareholders will receive $17.50 in cash for each company share, a premium of about 28 per cent to its closing share price on May 25, 2007.

Avaya's is a small company when compared with rivals like Cisco Systems Inc. and because of this it has been a subject of takeover speculation.
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Amex to sell private banking business
Zurich: Credit card and travel services company American Express Co may sell its private banking business very soon according to reliable sources.

The sale is expected to fetch between $1 billion and $2 billion and would be in keeping with a worldwide trend in the wealth management industry towards increasing consolidation.

American Express's private banking unit offers investment services, deposit accounts, treasury services, loans, fiduciary services and insurance. It has a network of representative offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, the United States and Canada.

With estimated assets under management of around $20 billion, American Express's private banking business could be sold for anything between $1 billion and $2 billion to a large bank, analysts said.
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