Acquisitions

Suncor Energy Inc. plans to acquire Petro-Canada for $15.5 billion, uniting two of Canada's biggest oil companies as the nation's energy industry retrenches. If the deal announced Monday is approved, it would create the largest oil company in Canada, with a market capitalization of about $38 billion. That's much smaller than global heavyweights such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, which boast market capitalizations of $326.6 billion and $55.

IBM Corp. is planning to announce its purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc. on Monday, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. IBM intends to pay $9 to $10 a share for Sun, said the person, who declined to be named because the talks were still underway. At those prices, it would be the largest acquisition in IBM's history. The purchase would give IBM almost half of global server-computer sales and Sun's software portfolio, including the Solaris operating system.

President Obama said the government was speeding up its purchase of 17,600 new U.S.-made cars for the government fleet by June 1. The purchases from General Motors Corp., Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. are being made from the $787-billion stimulus package to increase demand for U.S. auto companies during these difficult economic times, the White House said Thursday.

Bruised by a year of financial catastrophe, some bank shareholders are out for revenge as the corporate annual meeting season approaches -- with Bank of America Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth D. Lewis a prominent target. His critics, who are calling on shareholders to vote him off the company's board at its annual meeting April 29, cite the bank's moves last year to acquire two struggling firms, mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp. and brokerage powerhouse Merrill Lynch & Co.

An unheralded private equity firm in Oklahoma City emerged Wednesday as the only known suitor for General Motor Corp.'s Saturn brand, promising to keep the marque and its dealership network alive. The firm, Black Oak Partners, said that if it acquires the brand, it would continue to distribute GM-made vehicles through 2011 and would also source vehicles from foreign manufacturers to badge as Saturns.

Conservationists who for years have struggled to win federal funding for new or expanded parks suddenly are seeing green, even in these lean budgetary times. President Obama has proposed spending $420 million next year to buy land for national parks, forests and wildlife refuges, and to help states fund parks and recreation projects. That is more than double the amount Congress provided for 2009.

Italian automaker Fiat, which is taking over Chrysler, said Sunday it was talking with General Motors Corp. about acquiring the U.S. company's European operations. Fiat said that over the next few weeks, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne would be looking "to assess the viability of a merger of the activities of Fiat," including its interest in Chrysler, with General Motors Europe into a new company.

Creditors of Midway Games Inc. are suing the Chicago company's board members and former majority owner Sumner Redstone, alleging that his sale of Midway was a "fraudulent transfer" that benefited the media mogul while pushing Midway into bankruptcy. The suit, filed Monday in federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, alleges that Redstone sold his 87% stake to investor Mark E. Thomas for a mere $100,000 so Redstone could register $700 million in tax losses and collect a "massive tax refund."

In what could be the largest commercial real estate transaction of the year in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles World Airports is negotiating to acquire a 21-acre parking lot on the east edge of LAX, brokers said Tuesday. It is being offered for sale by AMB Properties Corp., a San Francisco industrial landlord that has owned the lot called Park One since 2002.

Marking one of the movie studios' most aggressive forays into a burgeoning entertainment business, Warner Bros. has submitted a $33-million bid for most of the assets of Midway Games Inc., the bankrupt video game publisher previously owned by Sumner Redstone. Should the offer be accepted and approved, Warner will own all of Midway's intellectual property, including the popular Mortal Kombat fighting series, as well as game development studios in Chicago and Seattle. Warner Bros.