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European stocks end mostly lower

LONDON (AP) - European stocks ended mostly lower Monday, despite merger-and-acquisition activity including Akzo Nobel's long-anticipated move for rival paint producer Imperial Chemical Industries.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.4 percent to 6,703.50, the French CAC 40 declined 0.3 percent to 60.87.15.

The German DAX 30 rose 0.1 percent to 8,036.12.

ICI soared 15.6 percent after spurning a takeover approach from Akzo Nobel, which dropped 1 percent on concerns it may increase its offer for the Dulux paints producer.

Other chemicals companies advanced, including BASF, up 2.2 percent, and Clariant, up 0.8 percent.

BHP Billiton rose 0.8 percent after a report in the Times of London that the world's top miner has revived plans for a US$40 billion (euro29.9 billion) takeover of aluminum bellwether Alcoa.

Shares of Adecco gained 2.3 percent after it unveiled a deal to buy Germany's Tuja in a deal valued at euro800 million (US$1.07 billion) including assumed debt.

Adecco said the German temporary-staffing market is only 1 percent penetrated.

Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, edged 1.3 percent lower after a Wall Street Journal report that it and General Electric Co. are considering a joint offer for Dow Jones, the owner of the Journal.

Analysts at UBS backed the rationale behind such a combination.

"Combining of the WSJ/FT would create a global leader in financial press and the combining IDC/DJ Newswires would create a significant player in the mid-tier of the financial information market,'' the broker said.

Pearson counts a 62 percent stake in Interactive Data Corp. among its other assets.

Heineken dropped 1.4 percent as Merrill Lynch downgraded the brewer to neutral from buy, saying it doesn't expect the company to benefit from a large M&A deal and noting the stock trades at 20 times its 2007 adjusted earnings-per-share guidance.

The broker liked other brewers, however.

SABMiller shares rose 1.4 percent after Merrill upgraded it to buy from neutral, citing its strong position in emerging markets.

Merrill also said a deal between Carlsberg and Scottish & Newcastle looks "inevitable,'' prompting an upgrade of the Scottish brewer's shares.

Scottish & Newcastle hit a new annual high, adding 0.7 percent, and B-class Carlsberg shares rose 1.7 percent.

Shares in iSoft rose 6.5 percent after Computer Sciences agreed not to block the software firm from being acquired by Australia's IBA, reversing an earlier stance.

Shares of Tullow Oil jumped 12.5 percent after saying it made a significant discovery offshore of Ghana.

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