Monday Papers: Sanofi steps up Genzyme pursuit - bid news and gossip

Financial Times

* Sanofi-Aventis on Sunday inched closer to making a hostile offer for Genzyme; the French pharmaceuticals group reiterated an earlier proposal to take over the US biotech company at $69 a share in cash, valuing the target at about $18.5bn excluding debt.

* Axa, Goldman Sachs’ largest investor, slashed its stake by more than half in the Wall Street bank last quarter.

* Intel was on Sunday close to agreeing a deal to buy the wireless chip business of Germany’s Infineon; a deal could be announced as soon as Monday with Intel paying about $1.4bn for the unit.

* Nokia and Siemens are open to possible private equity investment in Nokia Siemens Networks.

The Daily Telegraph

* Vodafone is planning to sell its £4bn stake in China Mobile.

* Michael Klein, the respected former Citigroup banker, was paid $10m to advise Barclays on its purchase of Lehman Brothers' US brokerage at the height of the credit crunch.

* Profits at Harvey Nichols, the upmarket London department store, rebounded last year, although sales were hit by a refurbishment of its flagship London outlet.

* Domino's, the pizza delivery franchise whose shares have quadrupled over the past five years, faces a threat to its seemingly unstoppable UK growth from US rival Papa John's.

The Guardian

* Regulator to determine the size of the EMI's pension scheme deficit, which could top £200m.