Business & Finance

Apollo Management and Silver Lake Partners of the US and London private equity firms Cinven Group and BC Partners have joined the bidding for Danish telecommunications company, TDC, The Wall Street Journal reported. They follow a consortium made up of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners, and the Blackstone Group of the US and Apax Partners and Permira Advisors of London. Both bids are valued in the $12 billion range, the Journal said. TDC, which has Internet, cellphone, and fixed-line operations in its own country, Poland and Switzerland, declined comment on the report. But European telecommunications companies have been falling like dominoes in buyouts dating back to 2000.

Natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. will acquire Columbia Natural Resources LLC for $2.2 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The deal will propel Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake to No. 3 in the US in gas reserves, behind ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. Columbia's headquarters are in Charleston, W. Va.

Degussa AG, the world's largest maker of specialty chemicals, said it will take a charge of just under $1 billion against third-quarter earnings because of stiff competition from Asian companies and the continuing challenge of integrating Laporte PLC, the British rival it acquired four years ago. Degussa is based in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Forest products giants Weyerhaeuser Co. and Georgia- Pacific Corp. both announced major cutbacks Tuesday. Weyerhaeuser said it will close its paper mill in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, indefinitely Jan. 3, idling 690 people. Pulpmaking operations will keep going until spring, however, to avoid damage from harsh winter weather, the company said. Georgia-Pacific said it will eliminate 1,100 jobs at plants in Green Bay, Wis.; Old Town, Maine; Muskogee, Okla.; and Savannah, Ga.; and at facilities in Europe.