Germany’s Fresenius Medical Care has announced a $1.7 billion merger agreement with US-based Liberty Dialysis Holdings, Inc., the holding company for Liberty Dialysis and Renal Advantage.

Liberty Dialysis has annual sales of approximately $1 billion and operates approximately 260 dialysis clinics, although Fresenius has said that some facilities may need to be divested to secure regulatory clearance.

The deal is expected to close in early 2012, and is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year after closing of the transaction.

Bermuda-based oil services provider Archer Limited is to acquire Great White Energy Services for $742 million on a cash and debt free basis, it was announced today.

The acquisition will give Archer an entry point into the rapidly expanding frac market and effectively double its coil tubing and directional drilling capacity in the United States where development of unconventional oil and natural gas shale plays continue to drive E&P investments. The combined company will be operational in all major oil and gas regions in the US.

UK-based banking and financial services group HSBC has announced the sale of 195 of its retail branches in the US.

The branches, primarily in Upstate New York, are to be sold to First Niagara Bank for approximately $1 billion (approx. £608 million).

As of 31 May 2011, the branches held approximately $15 billion in deposits, $15 billion in gross assets including $2.8 billion in loans and $4.3 billion in assets under management.

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company and Canary Wharf Group have signed a deal with Shell International to redevelop the Shell Centre site on London’s South Bank.

The two companies have entered into a 50:50 joint venture, and will each contribute £150 million to secure the 5.25 acre site on a 999-year lease.

Canary Wharf Group will act as the construction manager for the project and will also be joint development manager with Qatari Diar.

A coalition of taxpayer groups, consumers, small businesses and Internet companies has been established in California in opposition to a new law for consumers to pay taxes on Internet purchases at checkout.

The More Jobs Not Taxes committee has been established to give Californians “a voice and a choice” on what they see as an unconstitutional new tax law.

Goldcorp, the world’s second largest gold producer, has revealed mixed fortunes in its second quarter results.

Revenues of $1.3 billion represent an increase of 62 percent over Q2, 2010, and adjusted net earnings climbed 111 percent to $420 million, but a series of misadventures in various operations have led the company to revise its production forecasts for the rest of the year.

UK engineering company GKN has agreed to acquire the all-wheel-drive (AWD) components businesses of Germany’s Getrag.

The businesses being acquired are known as Getrag Driveline Products and consist of Getrag Corporation—a joint venture with US-based Dana Corporation—and Getrag All Wheel Drive, a joint venture with Dana Holding Corporation and Sweden’s Volvo.

As federal funding declines, a report from the Urban Land Institute in conjunction with Ernst & Young warns of the strain on US cities to maintain assets and build infrastructure projects.

Retail sales does not have to be a two-trick pony. Mark Ryski offers five ways to drive customer conversion rates in your stores.

Same-store sales are looking a little flat and you need to find ways to deliver better results. There’s still a scent of the financial melt-down lingering, but you survived that crisis and it’s time to start getting the sales needle to move in a positive direction.

A project assurance methodology transcends traditional project management barriers for successful software implementation, says Rob Prinzo.