Walgreens, the largest US drugstore chain, is acquiring New York retailer Duane Reade for $1.1 billion, it has been announced.  The purchase gives Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens a chain with the highest sales per square foot in the US drugstore business, while also strengthening its position in the north-eastern region that is the stronghold of its rival CVS. Walgreens currently has a relatively small presence in the New York City area, with only about 70 stores, 13 of them in Manhattan. By comparison, Duane Reed operates 257 drugstores in the same area.

State-run Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has signed a five-year service contract with Royal Dutch Shell to develop pure gas fields in the north of the country.

Anadarko Petroleum has agreed a $1.4 billion deal with Japanese trading and investment group Mitsui & Co to sell a minority stake in its Marcellus Shale natural gas project in Pennsylvania.  The deal announced yesterday will give Mitsui control of 32.5 percent of Anadarko's shale gas assets in the state, where most of the 250,000 square kilometre Marcellus deposit is located.  A rapidly developing natural gas field, Marcellus also reaches into New York and other states. Anadarko has 715,000 gross acres of the field.

Anglo American has taken another step forward in its restructuring programme by selling the European assets of its Tarmac business for £254 million.

The head of United Airlines has hinted at the possibility of renewing merger talks with Continental Airlines, according to a report in the UKÔÇÖs Financial Times.  According to the paper, Glenn Tilton, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based United, said that the market seemed to be in favor of rival DeltaÔÇÖs takeover of Northwest.  Delta merged with Northwest in 2008, creating a group with a market capitalization of $9.5 billion, compared with a combined market value of just below $5.5 billion for United and Continental.

UK transport operator First Group has clinched a £20 million contract to provide the buses and coaches that will transport spectators to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Yara International, one of the world's largest fertilizer producers, has agreed to buy Terra Industries for $4.1 billion to boost its presence in the US.  The transaction will be partially funded by a rights issue worth between $2 billion and 2.5 billion, Yara said, adding that its majority owner, the Norwegian government, would participate accordingly in the issue.  "The transaction has been unanimously approved by Yara's Board of Directors and unanimously approved by Terra's Board of Directors," Yara said in a statement.

South AsiaÔÇÖs biggest mobile phone company Bharti Airtel has offered $10.7 billion to buy most of ZainÔÇÖs African assetsÔÇöa deal that would create one of the largest emerging market phone operators.

FirstEnergy has acquired Allegheny Energy for $4.7 billion in a deal that would create one of the largest utility groups in the US.  The combined company would have 10 regulated power utilities across seven states, including New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia. It would have a total 24,000 megawatts of generating capacity from coal, nuclear, natural gas, oil and renewable power. The new company would retain the FirstEnergy name and be based in Akron, Ohio.

Finnish environmental officials have today given their permission for the construction of a Ôé¼7.4 billion Baltic natural gas pipeline to go ahead.