Californian firm Fisker Automotive is in talks to buy the General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware, in order to produce a plug-in electric hybrid that will hit the US market in 2012.  The plant in question is GMÔÇÖs 3.2 million square foot Boxwood Road plant, the last automotive plant in the state, which has been idled since July this year.  Most recently, the factory, which opened in 1947, produced the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice models.

Dutch brewer Heineken is in talks to buy the brewing operations of Mexican conglomerate Femsa, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Online retailer Amazon has beaten analystsÔÇÖ forecasts with a 68 percent jump in profits from a year earlier.  The companyÔÇÖs profits reached $199 million for the period July to September, with total sales rising to $5.45 billion. AnalystsÔÇÖ estimates were for around $5 billion in sales for the period.  The 45 cents per share profits far exceeded analystsÔÇÖ average estimates of 30 cents per share.  North American revenue rose by 23 percent during the quarter.

Mining group Anglo American is to sell off its non-core assets as part of a drive to streamline the business and generate cash.

CanadaÔÇÖs Harvest Energy has been sold to the Korea National Oil Corp. for C$1.8 billion (US$1.7 billion).  Harvest is one of Canada's largest oil producers and refiners with a current capacity of 53,400 barrels of crude and gas per day.  As of January this year it had confirmed reserves of 219.9 million barrels and 950 employees, with oil fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Colombia.  The company also operates a 115,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Newfoundland and Labrador, at which it had hoped to commence a C$2 billion expansion project last year.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) has agreed with partners to invest Ôé¼800 million in the joint development of a gas storage project in the Netherlands.

New York-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners has agreed to buy the UKÔÇÖs Gatwick Airport from its operator BAA for ┬ú1.5 billion ($2.4 billion). The deal comes a year after Gatwick was put up for sale by BAAÔÇÖs Spanish parent company Ferrovial.

Airport operator BAA has agreed to sell the UKÔÇÖs Gatwick Airport to the US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners for ┬ú1.5 billion.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has given Shell Offshore Inc. the go-ahead to drill exploratory wells next year on two leases in the Beaufort Sea, off AlaskaÔÇÖs north coast. The company wants to drill two exploration wells in the western area of Camden Bay between July and October next year. The two leases, which were obtained by Shell in 2005 and 2007, lie around 16 and 23 miles north of Point Thompson, Alaska. The Beaufort Sea contains an estimated 8.22 billion barrels of oil and 27.65 million cubic feet of natural gas.

Swiss mining firm Xstrata has reported a rise of nine per cent in its coal output during the third quarter, following its acquisition of two Colombian mines earlier this year.