Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the No. 2 adviser for U.S. mergers and acquisitions, reported a 47 percent increase in second-quarter profit, led by gains in stock trading and arranging takeovers. Net income rose to $1 billion, or $1.69 a share, ... [full story]

TORONTO, June 8 (Reuters) - FirstService Corp. (FSV.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it acquired a majority interest in mortgage banking and loan administration company Cohen Financial but did not disclose terms of the deal. The real estate and property ... [full story]

ACE Shareholders To Receive $30 Per Share In Cash DALLAS, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACE Cash Express, Inc. (Nasdaq: AACE - News) announced today that it entered into a merger agreement with an entity formed by JLL Partners Fund V, ... [full story]

New York, June 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Gardant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PinkSheets:GRDP) today announced that it is exploring the sale of the Company. In this connection, the Company intends to dividend to its shareholders, in July 2006, its shares in operating ... [full story]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The value of announced global mergers and acquisitions has reached $1.653 trillion for 2006, the highest year-to-date figure on record, according to Dealogic. The figure is up 38 percent on last year's $1.191 trillion and beats the ... [full story]

Business Week From Standard & Poor's RatingsDirect The second half of 2006 promises many rewards for the U.S. life-insurance industry. Higher interest rates, coupled with moderately positive equity market movements, create the potential for double-digit increases in operating profits -- admittedly ... [full story]

NEW YORK — Sterling Financial Corp., a regional bank in Washington state, said Monday it plans to buy FirstBank NW Corp., a savings and loan company operating in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, for $169.6 million in stock and cash. Shares of ... [full story]

Adds AUM of $5.5 Billion BOSTON, June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: BPFH - News), Anchor Capital and Anchor/Russell today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of a majority interest in Anchor Holdings LLC, a newly ... [full story]

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) today announced the closing of its acquisition of Allstate Financial's variableannuity business through a reinsurance transaction. This makesPrudential the third largest provider of advisor-sold* variableannuity products as measured by assets under administration andmanagement and the ... [full story]

The Enstar Group will merge with its partially-owned Bermuda affiliate Castlewood Holdings Limited to form a new parent company in Bermuda.   The merger is intended to qualify as a reorganisation for federal income tax purposes, the company said in ... [full story]