This Canadian Gold Explorer Likely to Attract M&A Interest

Victoria Gold Corp. is increasingly looked upon as an M&A target.

General Electric (GE) Looking to Europe for Acquisitions

A significant part of the growth strategy of General Electric is through acquisitions, and within that they're looking at parts of southern and eastern Europe, according to Giuseppe Recchi, chairman of GE Southern Europe.

Recchi said in a Bloomberg TV interview, “We have a program of acquisitions, especially in the industrial field. Both in 2009 and 2010 we had a lot of profit.”

That extra profit is looking for a place to work, and the company continues to look for expansion opportunities, added Recchi.

General Electric closed Friday at $20.34, rising $0.29, or 1.45 percent.

Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) Buying Up Small, Strategic Players in Key Markets

Even though Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) is sitting on a pile of cash (approximately $39 billion), they are patient and content to continue to make smaller acquisitions in key markets, the latest, announced today, being Inlet Technologies, which they acquired for $95 million.

Inlet focuses on the one of the fastest-growing tech segments: streaming video. Cisco said they made the deal to expand its Videoscape TV platform.

Other recent acquisitions by Cisco were LineSider in December, which develops network management software, and Pari Networks, which the acquired in January, which is a networking management firm.

It appears they're making these acquisition with the intention of building them out themselves, rather than acquire larger firms. It also helps in the sense that they don't have to reveal terms of the deal because of their relatively small size.

That's not to say Cisco won't be acquiring larger companies, as its recent issuance of debt implies. Any company issuing debt is doing it for the purpose of maintaining financial flexibility.

In other words, if a big deal comes along, they have liquidity in place to make an immediate offer.

Cisco is in a solid place to grow organically and via acquisitions; an enviable position to be in without question.

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) Taking Over Fronteer Gold (Amex:FRG)

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) announced it'll be acquiring Fronteer Gold (Amex:FRG) for $2.33 Billion.

The deal was driven primarily by potential gold in the Long Canyon project in in Nevada and its close proximity to Newmont projects in Nevada, which will help them cut costs. Fronteer also has the Northumberland and Sandman projects in Nevada as well.

Combined projected gold for the three assets is 4.2 million ounces.

Fronteer Gold President and CEO, Mark O'Dea, said: "This transaction delivers an immediate and attractive premium to our shareholders. It not only recognizes the current value of our key Nevada gold projects, but rewards shareholders for their future growth."

The Long Canyon project is located about 100 miles from Newmont's infrastructure in Nevada.

Richard O’Brien, Newmont’s chief executive officer, added, “The acquisition of Frontier Gold will contribute significantly to our anticipated growth profile in North America,”

The deal values Fronteer at a 37 percent premium over its Wednesday close.

Newmont was trading at $56.51, gaining $0.86, or 1.55 percent, as of 12:09 PM EST. Fronteer Gold was trading at $14.42, up $4.02, or 38.65 percent.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) Acquiring Lineage Power for $520 Million

In a move to bolster their telecommunications and data center segment, General Electric (NYSE:GE) announced they're acquiring Lineage Power for $520 million.

What Lineage does is produce equipment which converts electric power from AC to DC or DC to AC (alternating current to direct current and reverse).

This type of product is used in devices like telecommunications, electrical industrial equipment and data centers.

GE has been moving strongly into the energy sector, and this is another big move into a growing market, which GE says stands at $20 billion and is growing quickly.

Revenue in 2010 for Lineage was $450 million. GE is acquiring Lineage from private equity firm Gores Group LLC.

Where Will BHP (NYSE:BHP) Invest its Cash?

Now that the Potash (NYSE:POT) deal is all but over for BHP (NYSE:BHP), rumors continue to circulate as to what would be the best way for the company to invest its cash.

While acquisitions are sure to remain on the table, pressure from shareholders could result in BP using some of the capital, possibly as much as $10 billion to buy back shares in the company.

As high as that is, BHP would still have plenty to make acquisitions with.

With Kloppers wanting a win in the acquisition area, it seems more likely he'll continue to look for deals rather than buy back shares.

If Kloppers and the board do decide to buy back shares, it would mean he would have to start looking for smaller acquisitions than the ones he has pursued unsuccessfully over the last several years, and may actually be good for him and the company.

Either way, now that acquisitions have been failing, shareholders are increasing pressure on the company to repurchase shares. Kloppers may decide to end up doing both.