The German car maker Volkswagen (VW) has announced it will acquire 19.9 per cent of JapanÔÇÖs Suzuki Motor Corp. by January 2010.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest oil company in the US, has approved with partners the development of a $15 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) joint venture in Papua New Guinea, it has been announced.  The joint venture will be the countryÔÇÖs biggest resource project, and will supply LNG to China, Japan and Taiwan.  Irving, Texas-based Exxon and its Papua New Guinea partners will build a plant near Port Moresby, the nationÔÇÖs capital city, with the capacity to produce 6.6 million metric tons of LNG a year.

Heineken has joined forces with Bangalore-based United Breweries Limited (UBL), the maker of Kingfisher, in a deal that will allow the Dutch brewer to produce and distribute its brand of lager in one of the worldÔÇÖs fastest-growing beer markets.

Global mining giant Rio Tinto has sold its 50 per cent stake in the Hydrogen Energy International Ltd (HEIL) joint venture in order to focus on a similar project in California.  HEIL owns an interest in the Hydrogen Power Abu Dhabi (HPAD) project, which seeks to create cleaner electricity by storing gas emissions that would act as feedstock for a hydrogen power station. For the past two years, HEIL has been responsible for the development of the HPAD project.  Rio and BP set up HEIL in 2007 to develop clean energy projects globally.

Global mining giant Rio Tinto has sold its 50 per cent stake in the Hydrogen Energy International Ltd (HEIL) joint venture to its partner BP, it has been announced.

General Motors has agreed to buy out SuzukiÔÇÖs stake in Cami Automotive, the two companiesÔÇÖ joint venture in Canada.  Suzuki, which holds 50 percent in Cami, will sell its interest in the joint venture on request from GM, bringing the 20-year partnership to a close and transferring full control back to the Detroit-based automaker.  The price of the stake has not been disclosed, although its value is thought to be around C$49 million ($46.5 million).Established in 1986, Ingersoll, Ontario-based Cami started production in 1989.

Chinese plane maker Xi'an Aircraft Industry Company (XAC) has purchased a majority stake in Austrian aircraft parts maker Future Advanced Composite Components (FACC).

American Airlines, other members of the Oneworld alliance and private equity house TPG have offered to invest as much as $1.1 billion in struggling carrier Japan Airlines (JAL)ÔÇönearly double the value of the package offered by Delta Air Lines.  American Airlines said the deal would also generate additional benefits worth $700 million to JAL over a period of 10 years.  The offer surpasses the $500 million of equity that Delta and SkyTeam alliance carriers have offered to buy as part of a $1 billion package that includes loans and sales guarantees.

JapanÔÇÖs Mitsubishi Motors is in talks with Peugeot Citro├½n over a capital tie-up that could see the French automaker take a significant stake in the Japanese company.

Northrop Grumman has threatened to withdraw from the competition for a $35 billion contract to build new US military tanker aircraft.  Northrop had teamed with European Airbus parent EADS to bid against Chicago-based Boeing. If Northrop drops out, Boeing would become the sole bidder for the job.  The contract is to supply 179 converted civilian jetliners to become tanker aircraft for aerial refueling, to replace the Air ForceÔÇÖs current ageing fleet of KC-135 tankers.