In a deal valued an estimated $3.7bn or $49.50 a share, a group of Canadian pension funds and banks collectively known as Maple Group Acquisition, confirmed late on Sunday that it has submitted a tender to buy all of TMX Group’s shares. The bid by Maple Group to buy the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange was 20 percent higher than the bid by LSE and was submitted by the group in the hope of derailing a planned merger between the LSE and TMX. Canadian banks had previously criticised the potential transatlantic merger, saying it could lead to foreign control of Canada’s capital markets and lessen Toronto’s position as a financial hub. Investors in Maple Group include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Alberta Investment Management, Fonds de solidarite des travailleurs du Quebec, Scotia Capital, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, CIBC World Markets, National Bank Financial, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, and TD Securities.

The Japanese government endorsed a scheme on Friday to help Tepco, Asia’s largest utility company, compensate victims of the disaster at its tsunami-stricken nuclear power plant and save it from financial collapse. Naoto Kan, Japan’s prime minister, approved the plan to create a new body to facilitate funds to utilities companies expecting to pay nuclear accident compensation claims to victims. It is said that a government committee will for a brief period take over the control of management at Tepco to monitor its restructuring measures. The detailed compensation plan has yet to be released, but compensation is estimated to reach trillions of yen primarily from Fukushima residents living in the vicinity of the power plant.

Google’s advertising system is under investigation by the US Justice Department and it has put aside $500m to settle any potential charges, the Internet search engine revealed on its website on Wednesday. The charge decreased the net income to $1.8bn, or $5.51 per share for Q1, Google said in a filing with the SEC late on Tuesday. It had earlier reported net income of $2.3bn, or $7.04 a share for Q1. Google said: “In May 2011, in connection with a potential resolution of an investigation by the United States Department of Justice into the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers, we accrued $500m for the three month period ended March 31, 2011.” The company said it cannot predict the ultimate outcome of this matter but believes it will not have a material adverse effect on its business, consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

US software giant Microsoft is in late stage negotiations to buy Internet phone service provider Skype in a deal that could be worth 8.5bn dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Confirmation of the deal is expected later on Tuesday but sources warned the deal may still fall apart. Microsoft and Skype declined to comment. The $8.5bn Skype deal would be the largest acquisition in the 36-year history of Microsoft. In 2007, Microsoft paid around $6bn for online advertising firm aQuantive, which until now was it’s biggest deal. Skype is said to have an estimated 663 million users of its Internet telephony and video calling worldwide. It was founded in 2003 by the creators of file sharing technology Kazaa, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. In 2005, the company was sold to eBay for $2.6bn in cash and stock.

International consumer electronics giant Apple has beaten search engine Google to the top spot as the most valuable global brand, according to a key study published by Millward Brown. Apple, which produced products including the iPad, iPod and iPhone, moved up from third place in 2010 to the top position after its brand value grew year-on-year from $83bn to $153bn, according to the study. The value of Apple’s brand has increased by 84 percent over the last 12 months, surpassing other brands such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM and McDonald’s, said the agency.  The Google brand, which held the top spot for four consecutive years, slipped two percent to $111.4bn. Nigel Hollis, chief global analyst at Millward Brown, said: “Apple and Google have different business models, with Google focused on free services and open systems, while Apple eschews the open model in favor of what it calls the integrated model.”