IBT Staff Reporter

IHOP Corp. said on Monday it plans to buy Applebee's International Inc. for $25.50 per share, as the newly restructured company seeks growth outside its iconic pancake chain. The companies said the all-cash deal, which represents a 4.6 percent premium to Applebee's closing price on Friday, was worth $2.1 billion.

McDonald's Corp. said on Monday it expects to report quarterly earnings above Wall Street estimates on its strongest quarterly sales in three years.

The owner of Dubai stock exchange is preparing an offer for Nordic stock market group OMX, rivaling the proposed $3.7 billion merger between OMX and U.S. group Nasdaq, Telegraph.co.uk reported on Sunday.

Asian shares mostly eased on Monday with South Korea retreating from record highs on fears the government may move to cool the market, while Brent crude was about $1 away from its highest level due to supply worries.

Ford Motor Co. is considering selling its Volvo Cars business as it assesses the future of its European operations, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

The takeover battle for ABN AMRO heated up on Monday with the Royal Bank of Scotland consortium boosting the cash element of its 71.1 billion-euro ($98 billion) offer. The offer is above a rival all-stock bid from Britain's Barclays that is worth about 64 billion euros, which has been recommended by ABN's board.

The dollar weakened against major currencies on Monday, plumbing fresh multi-year depths against higher-yielding units as bearish sentiment toward the greenback and the outlook for U.S. interest rates gripped markets.

Mattel Inc., the largest U.S. toy maker, said on Monday second-quarter profit rose 15 percent, helped by strong sales of its Wheels toys and Barbie dolls abroad.

Nora Bannerman checks the pristine white uniforms made for American pharmacist Walgreens in her factory in the humid heart of the Ghanaian capital Accra.

Christopher Bancroft, part of the family that controls Dow Jones, is trying to block a takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., a source familiar with the situation said on Monday, confirming a story reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Gold held steady on Monday below a five-week high, with investors keeping an eye on the dollar, which hovered near record lows against the euro, for short term direction.

European stockbrokers may find it hard to escape unscathed as sweeping regulatory changes lead to a boom in the use of high-tech systems designed to remove the human element from trading and radically reshape markets.

A one-day summit on Airbus will be held to halt in-fighting blamed for their worst recent industrial crisis.

Russian Gas monopoly Gazprom signed a deal with French energy giant Total on Friday to jointly develop the enormous Shtokman natural gas field.

Even if CEO Ed Zander departs, it could be two or three years before the phone maker's business turns around.

A turn for the worse this week in the subprime home loan meltdown has pundits and investors playing the blame game.

Florida has plenty of sunshine to power rooftop solar panels but utilities say they won't be cost effective.

Sony Ericsson saw profit jump 55 percent in its latest fiscal quarter as the cell-phone maker shipped nearly 25 million units worldwide, the company said Wednesday.

The threatened buyout of student lender Sallie Mae may still go ahead -- but the $25 billion price tag could be negotiated down.

The dollar was flat against the euro on Friday, supported by a six-month high in U.S. consumer sentiment, even though an unexpected fall in retail sales last month and troubles in credit markets loomed.

The S&P 500 index climbed to a record on Friday, surpassing levels reached during the Internet bubble, as General Electric Co. increased a stock-buyback plan and data showed improving consumer sentiment.

Samsung Electronics reported a quarterly profit decline of 5 percent on Friday but shares rose to a 15 month high following speculation of a take-over bid from U.S. activist investor Carl Icahn.

Home buyers and home sellers alike can find more innovative and useful features than ever on real estate Web sites, which are nimbly adapting to the U.S. housing slump.

News Corp. said Wednesday that will launch a new cable-television business channel on October 15 that will directly compete with General Electric'smarket leader, CNBC.

Intel Corp. said on Friday it will support a Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher's project to put computers in the hands of poor children around the world, reversing its long-standing opposition to the proposal.

Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) said that its chief executive Peter Bonaparte resigned on Thursday and the company promoted its current operations officer, Wesley Card, to the fill the vacancy.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) said Wednesday that it expects another loss for its second quarter as mobile phone sales continue to slide.

Warner Music Group's decision on whether to counter bid for British rival EMI Group has become a tortuously long one, as the No. 4 player grapples with exposing itself further to recorded music amid a faster-than-expected decline in the industry.

Companies from Home Depot to Johnson & Johnson are borrowing a page from the private equity playbook by accumulating debt to boost returns - and Wall Street is lending a helping hand.