Business in Brief

DETROIT — A group of private equity investors has offered to pay up to $3.4 billion to buy shares of Delphi Corp. and could wind up owning as much as 72 percent of the auto parts maker in a deal that creates a framework for its successful emergence from bankruptcy, Delphi said Monday.

The company — which makes a slew of auto parts, including entertainment systems, chassis, electronics and air conditioning — also said its board named President Rodney O'Neal to replace Chairman Robert S. "Steve" Miller as chief executive, effective Jan. 1. Miller will serve as executive chairman until the company emerges from bankruptcy. O'Neal will remain as president.

Under the financing deal, Appaloosa Management LP, Cerberus Capital Management LP and Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I, as well as Merrill Lynch & Co. and UBS Securities LLC, will invest a minimum of $1.4 billion and a maximum of $3.4 billion in the struggling company in exchange for common and preferred stockthat will be issued in the first half of next year.

Mining equipment makers' shares rise

MILWAUKEE — Shares of mining equipment makers rose Monday after a leading manufacturer of above-ground equipment bought a German company for $731 million and another turned in results that easily beat Wall Street expectations.

Bucyrus International Inc.'s shares jumped $5.75, or 13.5 percent, to close at $48.48 on the Nasdaq, one day after the South Milwaukee-based company announced it would acquire DBT GmbH, a subsidiary of RAG Coal Intl., in a cash and stock deal.

Joy Global Inc. said Monday that rising demand for underground mining equipment overseas pushed its fourth-quarter profit up 52 percent to $85.2 million. Analysts had predicted $77.28 million, according to Thomson Financial. Its shares rose $3.65, or 8.3 percent, to $47.88 on the Nasdaq.

Rising demand overseas for copper, iron ore and surface coal are reported softening the slumps seen in the U.S. coal market, said Mike Sutherlin, who will take over as president and chief executive officer of Joy Global after the first of the year.

Consortium will acquire Biomet

WARSAW, Ind. — Biomet Inc., a maker of hip- and knee-replacement products, agreed Monday to be acquired by a private equity consortium for about $10.9 billion in cash.

The buyers include Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the Texas Pacific Group, along with one of Biomet's founders, Dane A. Miller.

Shareholders are being offered $44 per share, a 27 percent premium to Biomet's price on April 3, the trading day before news surfaced that the company will finance the takeover with a combination of its own cash and borrowed funds from Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The board of Warsaw-based Biomet voted in favor of the transaction, which is subject to shareholder approval and antitrust clearance.

U.S. trade deficit's record high to ease

WASHINGTON — Pushed up by soaring oil prices, the U.S. trade deficit surged to a record high in the summer, but analysts predict a slowly improving imbalance in the months ahead.

The current account trade deficit increased 3.9 percent to an all-time high of $225.6 billion in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

That third-quarter deficit was equal to 6.8 percent of the total economy, up from 6.6 percent of gross domestic product in the second quarter.

The current account is the broadest measure of trade because it tracks not only the flow of goods and services across borders but also investment flows. It represents the amount of money that must be borrowed from foreigners to make up the difference between imports and exports.

Top offshore oil producer planned

OSLO, Norway — Norwegian petroleum companies Statoil ASA and Norsk Hydro ASA elbowed into the global fray for oil Monday with a plan to form a state-controlled giant that would be the world's largest offshore oil producer.

Statoil said it was acquiring the oil and gas operations of its smaller rival in a $30 billion (23 billion euro) deal largely motivated by their drives to expand outside Norway, where the competition for offshore acreage is cutthroat amid high crude prices.

"Combining the best of both organizations, we will significantly improve our competitive position internationally and promote long-term vitality of the Norwegian Continental Shelf," said Helge Lund, chief executive of state-controlled Statoil.

The new concern would surpass Royal Dutch Shell PLC as the world's largest offshore oil producer, the companies said.