Republic Airways Holdings not only beat analysts' second-quarter estimates this year, but also posted a profit. But just weeks after the new player in scheduled service announced those solid results, arch-enemy Southwest Airlines announced it was buying AirTran for $1 billion.

The going-private deal he worked out—with New York-based Alden Global Capital—could result in another public offering five years from now.

Simon Property Group Inc. added four backers to its proposal to help rival mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. emerge from bankruptcy, increasing the plan’s total investment by $1.1 billion.

Simon Property Group Inc. already is known for playing hardball with mall tenants over rent. So national retailers like The Gap Inc. and Limited Brands Inc. will be bracing for future lease negotiations if the nation's largest mall owner succeeds in a $10 billion bid to take over its nearest rival, the bankrupt General Growth Properties Inc.

Eli Lilly and Co. directors have recommended that shareholders toss out the drugmaker's most potent protection against unwanted takeovers: an 80-percent supermajority vote threshold for any shareholder mutiny to succeed.

Directors at Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. are being sued by a shareholder claiming they shouldn’t have rejected a $10 billion buyout offer from competitor Simon Property Group Inc.

A small Michigan insurer has rejected an acquisition bid from The Steak n Shake Co., describing the offer as a "hostile takeover attempt."

It’s good to be among the favored few, those blessed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to scoop up the remnants of failed banks. Because it was on the FDIC list of approved buyers, Cincinnati-based First Financial Bancorp was able to acquire Columbus, Ind.-based Irwin Financial Corp.’s banking operations under terms that would make any deal-maker proud.

By purchasing two struggling airlines for which it flies, Republic Airways Holdings is taking aboard substantial risks that threaten its profitable niche, analysts say. Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines are not only leaking money, but fly at an altitude where major carriers routinely dogfight in a fare war Republic hasn't had to fight as a contract carrier.

It took Pete and Candace Kissinger 33 years to build West Lafayette-based Bioanalytical Systems Inc. into one of the largest contract research firms in Indiana's life science sector. It took just a year and a half for them to turn against the company's new management.

Not so long ago, most Indiana public companies were firmly in control of their destinies. Now after seeing their stock prices plunge, many would , be little more than sitting ducks were outsiders to launch takeover bids. If anybody's still got the money and chutzpah to buy, that is.

After months of agitating for changes at The Steak n Shake Co., investor Sardar Biglari finally got a shot at putting his theories into action.

After a 17-year run in Indianapolis, National City's trademark green signs are set to be replaced with the blue of Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial.

Two executives with longtime ties to The Steak n Shake Co. have joined a dissident Texas investor in his quest to overhaul the Indianapolis-based restaurant chain. Shareholders who have agreed to work with Sardar Biglari include a former board member the company once described as a "modern-day founder" of the restaurant chain, along with a former partner in Kelley & Partners Ltd., the investment firm led by company patriarch E.W. Kelley before his 2003 death.

Texas investor Sardar Biglari rode a wave of shareholder anger to a landslide victory in his quest for Steak n Shake Co. board seats. Now, the dissident 30-year-old investor who models his approach after Warren Buffett's is hoping to deliver on his promise to turn around the Indianapolis-based chain, with or without the chairmanship he covets.

First Indiana Corp.'s announcement that it would be sold to Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $529 million in cash came just 17 days after sale discussions began. Banking observers have speculated for weeks that First Indiana acted fast to cut a deal before it would have to report second-quarter results.

After almost 60 profitable years that saw Elliott-Williams Co. install walk-in refrigerators and freezers in almost every Indiana school, hospital and hotel, the venerable firm was brought to its knees last year. But an unlikely savior, a new locally based venture capital firm, bought EW out of bankruptcy for $507,000, about the cost of 10 EW walk-ins.

Amid sagging profits, locally based Delta Faucet Co. has parted ways with two of its top executives. And some analysts think Delta's parent corporation--tiring of its sagging performance--is considering selling the faucet manufacturer.

On Feb. 20, Plainfield-based cell phone distributor Brightpoint Inc. announced a blockbuster deal to buy Dangaard, its largest European rival, for $308 million, a reversal of fortunes from five years ago between the competitors.

Announcements that major Indiana companies have been acquired are traditionally met with trepidation. But a rash of recent buyouts of Indiana companies shows they're not always bad news.