LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - European equities edged higher on Monday, extending Friday's sharp gains, with food and beverages shares advancing on news Unilever is to acquire a U.S. company for $3.7 billion in cash.
At 0710 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,080.02 points after jumping 1.2 percent on Friday and gaining 0.5 percent last week.
Consumer goods giant Unilever rose 1.3 percent after the company said it has agreed to buy U.S.-based hair care group Alberto Culver Co.
"We are now seeing a lot of corporate activity. I don't think we would see this unless there was a certain degree of confidence that the outlook was reasonably promising," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Michael Shields)