** Diversified manufacturer Carlisle Cos Inc agreed to acquire Hawk Corp for $413 million to strengthen its braking solutions platform.
** Poland's top utility PGE kicked off a long-anticipated process of spinning off its small telecom arm Exatel, a PGE spokesman said on Friday, confirming what sources close to the transaction earlier told Reuters.
** Japan's Softbank Corp said it has agreed to buy a 100 percent stake in Willcom Inc, a Japanese provider of so-called personal handy-phone systems.
** Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's biggest retail bank, said it agreed to buy control of Banca Monte Parma for 159 million euros.
** Insurance buyout specialist Resolution is to buy part of British health insurer Bupa for 102 million pounds ($164 million), it said on Friday, in a self-financed deal aimed at broadening its product range.
** France's Essilor International, the world's top maker of corrective eye lenses, will buy 50 percent of Shamir Optical Industry Ltd in a cash deal worth $130 million, Israel-based Shamir Optical said.
** British transport group Stagecoach will re-enter the London bus market after buying the capital's third-largest bus operator from East London Bus Group (ELB) for 52.8 million pounds ($84.5 million).
** Italy publisher Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso is in talks with News Corp unit Sky Italia and other players to lease them terrestrial TV frequencies and may sign deals in the coming months, a source close to L'Espresso said on Friday. (Compiled by Gowri Jayakumar and Megha Mandavia in Bangalore)