Done Deals

• Alliance Boots has purchased 25 per cent of Brazilian pharmaceutical wholesaler Athos Farma for an undisclosed amount. The deal is Alliance Boots first venture into South America

• US-based analyst firm Forrester Research has purchased its rival, Jupiter Research for $23 million (£11.8 million)

• AIM-listed SpiriTel, a business communications service provider, has acquired ED Communications for up to £3 million. ED is SpiriTel’s sixth acquisition in less than two years

• OAO Severstal, a metals and mining company, has acquired Esmark Incorporated, a manufacturer and distributor of flat rolled and steel products, for $775 million (£396 million)

• Private equity firm Carlyle Group has bought two residential towers in the Chinese city of Macau. The deal, announced by Jones Lang LaSalle, is worth around $250 million (£128 million)

In the pipeline

• Soft drinks manufacturer Barr, which owns the IRN-BRU brand, has agreed to acquire Rubicon for £59.8 million, subject to shareholder approval

• Servis, a UK-based IT services group, has agreed a £5.3 million cash offer from Strand Partners on behalf of Sirvis IT Holdings which will see the company move back to private ownership

• British engineer GKN expects to agree a deal with EADS, owner of Airbus, to acquire an Airbus wings factory at Filton, near Bristol in the next few weeks. The deal would add £400 million to GKN's annual revenues

• Shares in UK building materials group Wolseley increased over 11 per cent on Tuesday as traders cited market talk of possible sale of its U.S. operations