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Pearson, the UK-based media group, has agreed to acquire publishing company Simon & Schuster from US group Viacom. The deal is valued at £2.75 billion ($4.6 billion). Following the purchase, Pearson will sell certain parts of Simon & Schuster to US leveraged buy-out company Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst.

In the case of qualifying pension plans, the contribution of the employer under the scheme is not taxable, whereas the contribution of the employee is tax deductible. Benefits received from a qualifying plan are in general fully subject to Netherlands income tax. Special rules provide for taxation over the economic value of an employee's pension rights in case of certain "forbidden" transactions.

In March of this year, the German Parliament and Federal Council ratified two major pieces of legislation which have since taken effect. The Law on Corporate Control and Transparency makes extensive changes to the provisions of the Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) to improve corporate accountability. This bill also liberalizes the provisions relating to the issuance of stock options to senior executives and other employees. Some of the new provisions may be applicable by analogy to limited liability companies. Most provisions either take immediate effect or apply to fiscal years beginning 1999 onwards.

Piergiorgio Valente of Studio Associato Legale Tributario (Ernst & Young) gives an overview of the key principles behind administrative tax penalties in the jurisdictions of Italy, Sweden, the UK, France and Germany

Foreign investors in the People’s Republic of China take note – the PRC tax authorities have turned on the transfer pricing heat. May Huang and Alan Tsoi of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Beijing, analyze the contents of a new circular on the subject

We finally have it. After months of internal argument, Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand have finally produced a name for the merged firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. In the end it has come down to simple arithmetic, adding together the two old names. The result reflects the determination of both firms to preserve what are seen as strong brand names. The firm will be informally known as PwC.

Lonhro, the UK-based mining group and former conglomerate, has agreed to sell its interests in Princess Hotels to Canadian Pacific, the largest hotel group in Canada. The deal is valued at $540 million. The disposal signals Lonhro's move towards the sale of all but its core mining interests.

A Danish company threatened to stop flying the national flag in a dispute over proposed taxation changes. The company, AP Moller Maersk, also refused to sign new North Sea oil exploration licences. The protest was over an 8% cut in corporate income taxes which would have excluded companies in the oil and gas sector. The Danish government has been forced to abandon the plan to reduce corporate income taxes from 34% to 26%. The move came as the government made an agreement with left wing parties that will ensure the passage of a series of tax changes. A condition of left wing support was the removal of the proposed corporate tax cut.

US pharmaceutical groups Monsanto and American Home Products has announced a merger worth $34 billion. American Home Products will have a 65% stake in the new company. Annual sales will be about $3 billion a year.

Jefferson Smurfit Corporation of St. Louis, US is to merge with Stone Container of Chicago. The merger is worth approximately $2 billion and will create one of the world's largest paperboard and paper packaging companies. It will be known as Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation and will be worth approximately $11 billion.