Private equity deals

Centre Lane Partners Cinven has agreed to acquire British generic medicines business Mercury Pharma from HgCapital for £465 million, according to the FT. HgCapital had bought the company in late 2009 for £178 million. www.cinven.com

Electronic Arts (Nasdsaq: EA) has held preliminary talks with several private equity firms, including KKR and Providence Equity Partners, about an acquisition, according to the NY Post. The story says that EA would accept bids of around $20 per share, which would value the game-maker at nearly $6.4 billion ($2b more than its current market cap). www.ea.com

Excellere Partners has acquired an undisclosed stake in Flavours Inc., a Yorba Linda, Calif.–based maker of organic, natural, and healthy beverages and snack foods. www.flavoursinc.com

Republic Tobacco, the privately-held maker of Drum chewing tobacco, is receiving buyout interest from private equity firms like The Carlyle Group and Pamplona Capital Management, according to Reuters. The deal could be valued at upwards of $2 billion.

Fortress Investment Group is in advanced talks to acquire the container-leasing business of Austria's Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG, according to Bloomberg. The deal would be valued at less than $200 million. www.volksbank.com

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