** Britain's Prudential sold its broker-dealer network in the United States for $325 million to LPL Financial , the insurer said.

** Swiss chemicals maker Clariant AG and U.S.-based Huntsman Corp said U.S. regulators had asked for more information on their proposed merger, but they were confident of still closing the deal by the end of this year.

** Private equity house EMR Capital has purchased an 80 percent stake in a Zambian copper mine from African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and its partner for $97.10 million, ARM said.

** Canadian miner Crystallex is seeking to seize shares in a subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA that owns U.S. refiner Citgo as part of a dispute over Venezuela's 2008 takeover of the Las Cristinas gold mine, according to court filings.

** Indonesia's Pertamina said that tax issues related to importing crude oil into the Southeast Asian country could scupper plans by the state oil firm to take stakes in two energy blocks controlled by Russia's Rosneft.

** Ryanair will continue to grow in Germany, even though it sees any plans by Lufthansa to take over parts of insolvent rival Air Berlin as a conspiracy to halt the Irish carrier's expansion, its chief executive told Reuters.

** Malaysian state oil firm Petronas is looking to buy a stake in Indian Oil Corp's Ennore liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, the Indian firm's chairman said.

** Saudi Aramco has received bids from international engineering firms to expand the Hawiyah gas plant, industry sources said on Wednesday as the state oil giant continues spending to expand its core business.

** Tour operator Thomas Cook and its German airline Condor are prepared to play an active role in a restructuring of insolvent carrier Air Berlin, Thomas Cook said on Wednesday.

(Compiled by Roopal Verma in Bengaluru)