News In Brief

Aetna Inc.'s board of directors will review "in due course" a takeover offer of at least $10 billion by a Dutch financial services group and its smaller US partner, a spokesman said. The unsolicited bid from Amsterdam-based ING and WellPoint Health Networks of Thousand Oaks, Calif., was received Feb. 24, one day before Aetna replaced its chief executive officer amid ongoing financial troubles. Aetna is three times larger than WellPoint in revenues and has five times more employees. ING is the world's seventh-largest company in its field.

A joint $1.5 billion fund to back international Internet ventures was announced by three media investment groups: CMGI Inc., of Andover, Mass.; Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. of Dallas, and Hong Kong's Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. The partnership will invest in new companies in Internet content, commerce, infrastructure, and community.

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