Parramatta. Funding for expos at Rosehill

Industry & Investment NSW will provide $120,000 per year for the 2011 and 2012 Country & Regional Living Expos, which are held at Rosehill Racecourse Grand Pavilion, and organised by the Foundation for Regional Development. The expos provide an opportunity for Sydneysiders to ask questions about living in regional NSW including housing costs, key industries for job vacancies and opportunities to invest in or relocate a business.

Region. NZ bid for Crane Group

New Zealand building products supplier, Fletcher Building has made an unsolicited takeover bid of $740 million for the Crane Group, which has facilities in Western Sydney Fletcher had indicated its interest in Crane earlier this year but had been rebuffed before launching yesterday's surprise offer. Crane has appointed UBS and Blake Dawson as its advisers and released a statement saying its board ''will meet as soon as possible to consider the offer'' and advised shareholders to ''take no action''. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, including those of the Foreign Investment Review Board and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Region. Nestle takeover of Jenny Craig

The chocolatier and multinational food company, Nestle, said it would acquire at an undisclosed price, all shares of the group that controls the Jenny Craig franchise in New Zealand and Australia. The weight-loss company was founded in Australia in 1983 and has five outlets in Western Sydney. The acquisition next month will complete Nestle's takeover of Jenny Craig, a process which began in 2006 with the US$600 million buy-out of its international arm. Australian and New Zealand Jenny Craig operations would report to the Jenny Craig global headquarters in California, USA, and the new structure would not require redundancies.