MAJOR PAPERS:

• In a deal that values Global Ship Lease at about $500M, the Wall Street Journal reported that Marathon Acquisition Corp. (AMEX: MAQ) is expected to acquire a majority stake, or 66%, in the firm that acquires and charters vessels to container shipping companies.
• Activist investors are moving in on Circuit City Stores Inc (NYSE: CC), which is expected to result in a change of management as the company's turnaround efforts have failed and many investors have jumped ship, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street".

OTHER PAPERS:

• JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) was in talks last night about raising its bid for The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) by 500% in order to appease angry Bear shareholders who have vowed to fight the deal, the New York Times reported.

WEB SITES:

• The mining industry is consolidating, Business Week noted, and investment pro Richard Steinberg, sees Anglo American Plc (NASDAQ: AAUK) as a possible takeover target due to its sizable deposits of platinum and ferrous and nonferrous metals.
• Perfect World Co Ltd (NASDAQ: PWRD), a big player in China for online gaming, has seen its share price shoot up to $37 in October, up from $16 back in July, Business Week reported, and then slide back down to $21.90, attracting investors again.
• Business Week reported that investors are flocking to overseas investments and opportunities as they have become spooked by Bear Stearns' collapse, and the prospect of a protracted U.S. financial crisis or recession. John Maloney, president of M&R Capital Management says it makes sense to put money in non-U.S. investments, particularly in Liberty Global Inc (NASDAQ: LBTYA), a major cable company.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: European banks, Voltaire, Perfect World and Aspreva Pharmaceuticals were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) with an Overweight rating, Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) with an Equal Weight rating and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) with an Underweight rating.
• Voltaire Ltd (NASDAQ: VOLT) was started with a Buy rating and $29 target at Goldman Sachs, with a Neutral rating at JP Morgan, with an Overweight rating and $12 target at Thomas Weisel and with an Outperform rating and $15 target at RBC Capital. Thomas Weisel said the market gives Voltaire very little credit for its strong position in the rapidly growing Infiniband switch market and RBC Capital believes the stock has impressive growth and gross margin momentum.
  
• Perfect World Co Ltd (NASDAQ: PWRD) was initiated with a Positive rating at Susquehanna, as the firm is positive on its growth potential in the online gaming industry in China.
• Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: ASPV) was initiated with a Sector Perform at RBC Capital, as the firm believes the current valuation is not attractive, and recommends $17 as an attractive entry point. The firm set a target of $22 on the shares.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Drugstore.com Inc (NASDAQ: DSCM) was started with a Market Perform rating at JMP Securities.
• Wachovia started shares of BladeLogic Inc (NASDAQ: BLOG) with an Outperform rating and $17 target. The stock was also initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating and at Citigroup with a Hold rating and $27.50 target.
• Lehman initiated Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPR) with an Overweight rating and $43 target.
• Goldman Sachs started shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc (NYSE: MMC) with a Sell rating and $25 target.

A report from IDC shows that Perfect World is the most popular online game developer in China. In light of the growth in that market, it's a nice place to be.

It also helps attract investors. So, Perfect World has filed to go public in the US markets.

The firm's games are in 3D and are powered by a highly sophisticated proprietary engine -- called Angelica.

As of the first quarter, Perfect World's games have averaged about 237,000 concurrent users.

Perfect World has experimented with several business models. One approach is to charge based on time played and the other is to charge for items used in a game (known as "in-game items).

Last year, the company posted revenues of $12.9 million. And, for Q1 of 2007, revenues hit $11.9 million.

So how big is the market opportunity in China? IDC pegs the market at $816 million in 2006, which represents a 73.5% increase over 2005. The market is expected to surge to $3 billion by 2011.

The lead underwriters for Perfect World include Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Credit Suisse.

You can find the prospectus at the SEC web site. And, if you want to see some recent IPO filings, you can click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.