Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digest

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories involving U.S. and European companies were reported by media on Monday: ** GMAC Commercial Finance and Burdale Financial, lenders to Woolworths WLW.L, have appointed Deloitte as adviser in negotiations with the UK retailer, the Financial Times said.

** BG Group (BG.L) is in advanced negotiations to buy a 24.9 percent stake in Australian coal-bed methane gas group Queensland Gas Company QGC.AX, the Financial Times said. This deal would trigger an automatic takeover bid by BG, valuing QSC at 1.96 billion pounds ($3.1 billion), it said. ** A new UK-focused technology venture capital fund is to be created by entrepreneurs Ben and Jos White, using around 20 million pounds ($31 million) of the 100 million pounds they received from the sale of Messagelabs earlier in October, the Financial Times said.

** Private equity firms TPG [TPG.UL] and Apollo Management LP [APOLO.UL] are going to have to mark down their investments in Harrah's Entertainment, as the casino giant grapples with a soft economy and a heavy debt load, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site.

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** Goldman Sachs (GS.N) chief executive Lloyd Blankfein called Citigroup Inc (C.N) head Vikram Pandit last month about a possible merger, but Pandit immediately rejected the proposal, the Financial Times said on its Web site. [nN26287818]

** Diageo (DGE.L) is hoping to sign a tie-up with the Indian drinks group United Spirits (UNSP.BO), owned by Vijay Mallya, the Times said. The deal could involve the purchase of a minority stake in United Spirits, it said.

** A consortium comprising the infrastructure arm of Citigroup (C.N) and the Vancouver Airports Authority is expected to launch a joint 2 billion pounds ($3 billion) bid for London Gatwick Airport, UK newspaper the Independent, said. (Reporting by Laurence Fletcher; Editing by Greg Mahlich)