European shares end slightly lower; M&A supports

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 index down 0.1 pct
                                
 * M&A news provides support
                                
 * Global recovery worries persist
                                
 
                                
 By Joanne Frearson
                                
 LONDON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - European shares ended slightly
lower on Monday as concerns about the global economic recovery
weighed on investor sentiment, outweighing support from merger
and acquisition news.
                                
 The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
shares closed down 0.1 percent at 1,025.48 points. Trading was
thin with the British markets closed for a holiday. Volumes on
the index were at just 50.1 percent of its 90-day average.
                                
 "Volumes have been very light on the back of the UK bank
holiday, interest has been limited with the main focus on M&A,"
said Matthew Brown, sales trader at ETX Capital.
                                
 "Sanofi has put in a bid for Genzyme and clients have been
trading around the pharmaceutical names."
                                
 Pharma shares featured among the best performers, with
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> up 0.7 percent.
U.S.-based Genzyme Corp <GENZ.O> rejected an $18.5 billion
takeover offer from the drugmaker saying it dramatically
undervalued the company.
                                
 Other merger and acquisition activity helped support the
European markets. Zodiac <ZODC.PA> surged 10.5 percent following
a report in French newspaper La Tribune that French conglomerate
Safran <SAF.PA> was set to launch an offer for the French
aerospace parts maker with a rich premium. [ID:nLDE67T0C3]
                                
 Safran denied the newspaper report and Zodiac had no
comment.
                                
 Pizza-to-aluminium conglomerate, Orkla <ORK.OL> rose 4.4
percent after South Korean company POSCO <005490.KS> said it was
considering a takeover of Elkem, a Norwegian maker of silicon
for solar panels. Elkem is owned by Orkla. [ID:nTOE67T022]
                                
 
                                
 BANKS MIXED
                                
 Irish banks were mixed, with Allied Irish Banks <ALBK.I>
rising 2.5 percent and Bank of Ireland <BKIR.I> down 1.1
percent.
                                
 Ireland's government signalled on Monday that gradually
winding down Anglo Irish Bank [ANGIB.UL] could be an option as
political pressure mounts on Prime Minister Brian Cowen to deal
with a national millstone. [ID:nLDE67T0RZ]
                                
 On the downside, Germany's Infineon <IFXGn.DE> fell 3.7
percent on news that Intel <INTC.O> will buy the chipmaker's
wireless unit for $1.4 billion.
                                
 Comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on
Friday that it stood ready to act if needed to spur slowing
growth had also provided support to the market in early trading,
but negative market sentiment limited gains.
                                
 "That sounds (like) desperation," said Koen De Leus,
economist at KBC Securities, referring to Bernanke's comment.
                                
 "I don't see any comfort in these words. They have done
everything to save the economy, but it is faltering again. The
U.S. data are going to be disappointing and the stock market is
likely to head lower in the next one to two months because of
grim economic outlook."
                                
 U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday the U.S. economy
was expanding, but not quickly enough, and there was no "magic
bullet" to fix its problems. [ID:nN29137842]
                                
 Across Europe, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> was 0.7 percent lower
and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> was down 0.6 percent.
                                
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Erica
Billingham)