TPG Capital, the former Texas Pacific, has joined forces with Goldman Sachs's private equity unit to buy Alltel Corporation, America's largest mobile phone network, in a deal worth about $25 billion (£12.7 billion). Alltel accepted the takeover bid, rather than completing an auction that had attracted at least two other teams of bidders, sources familiar with the situation said yesterday Source business.Timesonline.co.uk http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article1821044.ece

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WASHINGTON - The Transportation Security Administration has lost a computer hard drive containing Social Security numbers, bank data and payroll information for about 100,000 employee records.