Activist investor Carl Icahn may have shown up in person at Blockbuster’s bankruptcy auction to place his bid, but it was U.S. satellite TV provider Dish Network that walked away the winner. Dish, led by satellite billionaire Charlie Ergen, won the assets of the once-mighty video rental chain for about $320 million, beating out Icahn and at least two other bidders in an auction that lasted into the early morning hours on Wednesday.

NYSE Euronext will “absolutely not” be placing a counterbid for Nasdaq OMX, a source close to the Big Board told Reuters corresondent Paritosh Bansal in an exclusive interview. The source said such a combination would be strategically unattractive and face “insurmountable antitrust problems.”

Embattled clothing retailer American Apparel is exploring a possible sale as it grapples with a lagging share price and persistent financial problems, sources close to the matter told peHUB.

Private equity-backed deals drove the U.S. market for initial public offering in the first quarter of 2011 and look set to continue doing so for the rest of the year, bankers told Reuters at theGlobal M&A Summit in New York.