1. Thomas H. Lee Partners will buy a majority stake in Party City from the party-supply retailer’s private equity owners in a deal valued at $2.7 billion.

2. Qatar Telecom (QTEL) is paying $1.5 billion to double its holding in Iraqi mobile services company Asiacell to 60 percent, as the company seeks to grow outside its home base.

3. Absa Group (ASA) is buying the store credit cards of Edcon, South Africa’s largest clothing, footwear, and textiles retailer, for $1.2 billion. The purchase will allow the bank, controlled by Barclays (BCS), to provide credit to Edcon customers.

4. Health benefits company WellPoint (WLP) is acquiring eyeglass and contact lens retailer 1-800 Contacts for $900 million to expand its consumer offerings.

5. San Francisco-based Salesforce.com (CRM) will pay about $745 million for Buddy Media to add marketing software for promoting products on social sites, including Facebook (FB) and Twitter.

6. Universal Health Services (UHS) will buy private psychiatric services provider Ascend Health for $500 million. Ascend has inpatient facilities in Texas, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, and Washington.

7. Texas-based Vanguard Natural Resources (VNR) will purchase properties in the Fayetteville and Woodford shale formations from Antero Resources for $445 million.

8. In its largest acquisition to date, Starbucks (SBUX) is buying Bay Bread for $100 million to further expand its menu of pastries and sandwiches.

9. Aiming to bolster its Google+ network, Google (GOOG) is paying close to $100 million for social platform builder Meebo, says a person familiar with the deal.

10. Billionaire John Paulson bought a 90-acre ranch and a separate site in Aspen, Colo., for $49 million. The ranch, built 20 years ago for Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, is Aspen’s largest residential property.

Contacts: Tooga/Photodisc/Getty Images; Balloons: Luxx Images/Digital Vision/Getty Images; Ranch: Michael Brands/The New York Times/Redux; Bread: Steve Lupton/Corbis