Year: 2011

The attention surrounding News International – Rupert Murdoch’s media empire – intensified as allegations emerged that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown had personal data targeted by several News International publications.

Brown on Tuesday accused Murdoch’s newspapers of employing criminals to obtain confidential details about him and his family.

The former prime minister believes, while in office, The Sunday Times, another News International publication, had attained confidential data including his bank account details and legal files.

“I’m shocked, I’m genuinely shocked, to find that this happened because of their links with criminals, known criminals, who were undertaking this activity, hired by investigators with The Sunday Times,” Brown told Associated Press on Tuesday.

In the meantime Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation late on Monday announced that it is withdrawing its proposed undertakings in lieu of reference to the Competition Commission with respect to its proposed acquisition of BSkyB.

The £8bn takeover bid of BSkyB will now be subject to a full Competition Commission investigation, which the government said could delay the takeover by at least another six months.

Nestlé, the world’s largest food and drink group, announced on Monday that it intends to buy a majority stake in Chinese confectioner Hsu Fu Chi for $1.67bn or SFr1.4bn.
 The Swiss food company, which produces Dreyer’s ice cream, Nescafe Coffee and chocolate bars including KitKat, stated it will acquire 60 percent of shares in Hsu Fu Chi whilst the Hsu family will retain the other 40 percent.


According to a company statement, Nestlé will purchase 43.5 percent of the company from shareholders and then buy the remaining 16.5 percent stake in the company from the group’s family members who hold a majority stake.

Nestlé CEO, Paul Bulcke, said: “This proposed partnership will greatly reinforce our presence in China. It also demonstrates our long-term commitment to China and enhances our ability to grow our portfolio of international and local brands in this dynamic market.” 
Hsu Fu Chi, which makes cereal snacks, sweets, cakes and the traditional Chinese pastry Sachima, had sales of $798m last year and employs 16,000 people.


“We are delighted to partner with Nestlé. Together with Nestlé, we will accelerate the development of the Hsu Fu Chi brand, its production and distribution capabilities and ensure Hsu Fu Chi’s continued growth momentum and brand legacy for the future,” said CEO and chairman Hsu Chen.
 The completion of the takeover is subject to an authorisation by Chinese authorities, Nestlé said.

JPMorgan Chase reached a record $211.2m settlement late on Thursday with federal and state regulators on charges it manipulated a bidding process to gain business from municipalities.

The agreed settlement by the bank’s Wall Street division with 25 states and various federal regulators will see the bank paying, among others, the SEC, the Justice Department and the Office of the Controller of the Currency.

Under the terms of the settlements, JPMorgan Chase will pay the net amount of $211.2m as follows: $50m to the IRS, $51.2m to the SEC, $35m to the OCC, and $75m to the State Attorney General.

According to the company, of those funds, $129.7m will be eligible for distribution to municipalities and other tax-exempt issuers. The settlement is not expected to have any material impact on the firm’s earnings.

News of the World, the British tabloid paper that sold to millions as “the best for news, showbiz and sport exclusives” is shutting down amid the escalating phone hacking scandal, the head of News International James Murdoch said late on Thursday.

It is widely believed that shutting down the 168-year-old title is an attempt to distance itself from the scandal over voicemail interception by some of its journalists after police said there could be as many as 4,000 victims.

The tabloid will be published for the last time on Sunday it was announced. James Murdoch, who is the son of News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, said: “The good things the News of the World does have been sullied by behaviour that was wrong. Indeed, if recent allegations are true, it was inhuman and has no place in our company.”

He added: “The News of the World is in the business of holding others to account. But it failed when it came to itself.”

The news comes as a shock to the industry as many journalists are bound to lose their jobs. Michelle Stanistreet, the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said: “The announcement James Murdoch should be making tonight is the dismissal of Rebekah Brooks. It is the people at the top who need to be punished, not ordinary working journalists.”

Many others were cynical about the development. Adrian Sanders, a Lib Dem member of parliament, noted: “The cynic in me suggests that this is a ploy to take the pressure off the BSkyB merger and that when that is out of the way something will rise from the ashes.”

German engineering and steel conglomerate ThyssenKrupp announced late on Wednesday plans to sell all of its remaining 49.48 million treasure shares accrued from its 2006 and 2008 buyback programmes. The share sale, which would generate €1.7bn based on Wednesday’s closing share price, will assist the company in paying off part of its €6.5bn debt.

The placement of treasury stock will also assist in strengthening the group’s equity and providing more financial flexibility.

According to a company statement the sale will be carried out through an “accelerated book building process”, in which the shares are offered to institutional investors under the management of Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG and HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG.

FTSE 100 oil company Tullow Oil published a trading and operation statement on Tuesday ahead of the group’s half-year result release showing record revenues of $1.05bn.

The company raised its full-year production guidance as it said that high revenues were due to strong operational performance driven by production in Africa.

The group indicated that average working interest production for the half year ending June 30 was 75,350 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 55,800 bopd the year before.

It was specifically its Jubilee oil field in Ghana which ramped up output as it has produced over 10 million barrels of oil to date. It currently turns out around 80,000 bopd from seven wells, but is expected to reach 120,000 bopd in August.

CEO, Aidan Heavey, commented: “The performance of our business since the beginning of 2011 has been excellent and we expect to deliver record financial results for the first half of the year.”

“In Uganda we have signed the MoU with the Government and expect to soon complete the $2.9bn Uganda asset sale with CNOOC and Total. We have enhanced our portfolio through acquisitions in the Netherlands and Ghana, and our high level of exploration and appraisal success continues. Looking forward, we have a busy programme of E&A activity in the second half including the result of our first exploration well in South America and a number of Jubilee follow-on campaigns in Guyana, Liberia and Sierra Leone,” Heavey told investors.

Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest automaker, has secured a majority stake in German-based heavy truck maker MAN SE, the company said on Monday.

VW now holds 55.9 percent of the voting rights in MAN, which brings it a step closer to a tie-up with Swedish Scania.

The company said it had made a mandatory offer to all shareholders of MAN SE in accordance with German takeover law to acquire their shares in MAN SE with the offer period running from 31 May until 29 June 2011. VW statement said it offered €95.00 for ordinary shares and €59.90 for preference shares in MAN and paid a total of just over €3.4bn for 35,857,607 ordinary and 164,613 preference shares.

“Volkswagen is more than pleased with the result,” said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of VW, and added: “As a result, our objective of realising substantial synergies between MAN, Scania and Volkswagen in the interest of all shareholders, employees and customers is moving closer. We will continue to work expeditiously in close coordination with the relevant authorities towards obtaining the required regulatory approvals globally.”

Swiss Bank UBS said on Friday it has nominated the former president of Deutsche Bundesbank, Axel Weber, for election to join its board in 2012 and to chair the board from 2013 onwards.

Weber’s nomination to the board of directors will take place during its May 3 shareholders meeting according to the bank. Weber is the first non Swiss to be elected to the post and succeeds former Swiss finance minister Kaspar Villiger, who has been credited with guiding the bank out of its worst crisis in the past.

“With Axel Weber’s nomination, I am pleased that I can present a board member and future chairman who is an internationally renowned personality with an outstanding reputation. He has broad expertise in international finance and banking as well as strong leadership experience. His appointment will guarantee a smooth leadership transition and stability. I am convinced that his background and skills will be invaluable to UBS,” chairman of the board of directors, Kaspar Villiger, noted.

Following his nomination, Weber said: “UBS is a dynamic global financial services provider with traditional European roots. Going forward, stability and a long-term strategic outlook are key. The successful path that has already been forged, the strong global client base and the balanced business model provide a good basis.”

The Greek government is set to hold a second vote on Thursday on an austerity bill that forms part of the bailout deal with the IMF and ECB. Amid public protests Greece is expected to pass the bill which needs to be implemented to guarantee the next tranche of financial support.

Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou on Wednesday won a vote on the outline of the austerity programmes, which includes tax cuts and privations of public assets, by 155 votes to 138.

The measures to be passed through the final bill are said to total €28bn in savings by 2015, which are to help offset Greece’s deficit crisis.

Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, was late on Tuesday elected as the first woman to head the IMF. Her victory was sealed after a late endorsement from the US which saw her beat Mexican central bank governor Agustin Carstens to the post.

Lagarde, who succeeds Dominique Strauss Kahn following his resignation in May to deal with sexual assault allegations, is said to be facing tough challenges in the wake of the debt crisis surrounding several European nations.

Immediately after her appointment Lagarde urged Greek ministers, who are due to vote on austerity measures worth €28.4bn on Wednesday, to unite so as to avoid default. The austerity package of taxes, spending cuts and sell-offs is critical for Greece to secure international aid from the ECB and IMF.

“If I have one message tonight for Greece, it is to call on the Greek political opposition to support the party in power in a spirit of national unity,” she said.