Google Spent US$291 Million on Acquisitions First Quarter
Google Inc, owner of the world’s most popular search engine, spent US$291 million on acquisitions and assets during the first quarter as the company looked to bolster revenue and user growth. Among the eight deals last quarter, US$150 million was for patents and developed technology, the company said in a filing yesterday. In February, the...
Boeing 787 Battery Tests Didn’t Ensure Against Fire
Tests of Boeing Co (BA)’s 787 Dreamliner batteries weren’t adequate to ensure that they wouldn’t overheat or burn, the top US aircraft-accident investigator said after a two-day hearing. Officials from Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration, which approved the batteries, also said at the National Transportation Safety Board hearings that concluded yesterday that the...
Goldman Says Chinese Stocks Appeal as Valuations Bottom
Chinese stocks are becoming attractive with the decline in equity valuations and corporate profit growth poised to level out, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “We are probably at the trough of the earnings and valuation cycle,” Alina Chiew, head of Greater China equity at the New York-based bank’s asset management arm, told reporters in...
Apple’s Cash Plan Takes Heat off Cook
Tim Cook wants investors to “think different” about Apple: less as a hyper-growth startup-like company and more as a mature but robust technology corporation with the world’s most lucrative dividend. If Wall Street follows Apple’s famous advertising slogan of old, it may relieve some of the pressure on Apple’s chief executive, quiet investors’ grumbling about...
Texas Instruments Forecasts Top Analysts’ Estimates
Texas Instruments Inc, the largest maker of analog chips, forecast second-quarter sales and profit that may top some analysts’ estimates, helped by increased orders from makers of automotive and industrial-machine parts. Profit in the current period will be 37 US-cents to 45 US-cents a share on revenue of US$2.93 billion to US$3.17 billion, the Dallas-...
Blackstone Said to Pull Out of Dell Bid on Falling PC Sales
Blackstone Group LP (BX) pulled out of bidding for Dell Inc (DELL) amid concerns about the computer maker’s finances and the worsening outlook for global PC sales, said people with knowledge of the situation. The world’s biggest buyout firm made a non-binding offer to acquire Dell, according to a statement last month, rivalling a US$24.4...
Moody’s Maintains Germany’s ‘Aaa’ Rating
The international ratings agency Moody’s on Thursday issued a credit update of Germany, maintaining its top “Aaa” rating on German sovereign debt, albeit with a negative outlook, a day after rumours over a possible German downgrade had rocked European stock markets. Germany’s rating “is underpinned by the country’s advanced, diversified and highly competitive economy and...
ING to Raise as Much as US$1.54 Billion in US Insurer IPO
ING US Inc, the American insurance unit of ING Groep NV (INGA), plans to raise as much as US$1.54 billion in an initial public offering as its Dutch parent focuses on operations at home. The division and its parent are offering 64.2 million shares for US$21 to US$24 apiece, the US business said yesterday in...
Energy Future Issues Opening Salvo as KKR, TPG Seek Stake
Energy Future Holdings Corp.’s pre- packaged bankruptcy proposal is the opening salvo in talks as KKR & Co and TPG Capital LP, backers of the largest leveraged buyout, seek to salvage their failed utility takeover and force creditors to accept billions in losses. Hot Deals The company has been in confidential talks for a pre-...
Gold Prices Plunge 9 Per cent, Sharpest Fall in 30 years
Gold plunged more than 9 per cent to its lowest price in two years in a rout sparked by worries over Chinese growth and a possible sell off by struggling Cyprus’s central bank. Hot Deals The main US contract on New York’s Comex market, gold for April delivery, sank 9.35 per cent to US$1,360.60, the...
FAA Orders Inspection of Boeing 737 Tail Planes
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered an inspection of more than 1,000 US-registered Boeing 737 jets to examine the tail planes for a potentially faulty part, which it said could cause pilots to lose control of the aircraft if it failed. Hot Deals The airworthiness directive (AD) issued by the FAA calls on airlines...
Japan, US Agree on Tokyo Joining Trans-Pacific Trade Talks
Japan and the United States have agreed on a deal to allow Tokyo to join talks on a US-led Asia-Pacific free trade pact that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is making a keystone of his strategy to open Japan’s economy and spur long-sought growth. Hot Deals The agreement brings Japan closer to entering talks on the...
