Cisco Systems Inc. executives said on Monday that air traffic problems caused by a volcano in Iceland makes a good argument for this video conferencing products.
The market for advanced video conferencing such as Cisco's telepresence already has good growth potential, the company's Senior Vice President for Emerging Technologies Marthin De Beer said on a conference call about its completed acquisition of Tandberg ASA on Monday.
But De Beer added that the volcano-related cancellation of flights in Europe and across the Atlantic shows the need for telepresence as a way for companies to communicate under any conditions.
"We have seen a huge spike in usage," Fredrik Halvorsen, the former Tandberg CEO who will now head Cisco Systems's TelePresence Technology Group, told Reuters on Sunday. "The only evidence is anecdotal, but you will not get a demo room in any of the Cisco facilities."
Shares of Continental Airlines Inc. reached a new high Thursday after the New York Times reported that the Houston airline carrier has reopened merger talks with United Airlines.
The talks are in early stages and may rapidly fall apart, the New York Times’ sources warned.
Continental (NYSE: CAL), which held merger talks with United in 2008, was reportedly taken by surprise when NYT broke the news of the United-US Airways talks last week.
The company’s shares were already on the rise on April 12 after an analyst upgraded its stock to “buy”from “hold” amidst all the merger talk overnight pay day loans.
Analysts have said that a Continental-United merger would make more sense, giving United routes to South American and access in New York, noted the Times. Chicago-based UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) is the parent company of United Airlines.
Continental’s shares were up 2.2 percent, to $23.77, Thursday after having climbed to a new high of $24.29 earlier in the day.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is one of several financial institutions providing debt financing Cerberus Capital Management’s acquisition of DynCorp International Inc.
The deal is valued at $1.5 billion, including the assumption of debt. It is slated to close in the third or fourth quarter.
DynCorp International, based in Falls Church Va., provides government services related to U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. The company (NYSE:DCP) operates programs in logistics, contingency operations and training to reinforce security.
New York-based Cerberus Capital Management is a private-investment firm with $23 billion under management.
Along with BofA Merrill Lynch, the lenders financing the deal include Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Barclays Bank plc and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Each institution also acted as a financial adviser to Cerberus.
BofA Merrill Lynch is a global strategic adviser and underwriter, raising nearly $3 trillion for clients worldwide over the last 10 years. It is a division of Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC).
Salt River Project is cutting back on incentives planned for home solar installations in the wake of increased demand, and will begin instituting those changes after Friday.
SRP will lower its incentives from $2.70 per installed watt of solar power to $2.15 per installed watt.
The state’s second largest utility had been scheduled to lower the amount to $2.55 May 1 but, has been inundated with applications, said Lori Singleton, manager of environmental initiatives for SRP. “Due to the overwhelming response of the program, we’ve decided to lower the rates more this year,” he said.
SRP officials made the decision to lower the incentives Thursday afternoon and were contacting installers to inform them that applications had to be in by 5 p.m. Friday in order to qualify for the current incentive rate.
SRP was hit with 211 applications for incentives in March, more than double any previous month since last June, right before the utility dropped the amount for the first time.
The University of Houston and the Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland have signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to explore new methods of cooperation in research, instruction and academic exchange in a variety of areas with a focus on energy.
The university said it has been in talks with DIT for the past two years.
As part of the MOU, the two schools will examine opportunities for credit transfer, faculty collaboration and joint funding.
DIT has about 20,000 students and provides technology education to the doctoral level.
Electrical Components International Inc., a manufacturer of wire harnesses for appliances, sought bankruptcy protection with a plan to reduce debt by about 50 percent.
The Creve Coeur-based company listed assets of about $363.6 million and debt of about $435.7 million in Chapter 11 documents filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The company is owned by San Francisco-based private-equity firm Francisco Partners LP.
Electrical Components makes wire harnesses, bundles of wires or cables fitted with connectors or plugs that deliver electricity throughout appliances.
David J. Webster, chief executive of Electrical Components, said in court filings that the company had had financial difficulties since late 2007 because of the downturn in the housing market.
The company had taken cost-cutting measures including plant shutdowns and consolidations and layoffs, but "the downturn continued to reduce sales at unprecedented levels and consequently reduce earnings," Webster said.
Under a proposal the company worked out with creditors before bankruptcy, lenders with the highest level of repayment — owed a principal of about $261.4 million — would get 54.7 percent of the new common stock in the reorganized company and a $145 million term loan. Some of the lenders elected to receive $10.4 million in cash rather than stock.
Investors have agreed to buy the remaining 45.3 percent of the new stock.
Lenders with a secondary priority of repayment, owed a principal of $60 million, would share $10 million. Unsecured creditors wouldn’t be affected, and would be paid what they’re owed as it is due.
The company said it was the largest supplier of wire harnesses to the North American white goods market, a term used for large home appliances. The company generated $460 million in sales for the year ended Dec. 31.
Electrical Components International was formed in 2006 when Clayton-based Viasystems Group Inc. sold its wire harness business to Francisco Partners for about $320 million.
The Viasystems wire harness business was renamed Electrical Components International and operated as a stand-alone company under Electrical Components International Holdings, a subsidiary of Francisco Partners.
Robert Kelly of the Post-Dispatch contributed.
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