Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. on Monday agreed to sell its investment management business to a pair of private-equity firms, fetching $2.15 billion as the bankrupt investment bank continues its liquidation.
Bain Capital Partners and Hellman & Friedman, two of the nation’s biggest buyout firms, will now control Lehman’s operations in fixed-income and alternative asset management.
Old Street name
The deal includes money management firm Neuberger Berman, a 69-year-old name on Wall Street that now manages more than $130 billion of investments.
Lehman (LEHMQ) has been scrambling to sell off healthy portions of the investment bank, whose bankruptcy filing on Sept. 15 was the biggest in U.S. history.
The investment house sold its key North American businesses, including investment banking, to Britain’s Barclays PLC for $1.7 billion in cash. Nomura, Japan’s largest brokerage, bought Lehman’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The purchase of Neuberger Berman and Lehman’s other investment management businesses marks the last major unit to be sold off.
Lehman bought Neuberger in 2003 for $3.2 billion to expand its reach in wealth management. The entire investment management unit was valued at as much as $10 billion before the bankruptcy.
Next chapter
“We are excited and energized about what this means for our clients and our employees,” said George Walker, the former head of investment management at Lehman, who will become CEO of the newly renamed Neuberger Investment Management http://easy-quick-payday-loans.com. “Our portfolio management and client teams are extremely enthusiastic about this next chapter in our history.”
Founded in 1939 by Roy Neuberger, the firm has specialized in managing money for wealthy clients. It is also considered to be a pioneer in making mutual funds more widely accessible.
Richard Fuld, Lehman’s longtime chief executive, had pitched a plan to raise cash and save the company by selling a controlling stake in Neuberger Berman to private equity firms.
Lehman filed for Chapter 11 after a deal to buy the unit could not be quickly put in place, and later efforts to sell the entire investment bank failed.
Breakdown of deal
The transaction also includes Lehman’s $35 billion private-equity business, which manages real estate and leveraged buyout funds. The sale doesn’t include Lehman’s stakes in hedge fund managers GLG Partners Inc. and Ospraie Management LLC.
The sale must be approved by a federal bankruptcy court.
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Inc. said Monday it will acquire online music-sharing site Napster Inc. for about $126.8 million in cash in a move to boost its digital media capabilities.
Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) will begin a tender offer for all outstanding Napster (NAPS) shares for $2.65 per share, representing a 95% premium to the stock’s closing price Friday of $1.36 per share.
According to its most recently quarterly filing, Napster had about 47.9 million shares outstanding as of June 30, implying a price of $126.8 million.
In a statement, Best Buy valued the deal at $121 million - or $54 million after netting about $67 million in Napster’s cash and short-term investments.
The takeover is expected to close in the fourth quarter no qualifying payday advance no teletrak payday loans. The deal includes Napster’s 700,000 subscribers, its Web-based customer-service platform and mobile capabilities.
Napster Chief Executive Chris Gorog and other senior management will continue in those roles. The Los Angeles-based company has about 140 staffers; Best Buy said it does not plan to relocate the headquarters or make "significant" changes in personnel.
Napster said it will postpone its annual meeting of stockholders, scheduled for Thursday, due to the acquisition agreement.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to leave interest rates at 4.25 percent later on Thursday, with a new set of staff economic projections and a likely rejig of collateral rules set to provide this month’s fireworks.
The monthly meeting of the ECB’s 21 policymakers kicked off at 3 a.m. EDT with more than usual on the agenda. Updated staff projections will arm them with an up-to-date prognosis of the economic outlook while the delicate issue of collateral rule changes could raise the temperature of the meeting.
The projections are not expected to make happy reading. Analysts expect 2008 and 2009 growth forecasts be revised down and inflation forecasts to be pushed up for 2008 at least
The last set in June put growth at 1.5-2.1 percent this year and 1.0-2.0 percent in 2009. Inflation was seen between 3.2-3.6 percent this year and 1.8-3.0 percent next year.
“The ECB will have to acknowledge that the growth outlook has weakened and we expect the staff forecast to be revised down for 2009 probably to a mid point of 1.2 percent,” said Deutsche Bank economist Thomas Mayer.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) chopped its 2008 growth forecast for the 15 nation euro zone earlier this week to 1.3 percent from 1.7 percent and it was confirmed the region suffered its first ever quarterly contraction in April, May and June.
The euro sank to a new eight-month low against the dollar on Wednesday after July retail sales and August services sentiment signaled more weakness ahead.
In an newspaper interview published on Thursday, Dutch governing council member Nout Wellink warned the current credit market turmoil could last for years easy payday loans.
Following is a summary of the July producer price report from the Labor Department. ===============================================================================
July June May April March Feb. 3-mo. July
Weight 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 Annual YOY% ===============================================================================
———————Finished Goods———————– Total finished 100.0% 1.2% 1.8% 1.4% 0.3% 0.9% 0.3% 18.9% 9.8% ex food & energy 57.05% 0.7% 0.2% 0.2% 0.6% 0.1% 0.4% 4.7% 3.5% ex food 78.70% 1.4% 1.9% 1.5% 0.4% 0.7% 0.6% 21.3% 10.1% ex energy 78.35% 0.6% 0.6% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 6.6% 4.9% Consumer goods 78.28% 1.2% 2.3% 1.8% 0.2% 1.1% 0.4% 23.4% 11.9% Women's Apparel(*) n/a 0.1% -0.4% -0.2% 0.1% -0.1% 0.2% -2.0% -0.4% Res. electricity n/a 2.0% 0.8% 0.6% 1.2% 1.1% -0.4% 31.2% 6.3% Residential gas n/a 8.8% 6.6% 3.8% 5.4% 4.2% 5.7% 92.4% 23.5% Gasoline n/a -0.2% 9.0% 9.3% -4.6% 1.3% 2.9% 122.5% 36.0% Prescriptions (*) n/a 0.7% -0.1% 0.2% 0.7% 0.4% 1.3% 3.6% 6.9% Passenger cars n/a 1.4% 2.2% -1.0% 0.4% -0.2% 0.8% 1.6% 3.1% Tobacco goods(*) n/a 0.0% 0.0% 2.2% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 9.2% 4.7% ===============================================================================
July June May April March Feb. 3-mo. July
Weight 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 Annual YOY% =============================================================================== Capital equipment 21.72% 0.8% 0.3% 0.1% 0.6% 0.0% 0.4% 4.8% 3.0% Computers (*) n/a -1.5% -0.2% -1.9% -0.5% -3.2% -1.1% -13.5% -18.9% Light motor truck n/a 0.8% -1.8% -0.9% 1.3% -0.3% 0.8% -17.2% -1.7% Civilian aircraft n/a 0.3% 0.4% 1.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.6% 9.2% 4.7% Foods 21.30% 0.3% 1.5% 0.8% -0.1% 1.4% -0.6% 10.9% 8.7% Energy 21.65% 3.1% 6.0% 4.9% -0.2% 2.5% 1.0% 72.6% 28.0%
——————-Intermediate Goods——————— Total intermediate 100.0% 2.7% 2.1% 2.9% 0.7% 2.4% 0.9% 36.0% 16.6% ex food & energy 72.70% 2.0% 1.3% 2.0% 0.9% 1.3% 0.6% 23.2% 10.2% ex food 96.01% 2.6% 2.2% 2.9% 0.8% 2.4% 0.8% 35.6% 16.3% ex energy 76.69% 2.2% 1.2% 2.1% 0.7% 1.3% 0.8% 24.5% 11.0% ——————————————————————————- Containers 2.92% 1.7% 0.3% 0.5% 0.6% 0.1% 0.3% 10.4% 6.3% Foods 3.99% 4.0% 1.0% 3.2% -0.9% 3.0% 2.4% 38.3% 24.8% Energy 23.31% 4.3% 5.0% 6.2% 0.1% 6.0% 1.2% 82.9% 37.4%
———————–Crude Goods———————— Total crude 100.0% 4.2% 3.7% 6.7% 4.6% 6.7% 3.9% 76.5% 51.2% ===============================================================================
July June May April March Feb cash advance loan no fax. 3-mo. July
Weight 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008 Annual YOY% =============================================================================== ex food & energy 16.37% 3.4% -0.2% 5.0% 7.7% 3.7% 3.6% 37.9% 36.3% ex food 66.55% 6.1% 3.9% 10.6% 6.6% 9.3% 5.7% 120.3% 70.6% ex energy 49.03% 1.3% 2.1% 3.1% 1.5% 2.7% 2.0% 29.0% 25.2% Foods 32.76% 0.1% 3.5% 1.8% -1.6% 2.2% 1.2% 23.5% 19.5% Energy 50.87% 6.9% 5.4% 13.1% 5.7% 11.5% 6.6% 164.0% 84.9% =============================================================================== NOTE: (*) denotes unadjusted figures. All monthly percentage changes are seasonally adjusted unless noted. All yearly percentage changes are not seasonally adjusted.
General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday has offered American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings (AXL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) $200 million in a bid to clinch a speedy resolution of a strike against a key supplier that has run for more than two months.
American Axle, which in ongoing talks has pressed the United Auto Workers union for deep concessions on labor costs, said the GM offer hinged on a quick resolution to the strike.
Analysts said the offer could also clear the way for GM to restart production of hot-selling models like the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick Enclave.
GM said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it had agreed to provide American Axle with up to $200 million to help fund buyouts and one-time payouts for returning union workers to accept lower hourly wages online payday loan.
“We believe that the offer will help bridge the gap between American Axle and the UAW and the two parties will be able to reach a mutually satisfactory settlement in the near future,” GM spokesman Dan Flores said.
A UAW spokesman was not available to comment.
American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said the funds GM would provide would not have to be repaid by the supplier, which was spun off from the automaker in 1994.
In addition, GM has not asked for concessional pricing on future component shipments to offset the money it is offering to broker a quick end to the work stoppage, she said.
Google Inc believes regulators would not bar a potential business deal with Yahoo Inc because it would be “non-exclusive” and falls short of an outright merger, a person familiar with Google’s thinking said on Friday.
Yahoo is exploring alternatives to Microsoft Corp’s $42.7 billion takeover offer, which the Web pioneer has rejected for being too low.
The U.S. Justice Department is questioning the companies about potential competitive issues raised by a partnership, sources said this week, as Yahoo completed a two-week test of Google’s system for selling ads alongside Yahoo’s own Web search results.
Google believes such a partnership would not be anti-competitive because it would be an arrangement in which Yahoo would use Google’s more profitable search advertising platform to make more money for itself, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity absolutely free credit report.
A deal would be no different from partnerships Google has with other Web companies including Time Warner Inc’s AOL and IAC/InterActiveCorp, the source said.
By contrast, Google thinks a takeover by Microsoft of Yahoo would raise far more antitrust concerns because the combined company could corner large chunks of multiple markets, from Web mail to instant messaging, the person said.
Google and Yahoo have said they cooperated with the Justice Department and told the agency about the test.
When Yahoo said two weeks ago that it had begun testing Google’s AdSense system, it drew outcry from critics who see Google’s domination of the market as a barrier to a deal.
Charter Communications Inc. is in danger of losing its listing on the Nasdaq national market because its stock has closed below $1 per share for 30 consecutive business days.
The Town and Country cable provider on Friday said it received a warning on Monday from Nasdaq and has until Oct. 13 to get its stock at or above $1 for 10 consecutive business days. If Charter doesn’t make that deadline, it can apply for an extension to regain compliance bad credit payday advance.
Charter almost lost its listing in 2003, but its shares rebounded in time.
The company’s stock closed Friday up at 93 cents a share.
Philip Morris International shares rose on their first day of trading as analysts started covering the cigarette maker with "Buy" ratings.
Philips Morris International was spun off from Altria Group Inc. (MO, Fortune 500) and began regular trading on Monday. Analysts from Lehman Brothers and Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage with "Buy"-equivalent ratings.
Lehman analyst Michael Branca placed PMI shares on his Favorites list in the beverage and tobacco sector and set a price target of $59 per share cashadvance.com. He said the stock will benefit from being separated from Altria’s slowing U.S. sales and the threat of lawsuits.
Branca believes Philip Morris International Inc. can surpass its own profit targets in the next two years and said the company’s stock buybacks and rising dividends should lead to solid growth.
The stock rose $2.82, or 5.6%, to $53.50 in morning trading.
Acting Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Tuesday downside risks for the economy were growing and the outlook was uncertain, underscoring concern that the world’s second-largest economy may follow the United States into a recession.
Shirakawa, the BOJ’s first temporary governor in more than 80 years, repeated the central bank’s mantra that interest rates need to be raised from the current low 0.5 percent if the economy looks like staying on track for sustained growth.
But he stressed the importance of looking at various risks threatening the short-term economic outlook such as jittery financial markets, a global economic slowdown and rising raw material costs that are hurting smaller firms’ revenues.
“The outlook for the economy is always uncertain, and uncertainty is particularly high now,” Shirakawa told the lower house of parliament’s financial affairs committee pay day loan.
“What I always tell myself is that we should not have any preconceptions and should act flexibly by examining risks and the feasibility of our economic forecast.”
Former BOJ Governor Toshihiko Fukui picked Shirakawa, approved by parliament as new deputy BOJ governor, to head the central bank until parliament can agree on a permanent successor to Fukui himself.
Kiyohiko Nishimura, a BOJ board member promoted to deputy governor last week, told the committee that downside economic risks were heightening and that the BOJ would need to act flexibly if the risks materialize.
The two, however, did not mention the possibility of a rate cut and reiterated that despite mounting risks, the Japanese economy was still expected to expand moderately as a trend.
More than 80 percent of Americans think employers should be required to provide health insurance to their workers or pay into a fund to help cover them.
That’s according to a new survey by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York City foundation that advocates health care reform.
This play-or-pay requirement is supported by most Republicans surveyed as well as most Democrats, according to the survey.
The leading Democratic presidential candidates include this employer mandate in their health care plans, but Hillary Clinton would exempt small businesses from this requirement. She instead would provide them with tax credits as an inducement to offer health insurance.
None of the Republican presidential candidates would require employers to provide health insurance.
They instead focus on providing tax breaks to individuals who buy insurance on their own.
"The public seems to be more in line with the Democratic position," said Sara Collins, assistant vice president at the Commonwealth Fund.
More than 60 percent of people surveyed by Commonwealth said candidates’ health care positions would be very important in their presidential voting decision payday advance.
An employer mandate could face strong opposition from some small business groups, particularly the National Federation of Independent Business. NFIB helped derail the health care reform plan developed by Clinton in 1993 when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president.
NFIB now says it supports universal health care in principle, but "a health care system built on employer mandates or on play-or-pay taxes is unacceptable."
A slight majority of Republicans support requiring individuals to have health insurance, while 80 percent of Democrats favor an individual mandate, as long as the government provides help to individuals who can’t afford it.
Clinton and John Edwards would require individuals to get insurance, while Barack Obama would require only children to be covered.
Two-thirds of survey respondents said health insurance costs should be shared among individuals, employers and the government.
For more information, see commonwealthfund.org
Powered by WordPress -- XHTML 1.0