DealBook: Yahoo Looks at New Way to Survive

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Edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES | Wednesday, March 5, 2008 M & A: Ford Plans to Hang on to Volvo BANKING: Citi Touches 52-Week Low as Bad News Continues PRIVATE EQUITY: Spain's Colonial Said to Agree to Takeover HEDGE FUNDS: Ranking the Biggest Hedge-Fund Firms OFFERINGS: Hedge Fund Said to Seek $500 Million U.K. Listing VENTURE CAPITAL: MySpace Co-Founder Buys Revver LEGAL: Countrywide Is Sued Again by U.S. Overseer TOP STORY Yahoo Looks at New Way to Survive As it scrambles to avoid defeat in its battle with Microsoft, Yahoo may try to put a little more time on the clock. Microsoft, whose offer for Yahoo is now worth $41.2 billion, was preparing to escalate its takeover fight by starting a proxy contest next week. But in an effort to delay that move, Yahoo is considering several options, including a plan to postpone its annual meeting, according to The New York Times. The maneuver comes as Yahoo has stepped up merger and joint venture talks with AOL, a unit of Time Warner, The Times said. Microsoft had been preparing to nominate a slate of directors to the board of Yahoo by next Thursday, the deadline for mounting a proxy contest. If Yahoo moves back that deadline back or postpones its meeting, something it could announce as early as this week, the company could buy time to seek out and evaluate alternatives. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment ADVERTISEMENT Back to Top MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Ford Motor told analysts Tuesday it will operate its Volvo luxury line on a more "stand-alone basis" but doesn't plan to sell it. Go to Article from MarketWatch» Go to Article from The Financial Times» Read More Add a comment India's Tata Motors plans to borrow $3 billion from nine banks to finance its purchase of Ford Motor's Jaguar and Land Rover luxury-car brands, Bloomberg News reported citing unnamed sources. Go to Article from Bloomberg News» Read More Add a comment JBS, the world's biggest beef producer, agreed on Tuesday to pay $1.27 billion in cash and stock for assets in the United States and Australia, including the beef unit of the pork producer Smithfield Foods. Go to Article from Bloomberg News» Read More Add a comment ABC Learning Centres, Australia's largest child-care center operator, said Wednesday that it will sell 60 percent of its U.S. operations to Morgan Stanley's private equity unit, raising A$750 million ($695 million). Go to Article from Bloomberg News» Go to Article from Reuters» Read More Add a comment Lawmakers will hear testimony on the role of sovereign wealth funds in the United States at a hearing Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill. Go to House Financial Services Committee» Go to CNBC Video via DealBook» Read More Add a comment HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank by market value, won antitrust approval in Seoul for its $6.45 billion takeover bid for Korea Exchange Bank. Go to Article from Bloomberg News» Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Arthrocare, the surgical device maker, announced Tuesday that it is seeking an end-run around its bitter battle with short-sellers and has hired a major investment bank to explore "strategic alternatives," including a possible sale of the company. Go to Article from Fortune via CNN Money» Go to Article from Reuters» Read More Add a comment Melrose, the British investment company that owns the maker of handles for Gillette razors, increased its planned bid for British wire-rope maker FKI by 17 percent to 482 million pounds ($953 million). Go to Article from Bloomberg News» Read More Add a comment Back to Top INVESTMENT BANKING Shares in Citigroup touched a 52-week low on Tuesday as it confronted yet more questions about its financial health and whether it will need to pass its hat around for capital yet again. Go to Item from DealBook» Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Credit Agricole, France's biggest retail bank, posted a fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday after large write-downs due to the global credit crunch and said it was not planning any major acquisitions. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Morgan Stanley, the anchor tenant for one of the four developers vying to buy the development rights for the West Side railyards, is backing away from a deal to build its headquarters on the site. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Citic Securities, China's top brokerage by assets, is in talks to get a bigger stake in Bear Stearns to reflect a drop in the share price of the Wall Street bank since the two firms agreed to swap stakes last October, a Citic executive said on Wednesday. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Bank of Montreal's first-quarter profit fell 27 percent, hurt by write-downs related to the capital markets and higher provisions for bad loans. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Cowen Group said Tuesday that Kim Fennebresque would retire as the investment bank's chief executive officer effective immediately, to be succeeded by David Malcolm. Go to Article from Reuters» Read More Add a comment Back to Top PRIVATE EQUITY The Investment Corporation of Dubai has agreed with leading shareholders of Spanish property firm Colonial on the broad terms of a 3 billion euro ($4.56 billion) takeover, Dow Jones reported. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Go to Article from The Financial Times» Read More Add a comment The owners of Liverpool, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., have rejected a bid from Dubai International Capital for the Premier League club, according to The Associated Press. Go to Article from The Associated Press via The Dallas Morning News» Read More Add a comment Back to Top HEDGE FUNDS JPMorgan Chase retained its position as the largest U.S. hedge fund manager as total assets of the biggest hedge fund firms topped $1.6 trillion as of Jan. 1. Go to Article from The Financial Times» Go to Article from The Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)» Read More Add a comment After launching a public activist campaign to press for changes at department store chain Dillard's last month, Barington Capital Group has taken its insurgency up a notch, teaming up with the Clinton Group in preparations for a potential proxy fight. Go to Article from The New York Post» Go to Article from The Deal.com» Read More Add a comment Och-Ziff Capital, the hedge-fund firm run by Daniel Och, said Tuesday that its flagship fund was up an estimated 1.01 percent in February, leaving it down 0.1 percent for the year to date. Go to Item from DealBook» Go to Och-Ziff Filing via the S.E.C.» Read More Add a comment Back to Top I.P.O. / OFFERING After a failing to charm investors the first time around, Brevan Howard Asset Management is making another run at the public markets with a proposed $500 million initial public offering for the BH Global fund. Go to Article from Dow Jones via CNN Money» Go to Article from Breakingviews» Read More Add a comment K-Sea GP Holdings, a holding company affiliated with K-Sea Transportation Partners, filed on Wednesday to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. Go to Item from DealBook» Go to K-Sea GP Filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission» Read More Add a comment The move to craft a new futures exchange gained ground Tuesday, as reports emerged that Goldman Sachs may join 12 other banks in creating an alternative to the market-leading Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Go to Article from MarketWatch» Read More Add a comment Upek, which makes fingerprint security products for notebook computers, has canceled its proposed initial public offering due to difficult market conditions, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday. Go to Article from The Associated Press via The Houston Chronicle» Read More Add a comment Back to Top VENTURE CAPITAL Brad Greenspan, co-founder of MySpace.com and founder of LiveUniverse, an online entertainment network, announced that his company has acquired ailing video-sharing site Revver. Go to Article from CNet News.com» Read More Add a comment Pequot Capital Management, the giant hedge fund run by Arthur Samberg, said Tuesday that it will spin off its venture capital arm into a separate company, FirstMark Capital. Go to Item from DealBook» Go to Pequot Capital Press Release via Business Wire» Read More Add a comment Khosla Ventures, the venture capital firm of Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, has invested in Pax Streamline, maker of turbines, heating and air-conditioning systems, and aerospace technologies. Go to Article from CNet News.com» Read More Add a comment Steven Spielberg is preparing to launch a new social network for people interested in sharing paranormal and extraterrestrial experiences, TechCrunch reported. Go to Article from TechCrunch» Read More Add a comment Mint.com, an online personal-finance organizer, was expected Wednesday to announce a $12 million Series B round of venture funding led by Benchmark Capital. Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment Firebrand, a New York video start-up that tested the popular notion on Madison Avenue of ads as entertainment, has folded after less than four months, The New York Post reported. Go to Article from The New York Post» Read More Add a comment Back to Top LEGAL The United States Trustee has filed a second lawsuit against the mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, accusing the company of abusing the bankruptcy process. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Top corporate executives often make large gifts of their company's stock to their family foundations shortly before the stock price drops sharply, according to a new study by a New York University professor. As a result, the executives are able to claim the maximum possible tax deduction and escape capital gains taxes. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment With pressure from Germany, the European Commission agreed to draw up proposals that are expected to widen the scope of legislation on tax evasion, and close a loophole under which trusts and some other savings escape the sorts of controls that cash is subject to. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook hired a longtime Google executive, Sheryl Sandberg, as chief operating officer. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment A former executive at Broadcom will pay $1.4 million to settle claims she participated in a scheme to backdate stock options at the chip maker, the Securities and Exchange Commissions said Tuesday. Go to Article from The Associated Press via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment The SLM Corporation, the educational lender known as Sallie Mae, had its long-term credit ratings cut by Moody's Investors Service to two levels above junk Tuesday on concern that a change in the company's strategy will erode profitability. Go to Article from Bloomberg News via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Fremont General, a financial services concern that regulators forced out of the subprime mortgage business last year, said Tuesday that two purchasers of its loans had declared it to be in default, raising the possibility that they could put it out of business. Go to Article from The Los Angeles Times»Go to Article from Reuters» Read More Add a comment Get home delivery of The New York Times for as low as $3.15 a week.

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