■ Internet
Yahoo to invest in IP
Yahoo Inc, owner of the most-visited US Internet site, said it will invest up to US$200 million on intellectual property rights through July next year. Payments for the rights will be amortized over the life of the intellectual property, Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo said on Friday in its annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Internet companies including Yahoo and Google Inc, owner of the most-used search engine, need to license software and content such as video clips to expand their sites. Yahoo already hosts news clips from Time Warner Inc's CNN cable network and Walt Disney Co's ABC News.
■ Mining
Nickel plant for BHP Billiton
Australian resources giant BHP Billiton Ltd may invest US$800 million to US$1.5 billion in a nickel processing plant in the southern Philippines, the Philippine Environment and Natural Resources Department said yesterday. The firm intends to start construction of the processing plant early next year in Davao Oriental Province in the southern island of Mindanao, the department said in a statement. Commercial operations in the plant are to start by 2010, the department added. BHP Billiton, in partnership with other firms, is exploring a potentially large nickel deposit in the Pujada Peninsula in Davao Oriental.
■ Communications
Wireless rivals end disputes
Wireless technology rivals Qualcomm Inc and Broadcom Corp said on Friday they have agreed to end two court disputes over patents. The deal was the latest twist in a ferocious legal battle between the two companies over licensing agreements, which has spawned a web of suits and countersuits from California to Europe relating to technologies that power cellphones, Bluetooth devices and wireless Internet equipment. Neither company disclosed the financial terms or details of the agreement. The settlement eliminates two of several jury trials scheduled between the rivals -- one involving Broadcom claims that Qualcomm infringed two of its patents and one in which Qualcomm claimed its competitor violated two of its patents.
■ Brokers
Citigroup eyes Nikko Cordial
Citigroup Inc is discussing a takeover of Nikko Cordial Corp as the scandal-plagued Japanese brokerage seeks help in improving operations under the threat of delisting from Japan's main bourse, news reports said yesterday. Negotiations aimed at bringing Japan's third-largest brokerage under the wing of Citigroup -- the US' largest bank -- could be completed within days, the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers said, citing individuals involved in the industry. Citigroup already has a 4.9 percent stake in the brokerage. That stake would be increased to at least 33 percent next month under the deal being negotiated, the reports said.
■ Energy
BP settles two claims
British energy giant BP has settled compensation claims with two subcontractors injured in a 2005 US refinery blast, but still faces hundreds of potential lawsuits from other workers, a US lawyer said on Friday. BP confirmed that a settlement had been made, but declined to disclose how much it was paying the two injured workers. The global energy behemoth has set aside more than US$1 billion for potential compensation claims related to the blast at its Texas City refinery that killed 15 workers and injured more than 100.
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