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Business Quick Take

■ STEEL
Party opposes land grab
India's communists on Friday warned Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against allowing land grabs in eastern India for steel giant POSCO's proposed plant. The South Korean company's plans to invest in a US$12 billion steel hub in the state of Orissa have been stymied by opposition from villagers who say they will be unable to earn a living if they lose their land to the project. "It is reported that the bosses of POSCO have now approached you in this matter," said A.B. Bardhan, a senior communist leader, in a letter to the prime minister.

■ ENERGY
Solar Decathlon held
A German university team was named on Friday the winner of the 2007 Solar Decathlon, a competition to design, build and run the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered home. Teams from universities in Canada, Germany, Puerto Rico, Spain and the US took part in the competition, which, like the sports version of the decathlon, consists of 10 categories. Teams in the competition erected their energy-efficient homes, powered exclusively by the sun, on the National Mall in Washington, in the shadow of the White House. The homes were open to the public for the duration of the competition.

■ HOTELS
Hilton purchase cleared
The European Commission on Friday cleared Blackstone Group's purchase of US-based Hilton Hotels Corp for US$26 billion, a buyout that would create the world's biggest hotel concern. "The Commission has concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition" in the EU area or any substantial part of it, the top competition regulator said in a statement. Private equity giant Blackstone will be adding Hilton, with more than 2,800 hotels and 480,000 rooms, to a list of hotels it has purchased over the past two years. This will give it a total of some 600,000 rooms, of which 560,000 are wholly owned.

■ AUTOMOBILES
Bridgestone invests
Japan's Bridgestone will invest more than US$11 billion over five years to boost production as it vies with France's Michelin for the title of the world's top tiremaker, a report said yesterday. The Japanese group plans to spend ¥1.3 trillion (US$11.2 billion) for five years from April, up 20 percent from the preceding five years, the Nikkei Shimbun said. The group's capital spending will increase as it puts new factories into operation in Mexico, Poland and Hungary during the five-year period while expanding existing plants in India and Indonesia, it said. The Nikkei said Bridgestone was also considering building a new factory in Russia.

■ INTERNET
Yahoo executive quits
Yahoo Inc, owner of the most visited US Web site, said Cammie Dunaway is leaving as chief marketing officer, the latest executive to depart amid a reorganization of the Internet company. Dunaway's last day will be Nov. 2, Yahoo said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Dunaway, 45, also oversaw the branding and design of the Sunnyvale, California-based company's products. In August, Yahoo announced the departure of Gregory Coleman, the company's head of sales. Dunaway's departure also follows the exit of Wenda Millard, who oversaw Yahoo's graphic ad sales, in June. Peggy White, head of the finance site, and chief technology officer Farzad Nazem also left since May.


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