Print

Mail

wiki links

Business Briefs

■ ACQUISITIONS

McDonald's sells Pret stake

A private equity company has bought control of Pret A Manger, buying a one-third share from McDonald's in the sandwich company. Bridgepoint Capital Ltd said that the deal, reportedly worth £345 million (US$673 million), will keep Pret's current management team in place. McDonald's took a 33 percent stake in the company in 2001. Pret A Manger, founded in 1986, operates 175 shops in the UK, 14 in the US and 11 in Hong Kong. Sales last year totaled £223 million.



■ INSURANCE

Woe over stronger NT dollar

Taiwanese life insurers may suffer a total of NT$13 billion (US$412.8 million) in losses after the New Taiwan dollar's 2.24 percent gain this month, local media reported yesterday. The NT dollar gained from NT$32.198 against the greenback on Jan. 31 to NT$31.495 on Friday. Central bank statistics showed that the nation's life insurance companies had US$2.265 trillion in overseas assets last year, of which the risk for US$600 billion is not hedged, a Commercial Times report said. If the NT dollar climbs further in the coming week, local insurers may suffer more than NT$20 billion in exchange losses, which would compound poor earnings results this month, the report said.



■ METALS

Alcan broke antitrust rules

EU regulators on Friday charged the world's biggest aluminum producer Alcan Inc -- now owned by mining giant Rio Tinto PLC -- with breaking antitrust rules, alleging its contracts forced customers to buy equipment along with smelting technology. Rio Tinto Alcan spokesman Stefano Bertolli said the company contested the allegations and would cooperate with the European Commission. Canada-based Alcan now has eight weeks to defend itself in writing and can ask for an oral hearing before the European Commission decides on fines or orders it to change the contracts.



■ AVIATION

American met with union

American Airlines executives met with labor union leaders this week to discuss a potential merger with another carrier. American spokesman Andy Backover said they had meetings for more than a year regarding airline industry consolidation with the unions, which include the Transport Workers Union that represents ground workers and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. The meetings have been subject to a confidentiality agreement, preventing all parties from revealing details of the discussions, Backover told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.



■ BRAZIL

Brazil out of debt

Brazil's debt crisis is over and the country has emerged as a net foreign creditor for the first time, the central bank said. The nation's foreign cash reserves last month exceeded the entire foreign debt of Brazil's government and individual companies combined by about US$4 billion, the bank said in a report on Thursday. "It's the first time in the history of Brazil that we are not debtors," Finance Minister Guido Mantega said. Brazil's new status as a creditor could improve its debt rating to investment grade, which would lower Brazil's borrowing costs for future loans, Mantega said. Brazil, which defaulted on its debt in the 1980s and declared a moratorium on debt payments, is riding a boom in demand for key exports such as beef, iron ore and soy. International reserves nearly tripled from US$64 billion in 2003 to US$188.2 billion this week, the bank said.
This story has been viewed 577 times.