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World Business Quick Take

■ Energy
Mitsubishi goes nuclear
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has offered to buy US nuclear-reactor maker Westinghouse, moving in on a company that 40 years ago provided the Japanese machinery maker with its technology, a Mitsubishi official said. Mitsubishi Heavy told British company BNFL, which owns Westinghouse Electric Co, on Friday that it wants to buy the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company, according to spokesman Hideo Ikuno. Mitsubishi is still working on details of a bid including how much it will propose to pay and if it should form a partnership with other companies in the bidding, he said. The business daily Nihon Keizai newspaper said on Saturday that the two sides are aiming at concluding a deal -- estimated at ¥200 billion (US$1.79 billion) -- later this year.

■ Aviation
Jetstar, Valuair cut talks
Singapore's low-cost carriers Jetstar Asia and Valuair Ltd said yesterday they have called off possible merger talks -- in what would have been the first consolidation in Asia's cutthroat budget airline industry. "In the airline industry, you can grow organically or through acquisitions. The Valuair opportunity gave us the chance to do both at the same time," Jetstar chief executive Ken Ryan said in a statement. "It would have been good if we were able to reach agreement, but the fact that we didn't doesn't impact our ongoing business expansion." It was not immediately clear why the airlines were considering integration but analysts have said carriers are suffering because of soaring jet fuel prices, now well above US$60 a barrel.

■ The Philippines
Debt rating cut to negative
The Philippines' debt-rating outlook was cut to negative from stable by Fitch Ratings, which cited political concerns and a court freeze on increases in the size and scope of the nation's sales tax. The cut comes 46 days after the outlook was raised and suggests Fitch is more inclined to lower the Philippines' long-term foreign-currency rating of BB and local-currency rating of BB+. Both ratings are junk grade. "The outlook reflects both the heightened political uncertainty in the Philippines and the challenges in the Supreme Court to the expanded value-added-tax," Fitch said in a statement yesterday. The government said the move, which comes 46 days after Fitch raised its rating outlook, wouldn't affect its overseas borrowing plans.

■ Photography
Kodak makes digital chip
Eastman Kodak Co, the world's largest photography company, said it has developed along with International Business Machines Corp (IBM) computer chips that improve the images of lower-priced digital cameras and cellphones. The new sensors, which convert light into electric signals, are derived from complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, or CMOS, technology. They close the gap between CMOS sensors used in mass-market cameras and higher-quality charge-coupled devices. Kodak hopes designers and manufacturers of cellphones and mass-market cameras will build the new chips into their products. To make that feasible, Kodak announced on Friday that it has formed an alliance with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world's largest supplier of made-to-order chips.

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