World Business Quick Take

■ Aviation
EADS deal meets obstacles
A consortium of investors put together by the German government to buy a bloc of EADS shares put up for sale by DaimlerChrysler has hit difficulties, notably because of French resistance to the plan, Der Spiegel magazine said. In its edition to be published today, Der Spiegel quoted senior German civil servants as saying that Paris had so far vetoed the purchase of any stake in the aerospace and defence group by the consortium, which is led by Deutsche Bank. Compounding its difficulties, the German bank had also failed to fully convince the potential investors themselves of the worth of its project.

■ Real estate
Mack-Cali pulls out of bid
Mack-Cali Realty Corp withdrew from its planned participation in a group led by billionaire Carl Icahn that is bidding for Reckson Associates Realty Corp, owner of 101 New York-area office properties. Reckson, a Uniondale, New York-based real estate investment trust, said Mack-Cali told the company on Saturday that it was pulling out of the group. Reckson didn't give a reason for Edison, New Jersey-based Mack-Cali's withdrawal. Reckson also said that Icahn and partner Harry Macklowe, owner of New York's General Motors Building, still hasn't provided "any documentation with respect to its debt financing arrangements" for their US$4.26 billion buyout.

■ Oil
Iran calls for OPEC cuts
Iran's OPEC envoy Hossein Kazempour Ardebili yesterday called on the oil cartel to agree to a new oil output cut at its next meeting to counter an oversupply of crude, official news agency IRNA reported. "Some factors like the decrease of world economic growth and accumulation of oil and stockpiles of its by-products indicate that the market needs a cut in OPEC oil output again," Ardebili said. "There is still oversupply in the market beyond the oil demand and with OPEC's output cut [agreed in October] all the global market demands have been covered," he added. The 11 members of OPEC are due to meet in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Dec. 14.

■ Steel
Nippon mulls Baosteel buy
Nippon Steel Corp, the world's second-largest steelmaker, may buy a stake in Baosteel Group Corp (寶鋼集團), China's largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel president Akio Mimura told reporters in Tokyo yesterday. Baosteel Chairwoman Xie Qihua (謝企華) proposed having Nippon Steel buy into Baosteel to strengthen the companies' ties, and Nippon Steel will consider the purchase on the basis of profitability, Mimura said. Mimura and Xie had talks on Friday. Baoshan Iron and Steel Co (寶山鋼鐵), Baosteel's publicly traded unit, said on Thursday that conditions for share sales were improving.

■ Automobiles
Delphi, GM reach agreement
Delphi Corp and former parent General Motors Corp have exchanged "draft agreements" during negotiations to help the automobile parts supplier emerge from bankruptcy protection, court documents show. A 110-page report that addressed the talks was filed late on Thursday in the US Bankruptcy Court in New York, the Detroit News reported. "The parties have exchanged various draft agreements and term sheets, which taken together, have advanced negotiations considerably," Delphi bankruptcy lawyer Jack Butler wrote in the report.