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World Business Quick Take

■ Aviation
Jackson to leave Qantas
Qantas Airways Ltd chairwoman Margaret Jackson will resign in the wake of the failed A$11 billion (US$9 billion) takeover bid by a private equity consortium. CEO Geoff Dixon will hold his post for at least two more years, the company said. Jackson confirmed in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday she will leave the Qantas board at the airline's annual general meeting in November, along with fellow director James Packer, the executive chairman of media and gaming company Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd. Dixon has committed to stay with the airline until at least July 2009.

■ Electronics
Daewoo sale scrapped
The planned sale of Daewoo Electronics Corp to a consortium led by Videocon Industries Ltd has been scrapped mainly because of differences in pricing, a news report said yesterday. "We gave Videocon the final word that talks are ended," an official at Woori Bank, one of Daewoo Electronics' creditor banks, told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. Creditors will now focus on restructuring Daewoo Electronics and returning it to profit ahead of a potential sale to alternative buyers, he said. Daewoo Electronics has been under a creditor-led debt-rescheduling program since 2000 after amassing huge debts.

■ Telecoms
Motorola buys Modulus
Motorola Inc, the world's No. 2 mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it is buying privately held Modulus Video Inc for an undisclosed sum. Modulus Video develops advanced video coding compression systems that are used to deliver video over Internet Protocol TV as well as cable, broadcast and satellite television. "As consumers demand more high definition video and interactive services, the need for advanced compression technology is increasingly important," Dan Moloney, president of Motorola's home and networks mobility business, said in a statement. Modulus has been a partner of Motorola's for more than two years. The deal is expected to close in the second or third quarter.

■ China
Blackstone to manage funds
China, eager to get a better return on its huge foreign exchange reserves, has entrusted US private equity company Blackstone Group LP with US$3 billion to manage, state media said yesterday. Blackstone has received the funds from Central Huijin Investment Co (中央匯金), an investment arm of the Chinese central bank, the China Business News reported, citing unnamed sources. The company will be charged with managing part of China's foreign exchange reserves, which hit US$1.2 trillion at the end of March and so far are believed to have have been mostly placed in US Treasury bonds.

■ Software
Microsoft buys aQuantive
Microsoft said yesterday that it was buying aQuantive, a global digital marketing company, for US$6 billion. The software giant said in a statement that it hoped the deal would enable it to expand its online advertising business. Microsoft said it had agreed to buy aQuantive in an all-cash transaction valued at US$66.50 per share. The digital marketing firms employs 2,600 workers. "This deal expands upon the company's previously outlined vision to provide the advertising industry with a world class, Internet-wide advertising platform," Microsoft said.


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