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World Business Quick Take

■ AUTOMOBILES

Daimler recalls 65,000 cars

German automaker Daimler AG has ordered a recall of nearly 65,000 Mercedes-Benz cars sold in Japan to fix potential fuel tank defects caused by parts with insufficient durability, Japanese transport and company officials said. The recall, announced on Tuesday, covers 64,550 E-Class sedan, station wagon and CLS-Class coupe models imported to Japan from February 2002 through April this year, the company's Japanese subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz Japan, and the transport ministry said. No accidents were reported from the defects, but there were 142 customer reports of the defects, the ministry said.



■ Telecoms

BT acquiring Frontline

British telecoms giant BT Group said yesterday it was acquiring Singapore-based Frontline Technologies for S$202 million (US$140 million) to beef up its regional presence. BT will pay S$0.245 for each Frontline share, representing a 33.9 percent premium to the firm's one-month average share price. "Through this acquisition we reinforce our ability to provide high quality services to our customers wherever they do business," BT Global Services CEO Frangois Barrault said in a statement. "We believe our combined reach and skills will create an unbeatable team in Asia Pacific as we seek to respond better to our customers' challenges and opportunities." Established in 1993, Frontline provides end-to-end IT services such consulting and security solutions and has more than 5,000 specialist staff in nine Asian markets, including China, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan and Thailand.



■ Retail

Wal-Mart ups Seiyu stake

Wal-Mart Stores has raised its stake in Japanese chain Seiyu to 95.1 percent, Seiyu said yesterday, marking the US retailer's latest attempt to solidify its foothold in the difficult Japanese market. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's biggest retail chain, owned 50.9 percent of Seiyu Ltd before launching an effort to buy more shares in October to attain full ownership. The results of the bid, which ended on Tuesday, were confirmed by Seiyu spokeswoman Shoko Nagata. The effort underlines Wal-Mart's strategy of taking a lead in speeding up management changes to turn around Seiyu's struggling business and ends for now doubts about whether Wal-Mart may exit Japan.



■ Oil

China approves refinery

China said yesterday it had approved initial work on a multibillion-dollar oil refinery project in the south, in what the official China Daily has hailed as the nation's largest ever joint venture. The daily said the project, to be jointly run by the nation's top refiner Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum Corp, would involve US$5 billion in investment. "Initial work can be started on the project now," said an official surnamed Zhang with the National Development and Reform Commission. It will include a refinery and an ethylene plant that will be built in Nansha City, Guangdong Province.



■ Australia

Central bank holds rates

The central bank left interest rates on hold at an 11-year high of 6.75 percent yesterday, while warning that it remained concerned about inflationary pressure. The decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which last month raised rates by 0.25 percentage points for the 10th time since 2002, had been widely expected by economists.
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