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World Business Quick Take

■ TRANSPORTATION

CRCC wins Libya deal

China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC, 中國鐵道) has won a US$2.6 billion contract to construct two rail lines in Libya, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. The orders call for a 352km railway along Libya's Mediterranean coast from Khums to Sirt, and an 800km line in the south from Sebha to Misurata, the agency said. The coastal railway is expected to take four years to complete and the line in the south three years, it said.



■ INVESTMENT

Merrill Lynch stake bought

South Korea's Hana Bank has agreed to buy 1 million shares of Merrill Lynch & Co from Temasek Holdings, Singapore's state-owned investment company, for US$50 million, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The source also said both parties were aiming to close the deal next month. Temasek is the largest shareholder of Hana Financial with a 9.62 percent stake as of last September. In December, Merrill Lynch said it would sell a stake of up to US$5 billion to Temasek, which would hold less than 10 percent of the US firm and have no voting control.



■ TRANSPORT

ADB funds Cambodian rail

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday launched a multimillion-dollar project to restore Cambodia's devastated railways in a key step toward the creation of a regional rail system. Approximately 600km of track will be rebuilt at a cost of US$42 million, the bank said. "This is one of the last steps in the creation of a regional railway that will stretch from Singapore to Beijing," ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda said in a statement.



■ TELECOM

More job go in Germany

Deutsche Telekom, which has already announced that it would eliminate 32,000 jobs, plans to cut even more, chief executive Rene Obermann said yesterday in an interview. "We have to be honest. Our staff costs are not yet at the level of our competition," Obermann told the Financial Times Deutschland. "We are not yet at the same level of efficiency." He refused to say how many more jobs might be cut. The firm was also ready for a price war, he said. "If our competitors believe they can get rid of us just by lowering prices, they are wrong," he said.



■ MEDIA

Disney seeks UTV stake

Walt Disney Co has offered to buy a controlling stake in India's UTV Software Communications Ltd by buying new stock and some shares from minority holders totaling US$371 million. Disney agreed to pay 8.05 billion rupees (US$203 million) for 9.35 million new shares of UTV Software, which makes and distributes films and produces TV programs, a regulatory ad in the Business Standard newspaper said. Disney's purchase of the new shares will increase its holding in UTV Software to 32.1 percent from 14.9 percent, triggering a mandatory offer to buy at least a 20 percent stake from minority shareholders.



■ AVIATION

Korean Air to buy A380s

Korean Air Lines Co said yesterday it will buy three more Airbus A380 passenger jets, which will be delivered between 2012 and 2013, bringing its total order of A380s to eight. The first five planes are due to be delivered between 2010 and 2013. Korean Air said in a statement. The carrier did not say how much it would pay for the three A380s.
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