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World Business News Quick Take

■ PHARMACEUTICALS

Pfizer may bid for Ranbaxy

Giant drugmaker Pfizer may make a counter-offer for Indian firm Ranbaxy in an attempt to thwart a takeover bid by Japanese pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo, a report said yesterday. On Wednesday, Daiichi Sankyo said it signed an agreement to purchase a 35 percent stake held by the Singh family in the top Indian generics maker and would make an open share offer to bring its holding to 51.1 percent in a deal it valued at up to US$4.6 billion. But leading Indian financial daily the Business Standard, quoting unidentified sources it said were close to developments, reported Pfizer was mulling a bid for the 65 percent of Ranbaxy not owned by the Singhs. The newspaper reported that Pfizer may offer to buy out stakes held by lenders and other investors.



■ REAL ESTATE

US foreclosures hit record

Surging US home foreclosures rose to another record last month, according to a survey released yesterday, which showed home foreclosure actions hit a fresh all-time high of 261,255. The survey by RealtyTrac said the percentage of foreclosure actions — including default, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — rose 7 percent from the prior month and spiked 48 percent from a year ago. The report showed that one in every 483 US households received a foreclosure filing during the month as the housing market slump continued to buffet the world’s largest economy. “May was the third straight month where we’ve seen a month-to-month increase in foreclosure activity,” said James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac.



■ FINANCE

UBS share sale a success

UBS AG said yesterday that investors bought almost all new shares offered in a 15.97 billion Swiss Franc (US$15.37 billion) capital increase to recover from subprime problems. “Subscription rights for 755,466,901 new shares were exercised, representing 99.4 percent of all new shares offered” under the program authorized at the April 23 shareholders’ meeting, the financial firm said. It said the remaining nearly 5 million new shares would be sold by UBS Investment Bank in open market transactions starting yesterday.



■ ENERGY

EU to probe US subsidies

The EU, opening up a new trans-Atlantic trade spat, will investigate whether soaring imports of US biodiesel break global trade rules because of subsidies, the EU’s executive commission said yesterday. In April, EU biodiesel producers requested the Commission impose duties on imports from the US and yesterday said there was enough evidence to warrant anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigations. European producers say their US rivals benefit from generous subsidies when they blend biodiesel with small amounts of mineral diesel in the US, creating unfair competition that has put much of EU industry out of business.



■ ROBOTICS

Penguin can emit smells

South Korean researchers, showcasing their latest line in robotic pets, have unveiled a penguin that can interact with humans. Called “Pomi” (Penguin Robot for Multimodal Interaction), it can see, hear, touch, emit smells and make faces, yesterday’s Korea Times said. It was developed by the state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, which plans to put Pomi to commercial use. The institute said Pomi’s software, which imitates human emotion, will be available on the market by the end of next month.
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