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World Business Quick Take

■ MINING

ArcelorMittal raises stake

ArcelorMittal SA, the world’s largest steelmaker, said on Sunday it had increased its stake in Australian miner Macarthur Coal Ltd to just under 20 percent, days after talks on a possible takeover ended without a deal. ArcelorMittal increased its stake from 14.9 percent to 19.9 percent by paying A$212 million (US$204 million) for an extra 5 percent from Talbot Group Holdings, owned by Macarthur founder Ken Talbot. It said the purchase was in line with recent moves to secure its own supplies of key raw materials as global prices soar. Macarthur supplies more than a third of the world’s pulverized coal, which is used to heat steel furnaces.



■ TELECOMS

France Telecom drops bid

France Telecom said yesterday it was abandoning its offer to buy Nordic telecoms operator TeliaSonera, citing a failure to agree on financial conditions. “Despite favorable interest in the proposal, open dialogue with the board of TeliaSonera failed to come to an agreement on financial parameters,” it said in a French-language statement. It added that the attempt to acquire TeliaSonera was “not indispensable” in the context of its broader corporate strategy. Earlier last month, France Telecom made a preliminary offer of 33 billion euros (US$53 billion) for TeliaSonera in a bid to create the world’s fourth-biggest mobile operator.



■ INTERNET

Google, Tele Atlas sign deal

Tele Atlas, the digital mapmaking arm of TomTom NV, has signed a five year supply deal with Google Inc. Tele Atlas says the terms of the deal were not disclosed but it makes Google among its largest customers. Google was already a purchaser of maps from both Tele Atlas and its major competitor Navteq Corp, which is in the process of being acquired by Nokia Corp. The companies said yesterday the new deal will allow Google Maps and Google Earth developers and users more access to Tele Atlas map data to create new products.



■ MEDICINE

Sonic acquires Hawaii Labs

Australian medical diagnostic company Sonic Healthcare Ltd has bought Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii for US$121 million, the company announced yesterday. The deal includes Clinical Laboratories’ pathology practice, Pan Pacific Pathologists, Sonic Healthcare said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. “The acquisition of Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii further expands Sonic’s footprint in the US laboratory market place and offers synergies with our existing operations in terms of purchasing, esoteric testing and sharing of best practice systems and laboratory protocols,” Sonic Healthcare chief executive Colin Goldschmidt said.



■ ENERGY

Gas found in Malaysia

Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company, has made a second gas discovery in the Mubarak Block, located in Pakistan’s Sindh Province, the Business Times reported, citing a company official. The finding was made by Petronas Carigali Pakistan Ltd, a unit of Petroliam that owns 57 percent of the project, at a depth of 3,780m, the report said, citing a company spokesman it did not identify. The gas flow from the Saquib-1X well was between 13.4 million and 25.2 million cubic feet a day, and between 47.5 barrels and 63.9 barrels of condensate a day, the report said. The Mubarak Block has been explored since 1999, it said.


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