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World Business Quick Take

■ENERGY

BP, partners strike deal

BP agreed to a deal with the oligarch co-owners of TNK-BP yesterday that overhauls the Russian oil’s major management and sets a possible flotation of up to 20 percent of the company, ending months of increasingly hostile dispute. BP has agreed in principle to a number of its partners’ demands, including the removal of TNK-BP’s BP-nominated chief executive Bob Dudley and the appointment of independent directors. The British oil company said in a statement the two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding, which would be finalized in the coming months. “It will create a stable base from which to grow the joint venture to the benefit of everyone involved, including the Russian state for which strong capital investment and continued technical innovation to boost declining oil output are so important,” BP chairman Peter Sutherland said in the statement.



■FINANCE

MUFG denies news report

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) yesterday denied a news report that the Japanese megabank was considering bidding for a stake in troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers. “The report is not true,” MUFG spokesman Takashi Miwa said without elaborating further. The Times reported on Wednesday that MUFG would make a bid for a “substantial” stake in Lehman, which suffered billions of dollars in writedowns and credit losses in the crisis triggered by the meltdown in US subprime mortgages. It possibly even aims to take control of Lehman, the newspaper said. Citing senior sources close to Japan’s largest financial group, the daily said MUFG viewed the possible acquisition of Lehman as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.



■FOOD

Nestle Americas chief quits

Swiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA said yesterday that its Americas chief Paul Polman resigned. Polman is leaving to become chief executive of rival company Unilever PLC, Nestle said in a separate statement. The 52-year-old Dutchman was tipped as a possible successor to Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, but lost out to Paul Bulcke last year. Nestle said its Europe chief Luis Cantarell would take over the Americas region from Polman.


■UNITED STATES

Economy slowing: Fed

The US economy is sputtering amid weak housing, difficult credit and “retrenchment” in consumer spending, while inflation pressures are high, the US Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book report on Wednesday. The report, to be used by its policymakers for their Sept. 16 meeting on interest rates, indicated little improvement from the sluggish pace of activity since July. Data from the 12 regional Fed banks “indicate that the pace of economic activity has been slow in most districts,” the Beige Book said. Some regions showed “weakening,” with others seeing modest improvement and others “stabilization,” the report said.



■GAMING

Xbox price to drop: report

Microsoft Corp plans to cut US prices of its Xbox 360 video game machine, lowering the price of its entry-level console to US$50 below Nintendo Co Ltd’s top-selling Wii, BusinessWeek reported on Wednesday. In an article on its Web site, the magazine said Microsoft would cut prices for its entry-level Xbox 360 Arcade to US$199 from its current price of US$279 and the prices of its mid-range and high end Xbox 360 consoles by US$50 each today, BusinessWeek said.


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