■AUTOMOBILES
Toyota unveils Sai hybrid
Toyota Motor Corp yesterday unveiled a new hybrid luxury sedan, the “Sai,” aiming to keep its pole position in environmentally friendly vehicles. The Sai, which will go on sale only in Japan on Dec. 7, is a compact sedan with a 2.4-liter engine and fuel economy of 23kpl, against 38kpl for the third-generation Prius. It is the second Toyota-brand vehicle that is available only as a hybrid, after the Prius. The Sai will have a price tag starting from ¥3.38 million (US$37,225), against ¥2.05 million for the Prius, the company said. Toyota aims to sell some 3,000 Sai vehicles a month.
■LABOR
Adecco to buy MPS
The world’s biggest recruitment agent, Adecco, said yesterday it would strengthen its position in North America and Britain by buying its US peer MPS Group for 782 million euros (US$1.17 billion). Chief executive Patrick De Maeseneire said in a statement that the move, to be completed early next year, would give Adecco “the worldwide lead in professional staffing” with clients in the US, Canada and Britain. The company aims to strengthen its “higher margin professional staffing business” by acquiring MPS’s recruitment operations in specialized areas such as information technology, accounting, law and engineering, he said.
■BANKING
Lloyds sells unit
Lloyds Banking Group PLC said yesterday it has agreed to sell its Bank of Scotland Portfolio Management Service and two private client portfolios to Rathbone Brothers PLC in a deal worth up to £35.4 million (US$58.4 million). The proposed transaction would transfer around 6,000 customers with a total of around £1.27 billion of funds under management to Rathbones, subject to client consent. The price of £35.4 million assumes that all affected investors will agree to transfer their accounts to Rathbone Brothers.
■MANUFACTURING
Li & Fung buys US firm
Li & Fung Ltd (利豐), the biggest supplier of clothes and toys to Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp, said its purchase of a US company that holds licenses for the Calvin Klein and Disney labels is the first of several planned. Li & Fung said it will pay as much as US$401.8 million, or US$101.8 million in cash and up to US$300 million over five years based on performance for New York-based Wear Me Apparel LLC’s operations related to children’s clothing and accessories, and men’s apparel. Wear Me designs and manufactures clothing sold at chains including Macy’s Inc and Wal-Mart.
■INVESTMENT
Icahn offers CIT a loan
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered a US$6 billion loan on Monday to ailing lending giant CIT Group, calling it an alternative to a plan he said favors large bondholders. Icahn made the offer in a letter to the board of CIT, which has been on the brink of bankruptcy since the US government declined to provide a bailout earlier this year. Icahn, who has made a name for himself as a corporate raider, said the CIT board was “shamelessly offering certain large unsecured bondholders the opportunity to purchase US$6 billion in secured loans in the company at well below fair market value.”
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