■CABLE
Liberty Global buys firm
International cable operator Liberty Global agreed to buy Unitymedia GmbH, the second-largest German cable network company, for an equity purchase price of US$3 billion to expand its European footprint. Along with Unitymedia’s reported net debt at Sept 30 of about US$2.2 billion, the total consideration is about US$5.2 billion excluding transaction costs, the company said in a statement. Unitymedia is owned by a group of shareholders led by BC Partners and Apollo, while Liberty Global is controlled by US cable pioneer John Malone. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of next year.
■JAPAN
FamilyMart buys rival
Japanese convenience store chain operator FamilyMart Co said yesterday it would acquire smaller rival am/pm Japan Co for ¥12 billion (US$130 million) to boost its market share amid sluggish consumer spending. FamilyMart, Japan’s third-largest convenience store chain, will purchase all shares in am/pm from parent company Rex Holdings Co, the company said. FamilyMart plans to absorb am/pm early next year. The merged entity will have 8,700 stores in Japan, compared with 9,700 stores operated by Lawson Inc and 12,500 by 7-Eleven.
■AVIATION
Japan Air posts losses
Struggling carrier Japan Airlines said yesterday it racked up ¥131.2 billion in losses during the first half through September and applied for government help to restructure. The company — Asia’s biggest carrier by revenues — made a ¥36.6 billion profit in the same period a year earlier. Details of its restructuring plan are still being worked but it was working with the government through a “turnaround procedure” that will enlist the assistance of a private operator.
■ENTERTAINMENT
Disney posts earnings jump
The Walt Disney Co posted a surprise 18 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday and announced an executive job switch that might point to an eventual successor to chief executive Robert Iger. Iger, 58, said he was behind the decision to turn chief financial officer Tom Staggs into the parks and resorts chairman, while making parks chairman Jay Rasulo the new CFO. Net income rose to US$895 million, or US$0.47 per share, as revenue at its cable, broadcast and movie studio units rose, more than offsetting declines at its parks and consumer products units.
■GERMANY
Economic activity grows
Germany is well into recovery, with the economy growing for the second quarter and exports, investment and construction leaving recession behind, official data showed yesterday. The German Desatis statistics office said economic activity expanded by a provisional 0.7 percent in the third quarter from the previous three-month period. Germany’s performance was more than twice the figure achieved in key neighbor France which showed growth of 0.3 percent in the quarter.
■BEVERAGES
Suntory buys Orangina
Japanese beverage giant Suntory Holdings said yesterday that it had completed a deal to buy Orangina Schweppes, the European maker of the orange-flavored soft drink, for an undisclosed sum. The Japanese firm had announced a binding offer in September to buy Orangina Schweppes from investment funds Blackstone Group and Lion Capital.
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