Business news with words announced+billion+million. 60 or more news.

CHINA Merchants Securities increased its stake in Bosera Asset Management to 73 percent in a 6.32-billion-yuan (US$854 million) deal, Bosera said in a statement late on Wednesday. China Merchants paid 130 yuan per share to buy an additional 48 percent of Bosera from Kinghing Trust & Investment Co Ltd. With the deal, China Merchants also set a record for the biggest purchase of a stake in the fund industry. The previous record was set in October by Shanxi Haixin Group when it paid 1.18 billion yuan, or 56.20 yuan per share, to buy a 21-percent stake in Yinhua Fund Management Co Ltd. Kinghing Trust & Investment Co Ltd was shut down in 2006 for violating rules and bad management. The securities regulator announced it would auction Kinghing's shares in Bosera on November 19. "The move shows the ambition of China Merchants to expand and its confidence on the prospect of China's fund industry," said Zhang Qi, an analyst with Haitong Securities Co. "The share price for

JAPAN Tobacco Inc said it spent 102 billion yen (US$893 million) to boost its stake in frozen-food maker Katokichi Co to 93.9 percent. Katokichi stockholders will receive 710 yen a share, a 20-percent premium to the price when the offer was announced on November 22. Once it gains full ownership, Japan Tobacco plans to sell a 49-percent stake in Katokichi to instant-noodle maker Nissin Food Products Co and the three companies will combine their frozen-food units. Japan Tobacco, the nation's biggest cigarette company, is moving into emerging markets and expanding food sales to reduce its reliance on Japan, where the percentage of men that smoke has fallen by half in the past 40 years. The Tokyo-based maker of Camel cigarettes bought Gallaher Group Plc in April to add Russian and European tobacco sales and is reported to be planning a bid for Turkey's state-owned Tekel.

General Motors announced that by 2008, it will source $1 billion worth of auto parts from India each year, according to Dow Jones. This is more than eight times the $120 million the company currently spends on parts manufactured in that country.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Kansai Electric Power Co. and Sumitomo Corp. will join forces with Kazakhstan's state-owned Kazatomprom to process uranium ore into nuclear fuel for power generation, according to reports. Japanese firm Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd. will also be involved in the project, which is due to be formally announced in Kazakhstan later Wednesday, the Nikkei business daily reported. Under the agreement, Kanasai Electric and Sumitomo will provide funding to help cover the 70 billion yen ($613 million) to 80 billion yen needed to upgrade a Soviet-era facility in Kazakhstan to enrich uranium ore into a form that can be used in commercial reactors. Kansai Electric and Sumitomo are also to provide expertise in modifying the facility for its new role, the report said. Shares of Sumitomo climbed 1.2% and Kansai Electric Power fell 1.5%.

FRENCH cookware producer Groupe SEB has completed a partial tender offer for Zhejiang Supor Cookware Co, China's largest producer of kitchen appliances. The two companies will finish the settlement within this week, Supor said. Under the deal, SEB paid 2.3 billion yuan (US$312 million) to buy a maximum of 49.1 million shares at 47 yuan per share from the public to boost its stake in Supor from 30 percent to 52.74 percent. Seb's investment in Supor, worth a total of 327 million euros (US$469.8 million), will give it access to a sales network across China and localize its production to increase price competitiveness. SEB, which makes Tefal cookware, announced plans to buy 61 percent of Supor last year but the acquisition drew opposition from China's cookware industry amid worries of a monopoly being created. In April, the Ministry of Commerce gave a green light to SEB's plan after a public hearing for more open competition in China's non-strategic industry. Construction on

FRENCH cookware producer Groupe SEB has completed a partial tender offer for Zhejiang Supor Cookware Co, China's biggest producer of kitchen appliances. The two companies will settle the deal this week, Supor said. Under the deal, SEB will pay 2.3 billion yuan for a maximum of 49.1 million shares at 47 yuan a share from the public to boost its stake in Supor from 30 percent to 52.74 percent. Seb's investment in Supor, worth a total of 327 million euros, will give it access to a sales network across China and localize its production to increase price competitiveness. SEB, which makes Tefal cookware, announced plans to buy 61 percent of Supor last year but the acquisition drew opposition from China's cookware industry amid worries of a monopoly being created. In April, the Ministry of Commerce gave a green light to SEB's plan after a public hearing for more open competition in China's non-strategic industry. Supor's US$15-million factory in Vietnam, designed to produce 7.9

KOHLBERG Kravis Roberts & Co has agreed to buy Northgate Information Solutions Plc, the biggest UK payroll systems supplier, for 593 million pounds (US$1.19 billion). Investors will get 95 pence a share, the companies said in a statement yesterday. That's 60 percent more than the closing price of the English Northgate on December 11, the day before it announced the takeover approach. Northgate, which operates in 46 countries and has 6,490 employees, is targeting multinational companies to gain market share. In May, the company agreed to buy Brussels-based Arinso International SA for 377.9 million euros (US$544 million) to become the world's third-biggest human resources outsourcing provider after Accenture Ltd and Ceridian Corp of the US. KKR will "address the numerous opportunities to grow Northgate into a leading international provider of software solutions and outsourcing services to the human resources and public sector markets," Todd Fisher, a partner at the New

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said Friday that it's agreed to buy U.K. business software company Northgate Information Solutions for 593 million pounds ($1.19 billion), or 95 pence a share. The deal is at a 40.5% premium to the average closing price for the month ended Dec. 11, the day before Northgate announced it had received an approach. It's also a 49% premium to the closing price of 63.75 pence on Thursday. KKR said it's acquired a 19.6% stake in the company through a deal with two major shareholders at the offer price and has received irrevocable undertaking to accept the deal from shareholders representing a further 0.3% of the shares.

The Cabinet will set aside a budget of NT$1 billion over the next two years to promote tourism, seeking to attract 4.25 million tourists to Taiwan in 2009, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung announced yesterday.

On the verge of closing its $8.2 billion buyout deal, Tribune Co. announced that its chairman/CEO Dennis FitzSimons will leave the company at the end of this year. He exits with some $32 million in severance and stock holdings from the beleaguered company.

SHARES in Shanghai Automotive Co Ltd, the listed unit of China's largest car maker, gained 1.18 percent yesterday after it announced government approval for a proposed issue of 6.3 billion yuan (US$851 million) of convertible bonds. Shanghai Auto, owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, will sell the six-year bonds, along with detachable warrants to A-share investors, according to its filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. Shares closed at 25.70 yuan, nearly tripling from the beginning of this year. The 63 million units of bonds will have a face value of 100 yuan each and 3.6 warrants, the company said. Shanghai Auto offers the bonds with a coupon between 0.8 and 1.2 percent, but the final price depends on interest from institutional and retail investors. Bond holders will be allowed to use the warrants to buy Shanghai Auto's shares at 27.43 yuan per share after 24 months. Subscriptions start on Wednesday, and SAIC has said it will buy at least 800 million yuan

SHANGHAI Chemical Industry Park has attracted investment worth more than US$10 billion since it struck its first deal in May, 2001, the park developer has announced. The US$10-billion landmark was achieved with the recent approval of Bailian Group's 270-million-yuan (US$36.6 million) fuel storage project in the park, according to the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Development Co. Sales from the park are expected to exceed 50 billion yuan this year, up from 35.5 billion yuan in 2006, said Yu Liangru, assistant to the president of the park development company. "Things like investment scale and how much sales you can realize are definitely not our top concern while selecting potential investors. Anyone wants to set up a presence here must prove they are eco-friendly and with high energy efficiency," Yu said. The park has ruled that only projects that consume less than 0.5 tons of standard coal per 10,000 yuan of gross domestic product would be admitted. By comparison,

British Columbia has netted a record $1-billion in the sale of oil and gas rights this year, marking an aggressive push by exploration companies into the northeastern part of the province. B.C.'s year-end tally, announced yesterday, breaks the previous record of $647-million in  …

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Reserve on Friday released details Friday of the first auction under its newly created auction facility. The Fed will offer on Dec. 17 $20 billion in a 28-day loan. The minimum bid amount is $10 million. The minimum bid rate is 4.17%. The maximum award is $2 billion, or 10% of the offering amount. Participants must submit bids by phone to their local Reserve Bank between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday. The auction results will be announced on Dec. 19 at 10:00 a.m. The auction is an innovative attempt by the Fed and global central banks to inject dollar liquidity into the financial system. The auction is designed to lower inter-bank lending rates or at least put a cap on them. Inter-bank rates have been trading well above normal in recent weeks in the second bout of financial turmoil since the summer.

SUMITOMO Mitsui Banking Corp, the main banking unit of Japan's third-biggest lender by market value, paid a premium to sell 80 billion yen (US$716 million) of bonds that is almost double the value of a similar sale 10 months ago. The Tokyo-based bank priced the 10-year subordinated debt to yield 65 basis points more than Japanese government debt with similar maturity, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point, Bloomberg News reported. Investors are demanding higher yield premiums, or spreads, to buy Japanese bank debt as financial institutions worldwide announced about US$80 billion of losses and writedowns on securities linked to US subprime mortgages. The world's biggest banks, including New York-based Citigroup Inc, are paying more to borrow in the corporate bond market than industrial companies for the first time in at least a decade. "This spread reflects the market's tough view on Japan's banks," said Junichi Shimizu, a

HAINAN Airlines Co will acquire financial assets from its parent to boost its capital, the Shanghai-listed carrier announced yesterday. The airline will pay HNA Group 595 million yuan (US$80.5 million) for 29.77 million shares of China Merchants Securities Co, accounting for 0.92 percent of the broker's total shares, at 20 yuan apiece, according to a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Hainan Airlines has the right to adjust the price based on an initial public offering price of the broker if it goes public within one year on the mainland stock market, the statement said. The Shenzhen-based brokerage has applied to the regulator to launch an IPO. It hopes to sell shares publicly as early as the end of this year to tap the current bullish market sentiment. The broker earned a half-year net profit of 2.4 billion yuan in 2007, compared with 1.1 billion yuan for the whole of last year. It has total assets of 19.6 billion yuan and 52 outlets nationwide. HNA Hotels &

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Washington Mutual, Inc said Wednesday it has priced a public offering of 3 million shares perpetual convertible preferred stock with a liquidation preference was $1,000 per share, resulting in an aggregate liquidation preference of $3.0 billion. The size of the non-cumulative 7.75% Series R issue is up from an originally announced size of 2.5 million shares, and the bank expects to raise approximately $2.9 billion from the sale. The initial conversion price is $21.25 per share of common stock. Washington Mutual shares closed at $17.42 Tuesday.

US President George W. Bush announced a plan yesterday aimed at slowing a wave of home loan foreclosures that has threatened to knock the US economy into recession and rattled investors worldwide. Bush said the plan, hammered out by the US Treasury Department in talks with mortgage industry leaders, was not intended to "bail out" lenders, speculators or those who knew they could not afford the homes they bought. Instead, the Bush administration hopes that it can help more than half of the two million homeowners who took out adjustable-rate subprime loans with payments due to move sharply higher soon by offering some of them a five-year mortgage-rate freeze. Officials have said 500,000 Americans are at risk of losing their homes as $367 billion worth of mortgages reset to higher interest rates over the next two years. Expensive subprime loans traditionally are aimed at borrowers with weak credit, but increasing numbers of buyers took the loans as an easy way to hop

H&R Block Inc. said Tuesday that a deal to sell its troubled mortgage lending arm has fallen through, forcing it to scrap most of the $1 billion business. The Kansas City-based tax preparer and Cerberus Capital Management LP said they have terminated their agreement, announced in April, for a Cerberus subsidiary to buy Option One Mortgage Corp. H&R Block is accepting no new mortgage applications and will lay off about 620 employees, close three offices and take a $75 million restructuring charge as it shuts down operations, the company said. The company said it will honor $30 million worth of existing commitments. Most of these will be eligible for sale to government subsidized Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, H&R Block said, with the rest sold to investors. H&R Block also said it will sell its servicing business, which will result in another asset impairment charge for the quarter ended Oct. 31 of no more than $125 million. The company hired Lazard to handle that sale and said it was determining the unit's value.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Auto parts and building products manufacturer Quanex Corp. reported late Tuesday fiscal fourth-quarter operating income of $62.9 million, or $1.05 a share, up from $59.3 million, or $1.03 a share, a year ago. Revenue for the three months ended Oct. 31 rose nearly 6% to $557.9 million from $527.7 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted Quanex would earn 97 cents a share on $548 million in revenue. Quanex warned it expects building products sales to drop 5% in 2008 due to the tough home building market. The company announced last month it plans to spin off its building products unit to shareholders and sell its auto parts business to Gerdau S.A. in a deal worth $1.7 billion. Shares of the Houston-based company rose 18 cents ahead of the report to close at $49.34.