Business news with words billion+capital+plan. 44 news.

Shares of Sallie Mae continued to slide yesterday after the nation's largest student lender announced it will seek up to $2.5 billion of additional capital to shore up its beleaguered balance sheet. The Virginia-based company said in public...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Swiss bank UBS said Thursday that it will ask shareholders to approve its plan to raise capital at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 27. UBS said earlier in December that two strategic investors -- one of which is the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation -- intend to subscribe for 13 billion Swiss francs of mandatory convertible notes. The subscription is intended to strengthen the firm's capital base. Shares in UBS rose 2.1% in Swiss trading.

THE Agricultural Bank of China will launch its long-expected restructuring plan soon, the central bank governor said yesterday. The restructuring plan will be decided soon to elevate the bank into a strong and internationally competitive bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China, said yesterday at a financial forum in Beijing. Zhou said China's financial institutions should actively be engaged in the development of the agricultural sector, which is ABC's main focus. He added that the restructuring will start next year. Central Huijin Investment Co, which recently merged with China Investment Corp, will be involved in the restructuring of China Development Bank and ABC, said Lou Jiwei, chairman of the CIC, the country's sovereign wealth fund, at the forum. Deputy Finance Minister Li Yong was reported as saying earlier that one-third of the CIC's US$200 billion start-up capital, or US$66 billion, will be injected into China Development Bank and ABC for

MERRILL Lynch & Co and CLSA Ltd are among six investment banks set to arrange State Bank of India's US$4.2 billion share sale, three people familiar with the plan said. Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co and SBI Capital Markets Ltd may also underwrite the rights offer by the Mumbai-based bank, India's largest, the people said, declining to be identified before a formal announcement. State Bank's closest rival, ICICI Bank Ltd, led a record year for share sales by Indian companies as lenders raised funds to meet accelerating credit demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy after China. Merrill is the top-ranked adviser for a third year in India as companies sold US$25 billion of stock, Bloomberg News said. "The share sale will be made easier with economic and banking sector growth still strong," said R.K. Gupta, who manages US$100 million at Credit Capital Asset Management Ltd in New Delhi.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Treasury bonds were slightly higher Thursday, sending yields lower, after downbeat weekly jobless claims and leading indicator data increased the safe-have appeal of fixed-income assets in thin market conditions ahead of next week's holiday. "As liquidity remains a scarce resource, we expect the volatile conditions in the market will remain a theme -- at least into the end of the year," said David Ader, U.S. government bond strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital. The U.S. Federal Reserve will auction another $20 billion worth of lending Thursday, its second such move as part of a coordinated plan to ease global credit conditions. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up 2/32 at 101 27/32, with a yield of 4.024%. The 30-year bond was up 6/32 at 109 6/32 with a yield of 4.437%. The two-year note was up 2/32 at 100 3/32 with a yield of 3.070%.

EUROPEAN stocks have had the biggest weekly loss in a month, led by mining companies and banks, on concern a plan by central banks to add cash to the financial system won't prevent an economic slowdown. "That's not the same as a broad rate cut," said Gerard Piasko, who oversees the equivalent of US$107 billion as chief investment officer of Julius Baer Holding AG's private banking division in Zurich. "The market prefers a proactive monetary policy. Risks to growth are increasing." BHP Billiton Ltd and Anglo American Plc, the world's largest mining companies, led an industry measure to its steepest drop in four weeks. HBOS Plc, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, tumbled the most in a month. UBS AG fell after Europe's largest bank by assets said a bond sale to replenish capital may raise the number of shares by as much as 12 percent, Bloomberg News reported. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dropped 1.5 percent to 367.24, the steepest decline since the week ended

CITIGROUP Inc Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit's decision to bail out seven subprime-infected investment funds with US$49 billion in assets may increase the chance of a dividend cut at the largest United States bank. The rescue package erodes the bank's capital buffer against loan losses, Bank of America analyst John McDonald has written in a report. The move adds pressure on the bank to reduce its quarterly 54-cent-a-share payment to investors, said Meredith Whitney, an analyst at CIBC World Markets. "The risks continue to mount for this already vulnerable financial giant," Whitney said in a report. Citigroup's SIV plan "will further imperil its fragile capital ratios going into the fourth quarter and surely pressure the company to continue to raise capital, sell assets and cut its dividend." Citigroup has tumbled more than 40 percent this year on the New York Stock Exchange as the collapse of the subprime mortgage market led to at least US$9 billion of

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) plans to rescue $49 billion of structured investment vehicles in a move that further strains the biggest U.S. banking group's capital levels and may scupper a U.S. government-endorsed SIV bailout plan.

This attempt to sort out the money-market mess has its uses; but don't expect too much IF AT first you don't succeed, try co-ordinated intervention. Leading central banks have each laboured on their own to clear the log jam in the money markets--and all have failed. The spread between the cost of borrowing for governments and that for banks has widened sharply in recent weeks. That suggests investors are warier than ever of lending to the banking system. The longer this goes on, the greater the fear that banks will drag the economy down by starving it of capital. Christmas, when markets are closed and banks are tidying their year-end balance sheets, is always a time of sparse liquidity. This year confidence is especially fragile. The last thing the world needs is for some big bank to be scrabbling for cash on New Year's Eve. Hence this week's decision by five central banks to redirect some $100 billion of funding to the banking system--and to ensure that it can be had in dollars. Markets were torn between hope that money will at last get to those that need it and fear that the plan reveals how worried the central banks really are. They are right to be anxious: this is the authorities' best shot--and it is far from certain to work. ...

BAIN Capital Partners' US$2.2 billion acquisition of 3Com Corp is expected to be finalized by the end of the first quarter, though the deal is being investigated by the US regulator because of a Chinese firm's involvement, the US-based private investment firm said yesterday. Bain Capital announced in September its plan to acquire the US-based telecom equipment firm 3Com. As part of the transaction, Huawei plans to acquire a minority interest in 3Com. The US regulator intervened later citing "national security" because 3Com's clients include the Pentagon and other US bureaus. "It is just a deal between two US companies and many steps can be taken to avoid a 'China connection' to the 3Com's sensitive clients," said Jing Huang, Bain Capital's managing director, who was attending the China Venture Capital Annual Forum 2007 in Shanghai. Huawei will acquire the 3Com's stake, 16 percent as reported, through Huawei Tech Investment, a Hong Kong-based subsidiary and it

OLIVANT Advisers Ltd, the investment firm headed by former UBS AG head Luqman Arnold, said it plans to raise as much as 800 million pounds (US$1.6 billion) to rescue Northern Rock Plc and push aside competing bids. Olivant would invest 150 million pounds in cash and arrange a rights offer for as much as 650 million pounds, the London-based company said yesterday in a statement, Bloomberg News reported. Newcastle-based Northern Rock said it had borrowed about 25 billion pounds from the Bank of England since its emergency bailout in September. Northern Rock has backed a bid by Virgin Group Ltd, which would invest about 1.3 billion pounds and repay about 11 billion pounds of Bank of England debt upfront. New York-based buyout firm J.C. Flowers & Co will not revise its offer, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing an insider. Cerberus Capital Management LP is also bidding. Olivant's plan "looks far more attractive than the Virgin Group proposal" because

CHINA'S proposed sale of the latest batch of special treasury bonds next week won't largely affect short-term liquidity or dampen stock-market performance, industry analysts said yesterday. The Ministry of Finance said it will sell 750 billion yuan (US$100 billion) of 15-year special treasury bonds to the central bank via the Agricultural Bank of China next Tuesday to raise capital for its state investment fund. Analysts said the central bank may gradually use the special bonds as collateral for repurchase deals with commercial banks to soak up excess liquidity. The sale may help the Agricultural Bank of China earn commission fees to prepare it for an initial public offering next year, they said. This batch of special treasury bonds, to be sold to institutional investors on the interbank market at a coupon rate of 4.45 percent, is part of the ministry's plan to issue 1.55 trillion yuan of special debt this year. In August, China announced the sale of 600 billion yuan in

Dell Inc. plans to repurchase $10 billion in common stock beginning this week, chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said Tuesday. "Dell is committed to a long-term share repurchase program as part of an overall capital allocation plan that...

CHINA Securities Regulatory Commission yesterday approved the A share initial public offering plan of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd. The company will issue one billion A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, making it the third insurer listed on the Chinese mainland after its larger rivals China Life and Ping An Insurance. The A shares will account for 12.99 percent of China Pacific's expanded share capital and the money raised through the domestic listing will be used to replenish capital to help expand business, its prospectus said. Analysts estimated the shares would be sold at 20 yuan apiece and start trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange before the year-end. The diluted earnings per A share are estimated at 0.84 yuan, as the company anticipates a net profit of 6.45 billion yuan this year.

CONSUMER electronics maker TCL Corp said its board has approved a proposal to reduce the target size of the funds to be raised from a planned private placement to 1.696 billion yuan (US$ 229 million )?compared with 2.296 billion yuan previously. In a statement filed to the Shenzhen bourse, the company said that it made the reduction based on a scale-back in investment in a subsidiary, lowering its working capital needs. In addition, chairman Li Dongsheng will buy 18 percent of the new shares to be issued as a strategic investor. According to the previous plan announced in June, up to 650 million yuan of the proceeds were to be used to boost the company's stake in TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings, while another 250 million yuan was to be used to supplement working capital. Under the revised plan, TCL said that it will issue 200-380 million additional A-shares, down from the previous 600 million, to a maximum of 10 institutional investors. Up to 742.46 million yuan of

China Shipping Container Lines Co said today that it will float up to 2.34 billion yuan-denominated A shares to raise capital for expansion. The company plans to use 8.8 billion yuan (US$ 1.18 billion) of the proceeds to build 16 container vessels, two billion yuan to buy container-related assets from its parent and 1.2 billion yuan to shore up working capital and repay bank loans, according to its prospectus. The company expects its earnings per share to reach 0.277 yuan based on an estimated combined net profit of 3.23 billion yuan this year. The book building process will start today and the price will be fixed on December 6, according to its prospectus. The largest mainland shipping-container company, founded in 1997, started trading in Hong Kong on June 16, 2004 with registered capital of 934,700 yuan. The total capital stock amounted to 9.35 billion, of which 59.87 percent was held by China Shipping Group, and the rest belonged to shareholders of H-shares. China

Financial guarantor CIFG Services will receive a $1.5 billion capital injection to preserve its imperiled triple-A credit rating. The plan provides a roadmap for other bond insurers who have taken a hit in recent weeks.

TAIPING Life Insurance Co said yesterday it has gained regulatory approval to invest in H-shares and red chips in the Hong Kong stock market. The Shanghai-based insurer can invest in the Hong Kong market with up to five percent of its previous year's total assets, including foreign currencies, and convert yuan assets into foreign exchange to tap investment opportunities under the qualified domestic institutional investor scheme. "The go-ahead can help us better leverage the insurance capital and increase returns," Taiping said yesterday in a statement. Its assets topped 30 billion yuan (US$4 billion) at the end of 2006. The five-percent limit means a maximum capital outflow of 1.5 billion yuan. The insurer is the third player to be approved after Ping An Insurance and Huatai Insurance. The latter two have gained approval to invest up to five percent of their previous year's total assets in red chips and H-shares under the QDII scheme. H-shares are stocks of

CHINA Petroleum & Chemical Corp's 30-billion-yuan (US$4 billion) bond sale has received the approval of more than 80 percent of shareholders, a company official said. The remaining shareholders were supposed to vote yesterday on the plan, spokesman Huang Wensheng said in Beijing yesterday after an extraordinary meeting. China Petroleum, Asia's biggest refiner, is selling the bonds to raise funds for chemical and gas projects. China is encouraging companies to issue bonds to reduce reliance on bank loans and provide investors with an alternative to a stock market that has quadrupled in a year. Sinopec, as China Petroleum is known, needs to fund a capital spending bill that's forecast to jump 38 percent this year as energy demand surges in the world's fastest-growing major economy, Bloomberg News said. If approved, Sinopec will sell the bonds that include warrants convertible into stock. The company in September started building a pipeline to take gas from the Puguang field in

CHINA Everbright Bank Co plans to complete an initial public offering in the first half of next year, the China Securities Journal reported today. But the report didn't reveal a timeline for the IPO or its scale. Beijing-based Everbright Bank, which is awaiting a 20 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion) capital injection from the government, may also raise up to five billion yuan selling subordinated bonds to meet the eight percent minimum capital-adequacy ratio required by the banking regulator for IPOs, Tang Shuangning, chairman of the bank, told the newspaper. Central Huijin Investment Co, a state holding firm, won Everbright Bank's approval to buy 20 billion new shares at one yuan each this week and the plan is due to be submitted to shareholders for approval on November 28, the report said.