Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007 & with words billion+credit. 4 news.

VISA Inc, the biggest credit-card company, had an US$861-million loss this year on US$2.65 billion in litigation costs, most from settling an antitrust suit brought by rival American Express Co. Legal expenses reversed gains for the San Francisco-based company. Revenue in the fiscal year ended September 30 rose 33 percent to US$5.19 billion, Visa said on Friday in a regulatory filing, Bloomberg News said. The loss compares with a profit of US$453 million in 2006, Visa said. Visa's November 7 settlement with American Express, the third-largest credit-card network, cleared the way for its planned initial public offering next year. The company wants to capitalize on consumers' growing preference for credit and debit cards over cash and checks. MasterCard Inc, the No. 2 network, has gained more than 400 percent since going public in May 2006. American Express sued Visa in November 2004 after the US Supreme Court ruled Visa and MasterCard violated antitrust laws by preventing

UNITED Rentals Inc, the largest construction-equipment rental company in the United States, lost a bid to force a US$4-billion takeover by Cerberus Capital Management LP when a judge ruled the agreement allowed the buyer to withdraw its offer. Delaware Chancery Court Judge William Chandler ruled on Friday that United Rentals officials should have known that Cerberus executives believed they had a right to pull out of the deal at any time as long as they paid a US$100 million fee. United alleged that Cerberus's RAM Holdings buyout entities agreed in July to pay US$34.50 per share for United Rentals' stock, and reneged on the deal in November amid weakened US credit markets. The stock has been trading in the low-US$20 range. United Rentals fell US$3.69 to US$17.91 on Friday. "The board of directors and management team of United Rentals will consider its alternatives under the circumstances, and they continue to believe strongly in United Rentals' future prospects,"

CITIGROUP Inc, Bank of America Corp, and JPMorgan Chase & Co have abandoned a United States Treasury-sponsored plan to buy assets from cash-strapped structured investment vehicles. The "SuperSiv" fund brokered by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, said to be about US$80 billion when it was announced in October, "is not needed at this time," the banks said. The need for a bailout has diminished as HSBC Holdings Plc, bond insurer MBIA Inc and other companies that manage SIVs arranged their own rescues. The steps lessened the threat that SIVs would dump their holdings and further affect credit markets suffering from losses in securities tied to subprime mortgages. New York's Citigroup said last week it would guarantee US$58 billion in debt from SIVs it manages in order to avoid a sale of the assets, Bloomberg News reported. More than 20 banks, SIVs and investment managers participated in the discussion with BlackRock Inc the adviser, the statement said. The banks

It was a painful lesson. In May – months before the words credit crunch became common currency – China’s fledgling sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), backed the flotation of the Blackstone private-equity group to the tune of $3 billion ($£1.5 billion). The investment bought it a stake of almost 10%.