Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word price. 22 news.

Merrill Lynch & Co, the world's biggest brokerage, agreed to sell most of its commercial finance business to General Electric Co's finance arm for an undisclosed price to free up capital after subprime losses. The sale of Merrill Lynch Capital's corporate, equipment, energy and healthcare finance units is expected to be completed in the first-quarter, the companies said yesterday in a Business Wire statement. The deal will add more than US$10 billion in assets to GE Capital. The transaction is part of New York-based Merrill Lynch's "strategic focus on divesting non-core assets," and will release about US$1.3 billion of capital to be redeployed elsewhere, said Chief Executive Officer John Thain in the statement. Merrill, on October 24, announced US$8.4 billion of writedowns on mortgage-related investments and corporate loans. The firm, which ousted Stan O'Neal as CEO in October, may report an additional US$8.6-billion writedown for the fourth quarter, according to David

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

TEMASEK Holdings Pte, the biggest shareholder in Standard Chartered Plc, increased its stake in the UK bank by one percentage point to 18 percent, helping it boost banking investments in its US$100 billion portfolio. The Singapore sovereign wealth fund has been raising its stake in Standard Chartered since it first bought a 12 percent holding more than a year ago, Bloomberg News reported. Temasek bought 12 million shares to lift its stake to 253.7 million shares, the bank said in a filing on December 21. The additional shares are worth 220 million pounds (US$437 million) at that day's closing price of 1,835 pence. Set up in 1974 to run state assets, Temasek's financial services investments now include India's ICICI Bank Ltd and Bank of China Ltd, as well as a controlling stake in DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia's biggest bank. It may also invest US$5 billion in Merrill Lynch & Co, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. "Most of Temasek's investments in the

THE prospects of rising profit for China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co have created a buzz among stock analysts who forecast that the insurer's stock is likely to jump about 50 percent on its A share debut today in Shanghai. Everbright Securities Co expects shares of Pacific Insurance to be between 42.60 yuan (US$5.81) and 44.30 yuan apiece, up from its offering price of 30 yuan. Guotai Jun'an Securities has a higher valuation of 43.80 yuan to 46.80 yuan while Haitong Securities sees a range of 40.64 yuan to 45.22 yuan. Pacific Insurance raised 30 billion yuan in its Shanghai initial public offering last week, making it the sixth-biggest IPO on the Chinese mainland. The Shanghai-based insurer sold one billion yuan-backed new shares, or 13 percent of its enlarged capital, at the top end of its offering price range of 27 yuan to 30 yuan. "Pacific is the sole comprehensive insurer whose business is balanced between life and property and casualty insurance," said Pan

APPLIANCE maker Sichuan Changhong Electrical Co yesterday bid for a 29.92-percent stake in Huayi Compressor Co to expand its business. The TV company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday that it would acquire 91.7 million shares from Huayi's parent Huayi Electrical Appliance General Co via an auction. The Jiangxi-based Huayi, which produces compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators, was suspended from trading in the Shenzhen stock market since December 14 when it announced the auction plan. The 91.7 million shares are valued at 956 million yuan (US$129 million) based on its closing share price of 10.42 yuan per share on December 13. Changhong wasn't traded yesterday, and its closing price on Friday was 8.45 yuan. Share price of the Shanghai-listed company has doubled this year. Changhong's net profit in the first nine months of this year totaled 340 million yuan, jumping 39 percent from a year earlier on the booming electronics market.

CATHAY Pacific Airways Ltd said yesterday it had received a formal letter of complaint from European Union regulators investigating allegations of price fixing in the air cargo business. The EU and the United States have been investigating more than a dozen airlines since at least early 2006 to discover if there was collusion in the air cargo industry to fix prices on surcharges for fuel, security and insurance. The European Commission said on Friday it had sent out Statements of Objections to a number of airlines, but did not name them. British Airways, Air France-KLM, and Scandinavian airline operator SAS Group later confirmed they had each received a letter. Cathay said it was reviewing the letter with its legal counsel and would make a "timely response" to the objections. "It is a lengthy and complex document, and only sets out the (regulator's) preliminary findings resulting from its investigation into the air cargo sector of the aviation industry. The

Can anyone put a price on perfect sound? How about $25,000?

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

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks opened mixed in thin pre-holiday trade Monday, with a decline in crude-oil futures keeping the sector from participating in a move higher by the broader market. Early trades saw the Amex Oil Index rise 0.2% to 1,550 points, edging slightly into record-high territory, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Index pulled back 0.4% and the Amex Natural Gas Index slipped 0.2% to 579.5 points. Crude for February delivery was last down 47 cents at $92.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The national average price for gasoline dropped about 3 cents over the last two weeks, according to a survey released Sunday.

Two of the nation's largest newspapers--The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune--plan to raise their newsstand prices in 2008. Although they may help offset losses in the near term, analysts say the newsstand price increases are a band-aid that fails to address the causes of the underlying secular downturn.

Morgan Stanley and the Chinese government said Monday that the U.S. investment bank has determined the range of prices to be used when China's international investment fund converts $5 billion worth of securities into Morgan Stanley stock.

APPLIANCE maker Sichuan Changhong Electrical Co today bid for a 29.92 percent stake in Huayi Compressor Co. China's second-biggest TV maker said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today that it would acquire 91.7 million shares from Huayi's parent Huayi Electrical Appliance General Co via an auction. The Jiangxi-based Huayi, which produces compressors for air conditioners and refrigerators, has been suspended from trading on the Shenzhen stock market since December 14 when it announced the auction plan. The 91.7 million shares are valued at 956 million yuan based on its closing share price of 10.42 yuan a share on December 13. Changhong wasn't traded yesterday and its closing price on Friday was 8.45 yuan. The share price of the Shanghai-listed company has doubled this year. Changhong's net profit in the first nine months of this year was 340 million yuan, jumping 39 percent from a year earlier on the booming electronics market and investment income. The

British Airways is one of several airlines accused of fixing the price of fuel in its air freight business.

Earnings outlooks for Siemens and ABB signal outsized stock price gains in 2008.

Low-cost computers are finally coming into their own. Power users won't want them, but some niche markets will, including children in the developing world and older adults who don't want a complex Windows Vista machine with a price tag of $400 to $600.

Cathay Pacific Airways has received a letter of complaint from EU regulators investigating allegations of price fixing in the air cargo business.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Singapore's inflation rate hit a 25-year high of 4.2% in November from a year earlier, reflecting higher food and housing prices, according to reports. Economists had expected the consumer price index to rise 3.9% in November, slightly faster than the 3.6% rise recorded in October. Food prices, the largest weighted category within the index, climbed 5.2% and housing prices climbed 2.9%. Singapore's broad measure of money supply, or M2, expanded 18% in October from a year earlier, figures released by the Monetary Authority showed. Analysts said the inflation data stoked speculation the authority would hike interest rates before a scheduled review in April.

Creative Zen Cnet rating: 8.3 out of 10 (excellent) The good: Sounds fantastic; brilliant color screen capable of displaying photos and video; slim, pocket-friendly design; reasonable price. The bad: Only comes in black; control pad feels cheap; doesn't come...

Morgan Stanley has set a reference price of between $48.07 and $57.684 a share for the sale of a stake to China Investment Corporation.