Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word executive. 9 news.

Transmeridian Exploration agreed to be acquired by its chief executive's Trans Meridian International in a deal that values the energy company at $350 million.

The status of Rensselaer County is the subject of the annual County Executive's Breakfast Jan. 10.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- M/I Homes Inc. Monday said it has sold land located primarily in Florida to various buyers for $82 million and that it is exiting the West Palm Beach housing market. The home builder said as a result of the lot sales, it will book pretax land impairment charges of about $80 million in the fourth quarter, and expects to see a $50 million cash tax refund in the second quarter of 2008. M/I Homes said it is "likely" that further impairment charges will be recorded in the fourth quarter. The company said the land sold represented 3,700 lots; at the end of the third quarter, it owned 16,767 lots. "Today's announcement supports and advances our strategic objectives of strengthening our balance sheet, reducing our debt, reducing operating costs, and focusing on markets where we believe we have the best opportunity for acceptable and consistent returns," said Chief Executive Robert Schottenstein in a statement.

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- International Business Machines Corp., the Armonk, N.Y., tech giant, is in advanced talks to buy an Israeli storage-technology startup, XIV, for $300 million to $350 million, the Israeli business daily Globes reported in its online edition. Citing sources, Globes said the company is chaired by Moshe Yanai, a former executive with EMC Corp., the Hopkinton, Mass., technology-infrastructure provider. Yanai laid out the $3 million that's funded XIV from its founding in 2002 to date, Globes reported.

Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin is in line for a £45m payout thanks to this year's turnaround in the mobile phone giant.

American Tower Corp. sued Jide Zeitlin, an ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. manager who runs a competing cellphone tower company, claiming he impersonated American Tower's chief executive officer to send negative e-mails to two of its biggest investors.

Just as Microsoft's past year was characterized by launches, the next will be defined by a departure. But even as Bill Gates leaves his full-time executive role, the company will be grappling with some of the biggest competitive challenges in its history,...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Chinese government has said it will allow direct election of Hong Kong's governmental leader, called the chief executive, by 2017, according to a media report. The decision, while seen as a concession to growing pro-democracy forces, disappointed advocates who had hoped for a direct election in 2012, when current executive Donald Tsang's term ends, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. The chief executive now is picked by an 800-member assembly that includes dignitaries and legislators appointed by the Beijing government, according to the report. Free election of the chief executive were promised when China took possession of the territory from the United Kingdom in 1997, the Journal said.

Vodafone sought last night to play down suggestions that Arun Sarin, its chief executive, is set to reap a £45 million windfall from the turnaround in the mobile phone operator’s fortunes. Reports claimed that Mr Sarin’s potential windfall had been boosted by the 33 per cent jump in the company’s share price over the past year.