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

Legg Mason last week bailed out two cash funds to the tune of $1.12 billion to insulate them from...

Hi-Tech Pharmacal, a manufacturer of generic drugs, said Monday it has acquired an Alabama-based maker of pre-natal vitamins and cough and cold formulations, for $5 million in cash.

Vonage and Nortel agreed to settle their patent litigation in a deal that allows for cross-licensing of technology and does not require any cash payments.

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.

China's sovereign wealth fund injected $20 billion into policy lender China Development Bank, the latest example of how the country is using its surplus of cash to beef up the balance sheets of local banks.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Standard Life said Monday that it's increased its stake in Indian joint venture Standard Life Insurance Co. to 26% through acquiring roughly 7.15% of the joint venture from its partner Housing Development Finance Corp. Standard Life said it paid around 25.7 million pounds ($51.3 million) in cash for the stake. The group added it now owns the maximum stake allowed under Indian law.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Merrill Lynch on Monday completed a previously announced deal with Aegon , where it's selling its life insurance unit for $1.25 billion in cash. Aegon's Transamerica companies will continue to supply insurance and investment products, including offering the flagship Merrill Lynch Investor Choice Annuity product through the acquired Merrill Lynch subsidiaries. Merrill Lynch expects to record a gain on sale during the fourth quarter of 2007 and anticipates the transaction to be slightly accretive to earnings per share and to have a positive effect on return on equity in 2008 after redeployment of proceeds. Aegon expects the acquisition to add scale to its existing business and to have a marginally positive effect on earnings per share.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Blue Oar , a U.K. stockbroker and investment bank, said underlying pretax profit for the year will be broadly in line with expectations, with "significant" net cash. "We are confident that the restructuring of the group and the investment made in our platform in 2007 will deliver major benefits in 2008 and beyond, subject of course to market conditions," said CEO Andrew Monk.

Christmas cheer was left on the shelves this year. Scrooge is back. Or, so it would seem, if only the opinions of financial markets counted. In fact, we have never seen such pessimism among investors looking into the new year. After shaking their chicken bones, the consensus of American economists puts 40 per cent odds on a US recession next year. What would that mean for the beleaguered housing market and sub-prime woes? Surely, sitting on cash looks king again?