LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Here are the top stories on Thomson Financial News ABN Amro break-up bid not ruled out by Dutch regulator - report
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Barclays PLC's battle for control of ABN Amro has taken a fresh twist with authorities in the Netherlands signalling they would allow a rival bidder to take over the Dutch bank, even if it meant it was broken up and sold off to different groups, the Financial Times reported.
Nout Wellink, president of the Dutch central bank, told the Financial Times that the regulator would not object in principle to a bid from a foreign group that wanted to buy ABN Amro in order to break it up. Unicredito, Capitalia in talks on merger - report
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Unicredito Italiano SpA and Capitalia SpA have started talks about a possible merger, Finanza & Mercati said on Friday in an unsourced report.
A merger would be made more possible by the trend in the two banks' share prices, particularly by gains in Unicredito, the report said. Telecom Italia chairman quits in row with Pirelli shareholder, Buora takes over
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Telecom Italia SpA said on Friday that chairman Guido Rossi is quitting his post with immediate effect and that vice chairman Carlo Buora will take up Rossi's operational responsibilities.
Rossi is not included on Pirelli & C SpA unit Olimpia's list of proposed directors at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting. Pirelli is also trying to sell Olimpia, which owns 18 pct of Telecom Italia. India's UB has first right of refusal if Scottish & Newcastle up for sale-report
MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Scottish & Newcastle's possible takeover bid by global rivals like SABMiller could lead to first right of refusal by India's United Breweries, in which S&N holds 37.5 pct stake, Indian daily The Economic Times reported.
International media yesterday reported SABMiller could make a bid to acquire S&N for 12.8 bln usd. Fiat savings shareholders to meet May 7 to discuss conversion to ordinary shares
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Fiat SpA said holders of its savings shares will hold a meeting on May 7, or May 8 if the first is inquorate, to discuss a conversion of savings shares into Fiat ordinary shares on a 1-for-1 basis.
The meeting has been requested by a shareholder with at least 1 pct of the savings shares in issue, it said on Friday, without naming the shareholder. Tracinda in offer to purchase Chrysler for 4.5 bln usd in cash
LONDON (AFX) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corporation said it has sent a letter to DaimlerChryslerAG offering to buy the troubled Chrysler Group for 4.5 bln usd in cash.
Tracinda said it would build and strengthen Chrysler as an independent entity by partnering with the United Auto Workers and senior management of Chrysler, and would offer the UAW and Chrysler management the opportunity to participate as equity partners in the transaction. German govt to raise 2007, 2008 GDP growth forecasts to more than 2 pct - report
FRANKFURT (AFX) - Germany's government will raise this month its forecast for this year's and next year's GDP growth to more than 2 pct, Der Spiegel reported, without saying where it got the information.
The government in January said it sees the country's economy expanding in 2007 at a rate of 1.7 pct. Converium urges shareholders to defer decision on Scor offer; to advise later
ZURICH (AFX) - Converium Holding AG has urged shareholders to defer making a decision regarding French rival Scor SA's officially launched takeover offer until they have been advised by the company's board.
Converium has so far rejected the offer and stated that it wants to remain independent. General Electric to expand in Germany through more staff, coops, acquisitions
FRANKFURT (AFX) - General Electric Co aims to expand its market position in Germany's energy, medical technology and financial sectors by adding more sales staff, entering into cooperations or making acquisitions, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, citing Central European head Georg Knoth.
Knoth said he aims to generate sales growth in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the regions that he oversees, that is above the company's average of 10 pct, according to the newspaper. AT&T open to consider Italian investors as partners in Telecom Italia
MILAN (AFX) - An AT&T executive said the US group is open to consider Italian financial and industrial investors as partners in Telecom Italia SpA.
'We are absolutely available to consider the interest of Italian partners, both industrial and financial,' AT&T's managing director for corporate development, Rick Moore, said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera. Auto: Euroshares
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