(AP) - Feds open criminal probe into Alcoa
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The U.S. Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into whether aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. participated in bribery in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain.
In documents filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, federal prosecutors asked a judge to halt a federal civil lawsuit that accused Pittsburgh-based Alcoa of bribing officials through overseas shell companies to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments.
Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C., also known as Alba, in which the Bahrain government holds a 77 percent stake, is seeking more than $1 billion in damages from Alcoa and other affiliated defendants, according to a federal lawsuit filed last month.
AT&T to pay FCC $1.3B down payment
NEW YORK (AP) -- AT&T says it will pay an initial down payment of $1.3 billion to the Federal Communications Commission for its portion of wireless spectrum licenses it won in a government airwaves auction.
AT&T says it will pay the down payment, of which $500 million was paid prior to the start of the auction, within the next 10 business days, according to a regulatory filing Friday. The remaining balance of $5.3 billion will be paid on or before April 17.
The San Antonio, Texas-based company says it will use funds from operations and either short-term or long-term debt to fund the purchase price.
On Thursday, the FCC announced the winners of a record-setting auction. The spectrum was made available thanks to the transition to digital broadcasting.
VP, Saudis to talk about oil security
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- High oil prices paining U.S. consumers is a key topic of Vice President Dick Cheney's talks Friday with Saudi King Abdullah, yet it's unclear whether Cheney will ask the Saudis to increase production to bring down prices at the pump.
Cheney's advisers cautioned in advance of Friday's talks that oil was just one item on a long list of discussion topics which include Iran, Syria, Lebanon, protecting infrastructure against terror attacks and the vice president's visits this week to Iraq and Afghanistan. Cheney was to review with Saudi King Abdullah steps that consuming and producing nations can do, both in the short and long term, to stabilize the market.
Japanese, Korean markets rise
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Asian stock prices mostly rose in light trading Friday after a turbulent week. Trading was light, however, as most markets worldwide were closed for Good Friday.
Japan's key stock market index rose 1.8 percent, while South Korean shares extended their winning streak into a fourth session as its key market indicator gained 1.4 percent. Prices edged up in Thailand and Malaysia, while stocks were mixed in China as a benchmark indicator slipped.
Trading was subdued because many financial markets including that in the United States were closed ahead of the Easter holiday on Sunday.
It was a quiet end to a week that began with global markets plunging on news that JPMorgan Chase would buy troubled U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns, which had been battered by the subprime mortgage crisis.
3Com shareholders OK defunct $2.2B deal
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In approving a defunct $2.2 billion buyout by Bain Capital Partners LLC and its Chinese partner, 3Com shareholders cleared the way for a legal battle over a $66 million breakup fee.
In a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 3Com said nearly 70 percent of its shareholders were in favor of the acquisition by the Boston-based private-equity firm and Huawei Technologies Co.
On Thursday, Bain said it was ending its efforts to complete the acquisition, citing impeding national security concerns by the U.S. government.
3Com, which is based in Marlborough, Mass., is disputing Bain's reasons for pulling out of the deal. It has also said it will pursue the $66 million breakup fee.
Bain said it offered 3Com several proposals, including revising financial terms and restructuring the deal to satisfy national security concerns, but failed to reach an agreement with 3Com. Bain said it had also been notified that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States intended to block the deal.
EDF eyes Spanish energy market
PARIS (AP) -- The French utility Electricite de France SA has had exploratory talks with the Spanish construction company ACS and is interested in the Spanish energy market, a spokeswoman for EDF said Friday.
But spokeswoman Carol Ritrivi declined to comment on a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal that EDF and ACS are in advanced talks about teaming up to buy two Spanish utilities for more than $100 billion.
The newspaper, citing unidentified people close to the discussions, said EDF and ACS -- whose full name is Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA -- have discussed forming a bidding team that would make simultaneous offers for two Spanish utilities, Iberdrola DS and Union Fenosa SA.
The deals would have a combined value of $134 billion including debt and excluding possible premiums, the report said.
Pension plans take chance on mortgages
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The subprime mortgage crisis has yielded at least one benefit for states: Mortgage-related investments have become so cheap that they are luring some pension funds to buy.
Retirement systems in South Carolina and Pennsylvania are nibbling at the securities, betting that they have been beaten down so much that the ones with good credit ratings could yield strong returns later.
South Carolina is looking to buy $100 million of mortgage-related investments for its $30 billion state pension fund. Pennsylvania, which made money off those securities' troubles in its hedge funds last year, is also betting that they can offer long-term returns.
But the buying this time is very tentative, and may not presage a broader turnaround in these securities.
Another company recalls heparin
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A manufacturer of the blood thinner heparin initiated a nationwide recall Friday because some products may contain a potentially dangerous contaminant. Contaminated heparin from a different manufacturer has been associated with 19 deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions.
In the recall announced Friday, B. Braun Medical Inc. said it was recalling 23 lots of heparin as a precaution. No adverse events have been reported in connection with their product, company officials said in a press release.
The company issued the recall after one of its suppliers, Wisconsin-based Scientific Protein Laboratories, disclosed that an ingredient it provided contained oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, a chemical that does not occur naturally. Federal officials are investigating how the contaminant got into the drug.
Heparin is derived from a mucus obtained from pig intestines and other animal tissues, often processed by small, unregistered workshops in China. Scientific Protein Laboratories owns a Chinese factory -- Changzhou SPL -- and buys additional raw heparin from other Chinese suppliers.
Russian steelmaker buys Sparrows Point
BALTIMORE (AP) -- A Russian company run by one of the world's richest men announced Friday that it will buy the Sparrows Point steel mill from a rival billionaire for hundreds of millions of dollars less than once sought.
Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal, run by Alexei Modashov, said it has agreed to buy the plant from ArcelorMittal, run by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, for $810 million. ArcelorMittal was formed by a merger of Mittal Steel and Arcelor SA of Luxembourg, which Severstal had also sought to acquire, and the newly merged company had agreed to sell the massive plant to resolve U.S. Department of Justice antitrust concerns, but a $1.35 billion deal fell through in December.
Severstal said in a statement on its Web site that the all-cash deal 'reflects a significant strategic opportunity to add complementary assets and scale to Severstal's existing U.S. business.'
By The Associated Press
Many financial markets, including that in the United States, were closed ahead of the Easter holiday on Sunday.
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