IN BRIEF (Page 16)
'Speculative' report
Deutsche Post AG, Europe's biggest mail carrier, described as "speculative" a report that the company is overpaying ABX Air Inc for services in the United States.
Deutsche Post's unprofitable DHL Express unit in the US will pay about 200 million euros "too much" by 2009 for transport services provided by ABX, German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported, citing internal company documents. The amount is "speculative" and the report is based on a false assumption that Deutsche Post intended to buy ABX, Martin Dopychai, a spokesman for the Bonn-based company, said.
UK contract
Stefanel SpA, an Italian clothing maker which plans to open as many as 30 new locations a year, said its Nuance airport retail unit won a 100 million-euro contract to manage stores in the United Kingdom.
Under the five-year deal, the Italian company will manage stores in four locations of the UK's Center Parcs Group, Ponte di Piave, Italy-based Stefanel said in a stock-exchange statement.
Joint bid
Japan Tobacco and instant-noodle maker Nissin Food Products plan to make a joint bid for a frozen food manufacturer in a buyout worth nearly $1 billion, a newspaper said yesterday.
Japan Tobacco Inc, trying to diversify as fewer Japanese people smoke, plans to launch a takeover bid for all of the outstanding shares in Katokichi Co Ltd, the Nikkei economic daily said.
New CEO
IT Holding SpA, the owner of the Ferre and Malo fashion brands, appointed Michela Piva as chief executive officer of its Gianfranco Ferre SpA unit, replacing Massimo Macchi.
Piva, 43, has worked for Ferre since 2003 and has been marketing and merchandising director since June 2004, IT Holding said in a stock exchange statement.
Clarins climbs
Clarins SA, the French skin-creams company that makes Thierry Mugler perfumes, rose the most in nine weeks in Paris trading after a report that PPR SA may make a takeover bid by the end of this month.
Clarins shares gained 7.7 percent, boosting the company's market value to 2.63 billion euros. PPR, the owner of the Gucci luxury-goods brand, may seek to add the skin-creams maker to its Yves Saint Laurent Beaute unit, La Lettre de L'Expansion said.
Repsol buys shares
Repsol YPF SA Chairman Antonio Brufau spent 4.5 million euros acquiring shares of Spain's largest oil company.
Brufau now owns 200,000 shares of Repsol, or 0.02 percent of the total stock, the company said in an e-mailed statement. He previously owned about 27,000 shares.
Unit chief quits
SAP AG, the software maker accused by Oracle Corp of stealing program codes, said the chief executive officer of its TomorrowNow unit resigned and the company is considering selling the business.
TomorrowNow CEO Andrew Nelson and several members of his management team are leaving the company, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP said. Mark White, who became executive chairman of TomorrowNow in July, will remain in that position.
Board elected
Shareholders in OAO Gazprom Neft, the crude oil unit of Russia's gas export monopoly OAO Gazprom, elected a board of directors including two executives of Eni SpA, Italy's biggest oil company.
Marco Alvera, Eni's project manager for Russia and senior vice-president for portfolio development, and Stefano Cao, Eni's head of oil exploration and production, were also elected to the board, Gazprom Neft said in a statement.
Bloomberg News-AFP
(China Daily 11/21/2007 page16)
