IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Seat refused

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp turned down an offer of a seat on the board of UBS AG to assuage concerns the city-state might take control of the Swiss bank, local media reported yesterday, quoting GIC Deputy Chairman Tony Tan.

"As a financial investor, investing not only in UBS but also in other banks, and in the light of our intention to clearly not seek any control of UBS, ... we will not be taking up the seat on the board," the Business Times newspaper quoted Tan as saying.

Trolltech takeover

The world's top cellphone maker Nokia said yesterday it has agreed to offer 16 Norwegian crowns ($2.91) for each share in Norway's software firm Trolltech.

Nokia said holders of 35,024,830 shares, representing approximately 66.43 percent of Trolltech's issued shares and votes have agreed to accept the offer. Trolltech shares closed at 10 crowns on Friday.

Larsen lifted

Larsen & Toubro Ltd, India's biggest engineering company, said its third-quarter profit rose 40 percent after it won more orders in the Middle East.

Mumbai-based Larsen & Toubro, which held its board meeting in Dubai for the first time, is winning orders for golf courses and power plants in the Middle East, benefiting from an oil-driven construction boom. The firm's net income in the three months ended Dec 31 climbed to 4.82 billion rupees ($122 million) from 3.44 billion rupees a year earlier.

Vintner swallowed up

Diageo Plc, the world's largest liquor company, agreed to buy US winemaker Rosenblum Cellars for $105 million.

The transaction will add to Diageo's earnings in the fourth year after the takeover is completed, the London-based distiller said yesterday in a Regulatory News Service statement.

Link-up talks

Deutsche Lufthansa AG and TUI AG executives will meet this week for official talks on combining Lufthansa's discount-airline affiliate Germanwings and TUI's charter unit Tuifly, Handelsblatt reported.

The talks will follow unofficial negotiations that have taken place in the last few months, the German business daily said, citing unidentified people close to companies.

New chief

Sears Holdings Corp, the retailer run by investor Edward Lampert, appointed W. Bruce Johnson as interim chief executive officer and president to replace Aylwin B. Lewis.

Johnson is executive vice president of its supply chain and operations, Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based Sears said yesterday in a PR Newswire statement. Lewis will step down as president and CEO on Feb 2.

KT rises

KT Corp rose the most in seven weeks in Seoul trading after brokerages including Woori Investment & Securities Co said the company may take over its mobile-phone unit earlier than expected.

The shares gained 5.5 percent, the biggest advance since Dec 11, to close at 47,200 won on the Korea Exchange. The benchmark Kospi index fell 3.9 percent. KT may take control of KT Freetel Co this year, Stan Jung, an analyst at Woori Investment, wrote in a report today.

ATM firm advances

Wincor Nixdorf AG, Europe's largest maker of automated teller machines, said first- quarter profit rose 23 percent on demand from banks for its systems.

Net income in the three months ended Dec 31 climbed to 32 million euros ($47 million) from 26 million euros a year earlier, the Paderborn, Germany-based company said in a statement on its website yesterday.

Agencies

(China Daily 01/29/2008 page16)