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J&J sticks to 'full and fair
value' for Guidant
Chicago:
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has asserted that
it was committed in its US$21.5bn bid for medical device
maker Guidant Corp, despite a US$25bn bid by rival, Boston
Scientific Corp.
Refusing
to up its bid in the face of Boston Scientific's offer,
J&J, on Tuesday said that its offer represented the
"full and fair value" for Guidant, and it hoped
that shareholders at the medical device maker would back
its bid.
J&J
had reduced its bid from US$76 to US$63.
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NBC
to sell soap through Apple's iTunes
San
Jose: NBC Universal and Apple Computers have signed
a deal under which over 300 episodes from the television
giant's prime time shows can be downloaded - for US$1.99
apiece - on Apple's online iTunes or its video-capable
iPod.
NBC
will sell episodes from prime time, cable, late-night
and classic TV shows, ranging from 1950s programmes to
contemporary ones, including the Tonight Show with Jay
Leno.
Apple
had a few weeks earlier entered into a pact with ABC as
a network partner, and its customers have so far downloaded
over three million videos through its iTunes Music Store.
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Verizon
to phase out defined-benefit pensions for 50,000 employees
New
York: Verizon Communications Inc has announced that
it will phase out the defined-benefit pension plans for
about 50,000 employees, saving about US$3bn over the next
decade.
The
second largest US phone company is the latest among a
growing number of American companies that are phasing
out defined-benefit plans. According to Ivan G. Seidenberg,
Verizon's chairman and chief executive, "this restructuring
reflects the realities of our changing world. Companies
today, including many we compete with, are not adopting
defined benefit pension plans or subsidized retiree medical
benefits."
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Hotel
chain Westin to become smoke free from Jan.1
New
York: The bell is indeed tolling for smokers around
the world, with hotel chain Westin announcing that its
77 hotels in the US, Canada and the Caribbean will become
non-smoking from January 1.
According
to Sue Brush, senior vice president for Westin Hotels
& Resorts. "Industry research, as well as our
own research, confirmed a clear consumer demand for a
clean, smoke free hotel environment."
Research
carried out by the group showed that 92 per cent of its
guests request a non-smoking room when travelling and
do not smoke in any part of the hotel, including public
areas.
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Chavez
offers heating fuel for the poor in another American State
New
York: Low-cost heating oil will now flow to the South
Bronx under Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's fuel-for-the-poor
program. Three Bronx groups are set to announce an agreement
with Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's national
oil company, to receive heating oil shipments this winter
at 40 per cent below wholesale price.
Unlike
a similar program that Citgo launched last month in Massachusetts
for thousands of low-income homeowners, the Bronx version
targets apartment buildings run by nonprofit groups, as
President Chavez would like to ensure that private landlords
do not pocket the fuel savings. In the coming weeks, other
nonprofit organizations, churches and schools also will
become eligible for the fuel assistance, and Citgo officials
said that nearly a dozen have already applied and more
are expected.
Even
Mayor Bloomberg expressed interest a few weeks ago in
Venezuelan fuel for city schools. This oil-assistance
program, could become a major public relations embarrassment
for the White House and its friends at giant oil companies
like ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Since
Citgo owns eight oil refineries, operates 14,000 gas stations
and sells 800,000 barrels a day of oil in the U.S., Venezuela
does not need any special approvals from the White House
for Chavez's program. Chavez had vowed two months ago
to set aside 10 per cent of Citgo's U.S. production for
the discount scheme.
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