ADB picks up 4.99 per cent stake in Chinese bank
Beijing: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has acquired 4.99 pc stake in the Hangzhou City Commercial Bank for an unspecified sum and the government has approved the acquisition said a report in the Shanghai Securities News.

ADB will acquire 66 million shares in the Hangzhou bank in east China's Zhejiang Province in a private placement. The report did not reveal how much ADB will pay for the stake, but according to an agreement signed in August, the deal could worth up to $30 million.

According to its 2005 annual report, the Hangzhou city bank held a five per cent share in the local lending market. Its non-performing loan ratio was only 1.64 per cent.

Through this investment, ADB will help Hangzhou City Commercial Bank to develop corporate governance and internal control procedures as well as opportunities for commercial cooperation, said William Willms, Principal Investment Officer, ADB at the signing of the agreement.

ADB has already invested in the Bank of China, China Everbright Bank and Xiamen International Bank.

With China opening its banking sector on December 11 under its commitment to the World Trade Organisation, foreign banks have been vying to team up with Chinese city-level commercial banks.
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Microsoft releases new versions of Windows, Office
New York: Microsoft has released new versions of Windows and office for businesses, and will come out with several other products over the next year in an effort to maintain its dominant position in the personal computer (PC) market.

Windows Vista and new office will initially be available for businesses and corporations to whom Microsoft expects to make substantial sales but these will not arrive in consumer market until January 30.

The new operating systems come after five years of the last version and after repeated delays. Steve Ballmer CEO Microsoft said in addition to Vista and 2007 office, the company plans to release more than 30 new products for business customers.
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Lucent deal completed
Paris: Alcatel SA has completed its $11.6 billion purchase of Lucent Technologies Inc. to create the world's largest supplier of telephone networks.

It said it expects cost savings of $1.86 billion in three years and plans to cut 9,000 jobs worldwide.

The deal was completed on the U.S. government that it can reopen the review and demand that Alcatel unwind the acquisition should federal officials ever determine that the French firm failed to comply with national security safeguards, according to regulatory filings.
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Kerkorian sells entire stake in GM
Detroit: Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has walked out of GM. Kerkorian sold a large portion of his General Motors stock on Thursday and may have dumped the rest of his shares in a late trade.

Kirk Kerkorian recently sold 28 million shares of G.M. If this turns out to be true, the step would end an 18-month affair that saw Kerkorian accumulate 9.9 percent equity of G.M get appointed to an associate position on the board and press the company to speed its turnaround efforts and unsuccessfully try to maneuver the company into an alliance with Renault and Nissan.

Data from the New York Stock Exchange showed that Bank of America bought 28 million G.M. shares late Thursday at $29.25 each. That quantity matched the number Kerkorian owned after selling 14 million shares earlier in the day.
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