The Finance Arena – Financial Talks from a Singapore Financial Consultant
After reading through the posts in a thread on a popular forum in Singapore, I realise that quite a few people are having difficulties in deciding which kind of plan suits them. Maybe I’ll just chip in a little as a simple guide in a financial consultant capacity. A small disclaimer that this is my personal recommendation and may not suit everyone.
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Microsoft & Yahoo! finally unveiled a 10-year Web search and advertising partnership yesterday after months of negotiations, setting the stage for a joint offensive against Internet giant Google. Under the no-cash deal, Yahoo! will make use Microsoft’s new Bing search engine on its own sites while Yahoo! will become as the exclusive global sales force for the companies’ premium search advertisers. The agreement between the Internet portal and software titan is subjected to a review by US anti-trust regulators and is expected to close in early 2010.
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Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann has informed Porsche’s owner families of the need to pump in more cash to reduce the company’s debts, which have risen to US$19 billion. Mr Ackermann spoke to Porsche supervisory board chairman Wolfgang Porsche that a simple capital increase from the Porsche and Piech families would not be enough to pay for the carmaker’s financial debts.
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Porsche’s embattled CEO looks set to receive €$100 Million “golden parachute” payout after a takeover by Volkswagen, a press report reported yesterday. Despite numerous refutes by Porsche, several news reports in recent days have reported that after 16 years at the helm of Porsche, during which he has turned the firm around, Wiedeking’s days are ending. Wiedeking had Porsche chalk up a huge heap of debt after his attempt to take control of the much larger Volkswagen, and now Volkswagen has turned the tables by looking to acquire Porsche. Under Volkswagen’s proposals, the Porsche and Piech family owners of both firms would hold 50% in the new company, Spiegel said, with the state of Lower Saxony owning 20% and Qatar between 14.9% – 19.9%.
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Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking is preparing himself for 1 of his toughest board meetings on Thursday, when the debt-laden sports car maker’s fate could take a decisive turn. An EGM of the Porsche supervisory board is to review an offer by the state-owned Qatar Investment Authority for a stake in the company along with Volkswagen stock options owned by Porsche. Volkswagen, at the same time, has made a counter-offer to acquire almost 1/2 of the shares in Porsche, where Wiedeking, the current CEO, could be left standing by the side of the road. Porsche and Volkswagen, both holding their own supervisory board meeting on the same day in Porsche’s hometown of Stuttgart, want to establish an integrated auto group. The question is who will be behind the wheel. Qatar and creditor banks are keen meanwhile for Porsche and Volkswagen to end their epic boardroom battle.
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The bombs that ripped through the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels last Friday were apparently assembled in a guest room by Islamic radicals who then walked among businessmen and diplomats before detonating their devices. Out of the 16 men who were at a Marriott breakfast table for a briefing organised by consulting firm Castle Asia, 4 were killed, including a New Zealander and 3 Australians, and the rest were wounded.
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Michael Jackson’s death has ignited a windfall for business ventures of all sizes, ranging from t-shirt salesmen to billion-dollar entertainment companies. Within hours of the King of Pop’s death, hawkers emerged with t-shirts commemorating the icon while Hollywood tour groups scrambled to include the mansion where Jackson died on their sightseeing itineraries. At the upper end of the scale, AEG Live, the promoters of Jackson’s 50-date set of London comeback concerts are confident of turning potentially catastrophic losses into healthy profits, with AEG Live chief executive Randy Phillips telling reporters that many fans would seek to hold onto their tickets as a unique souvenir in lieu of a refund, meaning the company could turn a profit. AEG Live also had an insurance policy worth US$17 million if it was found that Jackson’s death was accidental.
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The US private sector slashed 473,000 jobs in June, a survey by payrolls firm ADP showed yesterday, emphasising ongoing weakness in the labour market despite signs the economy is stabilising. The June job eliminations were worse than the 395,000 expected by most analysts but lower than 485,000 in May, which was revised from the previous 532,000 figure.
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Lloyds Banking Group, a British state-controlled bank has slashed a further 2,100 jobs yesterday as it seek to streamline operations and recover from the global financial crisis and the costly takeover of rival HBOS. A spokesman reported “Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is announcing today a number of organisational changes within its group operations and wholesale divisions. These changes follow careful and detailed reviews by the group and will result in the bringing together of a number of functions. Following these changes, up to approximately 2,100 roles will be affected over the next three years. This number is mitigated by the creation of approximately 350 new roles in the wholesale division.” Lloyds, which is 43% owned by the British government after a huge bailout, has now cut about 7,000 jobs following its creation in January, when Lloyds TSB bought rival lender HBOS in a government-brokered deal.
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UBS AG, the Swiss bank who is one of the world’s worst affected major banks in the global financial crisis, announced yesterday that it is expecting a 2nd quarter net loss and is planning to raise about US$3.48 billion of equity capital. UBS stated that it is offering about 293.3 million new shares at a price of 13.00 Swiss francs per share. UBS’s efforts to strengthen its capital base is welcomed by the Swiss government.
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