| The Danger of Charity Auctions
I have a weakness that I'd like to confess. I generally lose my mind at charity auctions. If you're not familiar with charity auctions, they often work as follows. First, there will be a silent auction, in which you make bids by writing your name or a number that represents you on sheets of paper next to items you'd like to bid on. For example, I often bid on sports tickets to get good seats to a particular game. My wife bids on handmade jewelry. The silent auction will end at a certain time---whoever has bid the most wins. It's the eBay model. The second part of the auction is usually a live auction, in which bigger items are auctioned off with a real live auctioneer. If you want to bid on something, you do so, but in this auction the bid goes on until there's only one man or woman standing.
Royal Navy Bidding War Begins In Earnest
A bidding war has begun after the Ministry of Defence last week gave the green light to the 15 Royal Navy personnel captured in Iranian waters, to sell their stories to the media.Several newspapers, magazines and TV stations have been vying for the rights to the sailors' accounts of their terrifying ordeals, and to turn them into coffee table mush.Faye Turkey, allegedly a "good gobbler", acted as "plaything" to Iranian leader Mahmoud Armadinnerlady, and was "stripped to her knickers". She is to be married to the despot in July, and has been talking to leading celebrity magazines with a view to selling the horrific photographic evidence of the event.But it's not only the stories that have been for sale.Sotheby's are to hold a special one-off event to auction-off some of the clothing worn by the former hostages.Captain Chris Air's beret, which he wore during his TV appearance, and Arthur Batchelor's underpants, which he shat during his capture, are part of the exclusive collection.Other items have surfaced on eBay.
Kuwait found first round of bids for a giant new 615000 bpd ...
DUBAI Spiralling costs in the energy sector could cut planned expansion of global refining capacity through 2011 by a fifth, mostly in the Middle East, an industry analyst said. Projects to increase global refining capacity through 2011 totalled 10 million barrels per day but only 8 million bpd would be built, said Fereidun Fesharaki of FACTS Global Energy. Two million barrels of planned refining capacity are not going to happen in the Middle East and Asia, but mostly in the Middle East, due to cost escalation, he said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Dubai. Increasing costs are hitting oil and gas projects throughout the world as the energy industry strains to bring online new capacity to meet rising demand. Kuwait deemed the first round of bids for a giant new 615,000 bpd refinery too costly in February and has yet to decide how it will proceed with the project.
Bidding War Brews for Tribune
Tribune Co. (TRB) shares rose on Mar. 30 amid reports that the Los Angeles-based billionaires Eli Broad and Ron Burkle are battling the Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell's offer for the Chicago media giant. Two days before the board expects to decide on a deal, Broad and Burkle offered $34 per share for Tribune, according to news reports. This potentially values the media company at more than $8 billion. Zell had offered $33 per share, according to earlier media reports. Investors bid up the stock 1.7% to $32.05 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange Mar. 30. The headlines hit as Tribune grapples with the question of how to best revamp its ailing business. After the struggling media company said it would take on $2 billion of debt to buy back up to a quarter of its stock, its major shareholder the Chandler family objected, saying in June that Tribune should separate its newspaper and TV businesses and explore other options [see BusinessWeek.com, 6/20/06, "The Trouble at Tribune"].
BCE bidding war looms
MONTREAL - BCE Inc. has put itself into play, sparking a potential bidding war among Canada's top pension funds for Canada's largest telephone company. BCE, the parent of Bell Canada, said yesterday it had entered into talks with a group that includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP), Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Public Sector Pension Investment Board and U.S. privateequity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &Co. about a possible buyout. "This is an expression of intent, and we are heading into a period of due diligence," said Ian Dale, a CPP spokesman. .
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