Ericsson wins auction for Nortel wireless
TORONTO, July 25 (UPI) -- Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson says it has won an auction for the wireless unit of the bankrupt Canadian company Nortel Networks Corp.
Ericsson's bid of $1.13 billion for Nortel Wireless was nearly double its nearest competitor, Nokia Siemens Networks, at an auction Friday in New York, The Toronto Star reported.
Ericsson said the purchase of Nortel's wireless division will help in the company's move to reposition its "4G" technology for a transition from CDMA, or code-division multiple access, to LTE, or long term-term evolution.
"Acquiring Nortel's North American CDMA business allows us to serve this important region better as we build relationships for the future migration to LTE," Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said in a statement. "Furthermore, by adding some 2,500 highly skilled employees, of which about 400 are focused on LTE research and development, Ericsson reinforces and expands a long-term commitment to North America."
"Nortel remains focused on finding the right buyers for our other businesses while continuing to maintain excellent customer service levels," Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski said in a statement. "We are determined to maximize value while preserving innovation platforms, customer relationships and jobs to the greatest extent possible."
Morgan plans to raise bankers' pay
NEW YORK, July 25 (UPI) -- JPMorgan Chase, the New York banking giant, plans to raise salaries and hand out bonuses for more than 12,000 bankers around the world, the company says.
The move, mirroring similar decisions by Citigroup and UBS, underlines the balancing act banks are employing to stem the loss of talent and public resentment over excessive pay, The Financial Times reported.
JPMorgan Chase advised its employees in its investment bank it would increase salaries for those whose bonuses account for between 25 percent and 50 per cent of total pay.
The changes are expected to affect about half of the 25,000-plus staff at JPMorgan's investment bank in Wall Street, London and other financial centers.
Observers say the salary increases will be accompanied by corresponding cuts in bonuses to leave bankers' compensation, and JPMorgan's wage bill, unchanged.
CIT amends terms of crucial tender offer
NEW YORK, July 25 (UPI) -- Ailing U.S. lender CIT Group has amended the terms of a cash tender offer for $1 billion in bonds it needs to avoid bankruptcy, documents indicate.
In a regulatory filing Friday, CIT said it is upping the early-delivery payment per $1,000 principal amount of the floating-rate notes due Aug. 17 by $50, a move it hopes will spur bondholders to act sooner rather than later as it faces a looming bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reported.
If the tender offer is successfully completed, CIT and its bondholders "do not intend for the company to seek relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code but rather to pursue restructuring efforts through other means." CIT said in the filing.
The Journal said CIT is asking investors to swap those Aug. 17 bonds for 82.5 cents on the dollar before July 31, while those tendering after that date will get 77.5 cents on the dollar.
An unnamed person familiar with the situation told the newspaper it is highly unlikely CIT will lower the minimum participation requirement for the tender.
Disney uses discounts to lure visitors
ORLANDO, Fla., July 25 (UPI) -- Walt Disney World in Florida has been using big discounts and special offers to keep tourists coming, travel analysts said.
Disney's attendance has been flat, the Orlando Sentinel reports, increasing 1 percent from March through June, the third quarter of the Walt Disney Co. fiscal year. But that looks good compared with nearby attractions, where attendance has dropped more than 10 percent, the newspaper said.
Disney is offering free dinners to people who book five-night stays between late August and Oct. 3. Some guests now staying at Disney World took advantage of a past offer, a seven-night stay at the price of four nights.
Disney executives believe keeping attendance up is crucial because satisfied customers are a good advertisement and source of future business, the report said. They also help build the brand, including movies, toys and television.
But the discounts ultimately could hurt business, the newspaper said.
"We suspect Disney is fearful of maintaining a promo for too long, as it will be hard to remove the discounting in the future if consumers come to expect a certain promotion," stock analyst Richard Greenfield wrote this month on a blog maintained by his firm, Pali Capital.
