MBK Offers to Buy C&M for $3.2 Billion in Korea's Biggest LBO, Bankers Say

(Bloomberg) -- MBK Partners Ltd., the South Korean
private equity group founded by former Carlyle Group executives,
offered 3 trillion won ($3.2 billion) for cable-TV operator C&M,
said two bankers who were asked to provide financing.

The Seoul-based buyout company wants to borrow as much as 2
trillion won to pay for closely held C&M, South Korea's second-
biggest cable-TV operator, said the bankers, who declined to be
identified because the bid hasn't been disclosed. The purchase
would include New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s 30.5
percent stake, they said.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

China National, Reliance Win Australian Offshore Oil Exploration Permits

(Bloomberg) -- China National Offshore Oil Corp.,
Total SA and India's Reliance Industries Ltd. were among
companies that won offshore oil and gas exploration permits in
Australia.

Hess Corp., Santos Ltd. and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. also won
licenses in the bidding round, which will result in an investment
of more than A$800 million ($688 million) on exploration,
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said today in an e-mailed
statement.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Quest, LabCorp report higher quarterly earnings

(Reuters) - The companies have been locked in an intense rivalry over the last several months, after LabCorp won a key health insurer contract from Quest. That led Quest to cut its 2007 forecast earlier this year and post sagging first-quarter earnings.




Quest and LabCorp perform tests for doctors and hospitals, including routine tests like for cholesterol and more advanced tests for cancer.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Turkish Markets May Rally After Erdogan's Justice Party Wins Re-Election

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish stocks, bonds and the lira
may gain after voters re-elected Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, giving him a mandate to extend policies that won Turkey
European Union membership talks and helped bring 21 straight
quarters of economic growth.

Erdogan's Justice and Development Party took 47 percent of
the vote with almost all ballots counted at 1 a.m. in the
capital Ankara, according to the state-run Anatolia News Agency.
That's likely to give the party 342 lawmakers in the 550-seat
parliament, CNN Turk television said.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Credit Risk Surges as Subprime Woes Curb Investors' Appetite for Debt

(Bloomberg) -- The perceived risk of owning bank
loans, corporate bonds and securities based on the riskiest home
mortgages surged as worries about accelerating subprime losses
curbed credit investors' appetites.

Corporate bond risk rose to a two-year high in the U.S. and
Europe, according to credit-default swap indexes that allow
investors to speculate on the ability of companies to repay
their debt or hedge against the risk they won't. Indexes tied to
the risk of owning high-yield, high-risk loans fell to records,
suggesting demand is deteriorating for leveraged-buyout debt.
Indexes of credit-default swaps on subprime mortgage bonds also
plummeted to new lows.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

UAW's Gettelfinger Stuck Between Reuther's Legacy, `Crashing' Car Industry

(Bloomberg) -- Ron Gettelfinger, chief of the United
Auto Workers, will sit at the bargaining table with the Big Three
automakers while holding one of the weakest hands in the 72-year-
old union's history. He'll also have the shadow of union icon
Walter Reuther looming over him.

Gettelfinger started negotiating today with companies that
lost a combined $15 billion last year -- a far cry from the era
when Reuther won health insurance and pensions for the rank-and-
file during two decades running the UAW until his death in 1970.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler now are looking
to roll back those so-called legacy costs, which include retiree
health-care liabilities of $114 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Posco Reports Highest Net Income in Two Years as Steel Prices, Demand Rise

(Bloomberg) -- Posco, a steelmaker that doubled in
value in the past year, reported second-quarter profit climbed
55 percent to the highest in two years, as it raised prices to
take advantage of surging demand.

Net income at the third-biggest steelmaker in Asia rose to
1.11 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in the quarter ended June, from
716 billion won a year ago, the Pohang, South Korea-company said
today in a statement. Sales rose 25 percent to 5.82 trillion won.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Mirant to Pay $11 Million Fine for Giving False Trade Data to Publications

(Bloomberg) -- Mirant Corp., a U.S. power producer,
will pay an $11 million fine for submitting false trade data to
industry publications in 2002 to bolster its natural-gas trading
positions, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Former traders at the Atlanta-based company's Mirant Energy
Trading unit provided false information about natural gas trades
to publications using the data to calculate price indexes on
which some sale contracts are based, the government said today in
a statement. The company won't be charged with a crime, under a
deferred-prosecution agreement with the government.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Samsung shares up on Q2 hopes

(Reuters) - "The second-quarter earnings will be poor, but it will at least meet the consensus expectation," said Park Suk-hyun, an analyst at Kyobo Securities. "Some had worried the results would come in worse. Also, the outlook for the second half is improving."




Samsung, the most valuable technology company outside the United States, is expected to report a net profit of 1.29 trillion won in the second quarter from 1.51 trillion a year ago, according to a Reuters poll of 10 analysts.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

Where's the recovery, Japan's small firms ask

(Reuters) - "I hear that Toyota's profits exceeded 2 trillion yen last
year. I wonder if we live in the same country," he said.




Japan's steady economic recovery over the past five years has
hardly helped small firms, which make up more than 99 percent of
its businesses. Their profit margins have been squeezed by rising
raw material costs and customers' requests for price cuts.


Read more at Reuters.com Economic News

Gilead, Illinois Tool, Royal Caribbean, SonoSite: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
tomorrow. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

Boeing Co. (BA US): The commercial aircraft maker today
unveils its new 787 Dreamliner, which has won 677 orders, making
it the company's most successful jetliner ever. Boeing stock rose
52 cents to $98.88 on July 6.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

South Korean Bonds Fall as Interest Rates Will Rise; Won Little Changed

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's government bonds dropped
on speculation the central bank will raise interest rates next
week to prevent surplus cash in the banking system from spurring
inflation. The won was little changed.

Five-year bonds fell for a fifth day as Finance Minister
Kwon Okyu said monetary policy should be aimed at ``controlling
liquidity'' because consumer prices may rise. Exports increased
to a record in June while the nation's current account balance
was in surplus for the first time in three months in May.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Korean Won Falls as Minister Warns on Excessive Gains; Revenue Hurts Peso

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's won fell from a seven-
month high after Finance Minister Kwon Okyu said the government
will take measures to slow its gain when necessary.

The currency snapped a four-day, 1.1 percent rally on
speculation the central bank will sell the won. The exchange rate
may threaten growth by making Korean goods more expensive abroad,
reducing demand for the nation's exports.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-EU approves Cerberus purchase of Chrysler

(Reuters) - BRUSSELS, July 3 - U.S. buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management [CBS.UL] won approval from the European Commission on Tuesday to buy U.S. carmaker Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler .



The deal was approved under a special simplified procedure because neither customers nor competitors had lodged any objections, the Commission said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Oil Little Changed, Near Nine-Month High, as U.S. Gasoline Supply Plunges

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded little changed in New
York, near a nine-month high, on concern the U.S. won't have enough
gasoline to meet the summer's peak demand.

A report yesterday showed gasoline stockpiles fell 749,000
barrels last week after imports plunged to a 10-week low. The
decline left gasoline levels 4.4 percent below their five-year
average. Daily demand remained near the nine-month high reported
the week before.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Bear Stearns, Apple, Google Shares Climb

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures advanced
after oil prices fell and concerns eased that losses tied to
subprime mortgages will hurt banks' earnings.

Bear Stearns Cos. climbed after a Lehman Brothers analyst
said the investment bank's bailout of a money-losing hedge fund
won't hurt its earnings. Apple Inc., maker of the iPod music
player, and Google Inc., the world's most popular Internet search
engine, gained after brokerages recommended buying the shares.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

GE Shares Rise the Most in Three Years Following Upbeat Paris Airshow

(Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. shares surged
the most since January 2004 amid expectations that profit from
selling commercial jet engines will increase because of plane
orders announced this week at the Paris Air Show.

Airbus SAS, the world's largest commercial-aircraft maker,
yesterday won $42.6 billion in contracts. Boeing Co., Airbus's
nearest rival, today announced an $8.8 billion order from
International Lease Finance Corp. GE is the world's largest
maker of jet engines.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Areva Wins $1.3 Billion 20-Year Uranium-Enrichment Contract in South Korea

(Bloomberg) -- Areva SA, the world's largest maker
of nuclear plants, said it won a long-term uranium-enrichment
contract with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. valued at more than
1 billion euros ($1.34 billion).

The agreement will enable KHNP to ``secure its nuclear fuel
supply at a competitive price'' and Areva to ``develop stable and
long term partnerships with major utilities,'' Paris-based Areva
said in an e-mailed statement.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Cephalon wins U.S. approval for Nuvigil sleep drug

(Reuters) - BOSTON, June 18 - After multiple stops and starts, biotechnology company Cephalon Inc. has won U.S. approval for its drug to treat excessive sleepiness in patients with conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea.



The Frazer, Pennsylvania-based company said on Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, Nuvigil, to treat overwhelming sleepiness associated with sleep apnea, narcolepsy and shift work.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Actelion, Alcoa, Emeritus, Force Protection, Lexicon: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes on U.S. exchanges
tomorrow. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed two days ago. Stock symbols are in parentheses after
company names. Shares prices are as of 7:30 a.m. New York time.

Actelion Ltd. (ALIOF US) shares rose $1.44, or 3.1 percent,
to $47.89 in regular trading in Germany. A newly approved rival
to its best-selling Tracleer lung treatment may not be as big a
threat as previously thought, some analysts said. Gilead Sciences
Inc. (GILD US) on June 15 won U.S. approval for ambrisentan,
which will compete with Tracleer as a treatment for pulmonary
arterial hypertension, a narrowing of the arteries that causes
shortness of breath and heart failure.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News