Boston (EON) - EchoStar Communications has announced that it is buying Sling Media for $380 million.
The move will give Sling Media, which is privately held, access to 13.6 million of DISH satellite TV network customers. It will also have access to the EchoStar line of digital video recorders.
Charles Ergen, the chief executive of EchoStar stated that “This combination paves the way for the development of a host of new innovative products and services for our subscribers, new digital media consumers and strategic partners.”
Sling Media sells devices which transmit television shows from a consumer’s TV to a remote computer in another location, or even a cell phone.
It is possible that EchoStar will put Sling Media under the DISH brand or turn it into a separate unit.
Ergen and EchoStar were actually early investors in Sling Media so it is possible that this was in the works for quite some time.
Toronto - Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove says by the end of the week, up to 100-thousand Canadian workers could be out of work as a result of the G-M strike south of the border.
That includes workers in the auto and auto parts industries. and Hargrove says the impact will be felt mostly in Ontario and Quebec.
He says it’s difficult to estimate how long the dispute will last — but he says there are very difficult problems to resolve.
He says G-M seems to be saying to U-A-W members that they have to pay for problems caused by unfair trade that’s costing the company market share. (more…)
Washington - Mattel Inc announced a third recall of Chinese manufactured toys, affecting more than a half million toys in the United States alone, the company said.
The company, the largest toymaker in the world, said the move was a voluntary recall of 11 toys which came after implementation of a “strengthened” system of checks.
The recall was triggered by “impermissible levels of lead” in paint used on specific pet and furniture items in 8 Barbie brand toys and 3 Fisher-Price brand toys.
None of the popular Barbie dolls were included in the recall.
In August, Mattel recalled more than 18 million Chinese-made toys worldwide because of small magnets that could detach and be swallowed by children.
New York - Internet service provider Earthlink announced 900 job cuts and the closure of four offices Tuesday as part of a restructuring effort aimed at aligning costs with sales.
The Atlanta-based company currently employs about 1,900 people. Earthlink also said it would also stop costly marketing programmes aimed at attracting new subscribers and would focus instead on maximizing the earnings from its existing customers.
More cuts could be announced before the year’s end, said Rolla P. Huff, Earthlink’s president and chief executive. As part of the plan, EarthLink also said it will repurchase 200 million dollars of its stock.
The company said the restructuring would cost some 65 million dollars and it lowered its third-quarter guidance, calling for a net loss of about 76 cents a share on sales of between 290 million and 300 million dollars.
“While we see this as an important first step in unlocking the underlying value that we believe is in our company, we are only eight weeks into the process of repositioning EarthLink for the future,” said Huff. “These changes get our cost structure in line, but there is much more to do.”
Earthlink was a leading provider of dial-up internet access but has struggled to keep growth on track as the internet matures and subscribers switch to broadband.
In efforts to diversify, Earthlink has become one of the leading players in so-called Muni-Fi projects, building tax-supported WiFi networks for cities. But the funding of these programmes has stirred political debate and undercut ongoing expansion plans. Cellphone service Helio, an Earthlink joint venture with Korea’s SK Telecom, has also failed to yield profits despite an investment of over 200 million dollars.
Boston (EON) - Acer of Taiwan has announced the purchase of the American company Gateway for $710 million.
Acer is going to offer all outstanding shares of Gateway for $1.90 per share which comes out to $710 million. This is a 57% premium to the share price of Gateway.
The deal includes the right of first refusal on the part of Gateway to acquire Packard Bell in Europe.
Gateway’s operating loss for 2006 was $18.9 million, up from $0.6 million in 2005.
Acer’s 2006 revenue was $11.32 billion compared to $3.98 for Gateway.
Chairman of Acer JT Wang stated that “This will be an excellent addition to Acer’s positions in Europe and Asia. Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as number three PC vendor globally.”
Detroit - Dodge has unveiled the new Journey crossover SUV that is going to be officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month.
Spy photos of the upcoming SUV have been circulating for months and now we have our first look at the Avenger-based SUV.
The Journey is based on an Avenger platform that has been stretched 4.9 inches to provide room for a third row seat. As usual Dodge manages to throw some clever features into its new people mover. A new storage bin under the front passenger seat and two more floor bins behind the front passenger seats allow for more hidden storage. There is also a cooled glove box and illuminated cup holders.
The Journey is going to be powered by three different engines in the US:
-2.4L four-cylinder (19 city/25 highway) producing 173 hp and 166 ft-lbs.
-2.7L FFV V6 (17 city/23 highway) producing 186 hp and 191 ft-lbs.
-3.5L V6 (16 city/23 highway) producing 235 hp and 232 ft-lbs.
For a vehicle of this size it seems that the two smaller engines are too weak, especially the 4-cylinder. Gas mileage is also not that great for the 4-cylinder compared to the largest V6, so other than the extra price it will probably make more sense to buy the largest engine.
Beijing (EON) - Mattel has recalled two million products sold in Ireland and the UK which were manufactured in China.
49,000 of the toys are toy cars made in China and may have levels of lead paint which go far above and beyond what is allowable and tolerable.
1.9 million Polly Pocket, Batman, and Barbie toys are also a part of the massive recall.
The recall in those products is due to the fact that the magnets may come loose and could cause a child to choke.
This comes just after Mattel announced a recall of 94,000 Fisher-Price toys from teh UK and Ireland. This was also due to the fact that they belived the toys may have too much lead in the paint.
Mattel stated that the levels of lead found in the Sarge toy cars made between May and July 2007 was an an “impermissible” level.
It is being urged that UK and Ireland customers should contact Mattel or go to the UK site at www.service.mattel.com/uk/.
Bejing - Zhang Shuhong, co-owner of the Guangdong-based Lee Der Industrial Co. Ltd., which manufactured the nearly 1 million Fisher-Price toys recalled last month for lead contamination, hung himself over the weekend.
“It is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China,” reports the AP matter-of-factly.
Mattel recalled nearly a million Fisher-Price toys for preschoolers in the United States because the toys were suspected of having paint with excessive amounts of lead.
Mattel identified the factory last week after coming under fire for not disclosing it at the time of the recall.
On Thursday, the Chinese government suspended Lee Der’s export license, the New York Times reported.
The toy recall was the latest in a serious of safety problems that have emerged in Chinese exports, from pet food to toothpaste.
Beijing (EON) - Reports state that 1 million pounds of Chinese seafood made it to store shelves in the United States without ever being tested.
The Food and Drug Administration stated that they have put out an order which makes it so that all shipments are screened and tested before they are allowed to go on store shelves. This was not the case this time though as the scan for any banned drugs or chemicals never took place.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of fozen shrimp, eel, catfish and others under an “import alert” arrived to US shores. The FDA by rule is supposed to hold every shipment until it has been tested.
The seafood which was valued at $2.5 million is about how much 66,000 Americans consume in food each year.
There have been no reports yet that the seafood has done any damage but it is clear that the FDA’s plan for testing imports is not working.
Washington - American Home Mortgage Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, the latest casualty of a mortgage industry that has plunged into distress.
The Melville, New York-based company’s request for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — filed in bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware — caps more than a week of turmoil for what was last year the 10th-biggest U.S. home lender.
Ten days ago, American Home Mortgage froze the 70 cent-per-share dividend scheduled to be paid that day.
Last week, American Home Mortgage said many of its lenders wanted their money back, and said it was unable to deliver as much as $800 million (EU578 million) for mortgage loans promised to home buyers.
The company said late last week it planned to lay off almost 90 percent of its 7,000 employees.
The stock market had already anticipated that the company was likely to go bankrupt. The company’s shares, which closed 2006 at more than $35, tumbled to 69 cents on Friday. In premarket trading Monday, the stock fell 20 cents, or 28.1 percent, to 50 cents.
Several analysts had predicted shareholders would recover little if anything after American Home Mortgage sold off its assets to repay creditors.
American Home Mortgage’s 40 biggest creditors include virtually all of Wall Street. The company’s three biggest creditors are Deutsche Bank AG, Wilmington Trust Co., and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Deutsche Bank had no comment. Neither Wilmington Trust nor JPMorgan Chase could be reached immediately for comment.
American Home Mortgage hired the law firm Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP as general bankruptcy counsel. The company hired Stephen F. Cooper to be chief restructuring officer. Cooper was also chief restructuring officer for Enron Corp.