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Norske Skog faces challenge over debts
Norske Skog, the world's second-largest newsprint producer, faces a serious challenge this week from activist shareholders who want to break up the group. Unionen - owned by prominent Norwegian investors Petter Stordalen, Øystein Stray Spetalen and Ove Gusevik - has called an extraordinary general meeting for Thursday to seek board representation. Unionen took advantage of the halving of Norske Skog's share price over the past year to build up a stake of nearly 6 per cent, making it the largest shareholder. The activist investors plan to lobby management to sell the foreign operations of the group to cut its NKr16.2bn ($3.04bn) debt load and safeguard its endangered Norwegian mills. . More>>
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Oracle bid for BEA expires as expected
BEA Systems made good on its promise to let a Sunday 5 p.m. Pacific Time deadline expire on Oracle's US$17-per-share offer to buy the company. The enterprise software maker's board of directors had already said publicly that Oracle's bid, which amounts to US$6.7 billion, was too low. BEA instead named a price of US$21 per share, which works out to roughly US$8.3 billion. Oracle issued a brief statement Sunday that was terse in tone, but nonetheless did not rule out a future bid: "The BEA shareholders should not assume that Oracle will renew its US$17 per share offer in the future. Over time many things can change: BEA's business might materially weaken, the stock market can fall further from its recent record highs, or Oracle may have committed its capital elsewhere." A BEA spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. More>>
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Internet Chicago Craigslist Prostitution Ring Busted
Many people know that the places to go when you have junk to get rid of are eBay and Craigslist. Unlike eBay, Craigslist has some rather unsavory ads that run in its "erotic services" section. The Chicago Tribune reports that ten people have been charged in an Internet-based prostitution ring that sold sex from classified ads placed in the Craigslist "erotic services" section. Four Chicago area men have been charged with employing prostitutes young as 15.
According to authorities, the prostitution ring ran in Illinois and Indiana and involved at least 11 women; some were only high school freshmen or sophomores. According to Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, the arrests made earlier this week are a result of a three-month investigation.
The four men charged in the prostitution ring are Rodney "Mook" Williams, Eddie Wells and Terrance "Big T" Greenless Jr. More>>