Best Buy co-founder offers to buy company
NEW YORK » Best Buy’s co-founder is looking to make a buy of his own, offering to take the electronics seller private only months after leaving as the company’s chairman.
Best Buy said it would consider the offer but called it "highly conditional." And analysts are skeptical that former Chairman Richard Schulze’s opening offer of $24 to $26 per share would get a deal done and that it could be tricky to line up investment firms to help pay for it.
It’s the latest twist in the Minneapolis company’s struggles to stay relevant as more people buy electronics online. Over the past year, Best Buy has announced a major restructuring plan and fired CEO Brian Dunn amid allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a female employee.
Knight avoids collapse with $400M lifeline
NEW YORK » Knight Capital Group survived a near-death experience on Monday, lining up Wall Street firms to lend it $400 million in badly needed cash after the brokerage lost $440 million last week when a malfunction in its trading system flooded the market with erroneous trades.
But the rescue, which came down to the wire, had a steep price: control of the firm. And it’s still not certain that Knight will make it through the episode intact.
Knight’s new investors will gain a 73 percent stake in the company and three board seats. The value of current shareholders’ stake also will be heavily diluted. And Knight, which has removed the problem software and is still completing its own investigation of what went wrong, faces a difficult task of rebuilding trust with clients and persuading regulators that Wednesday’s screw-up was an anomaly. Its stock has plunged 70 percent since July 31 before the glitch.
U.K. bank accused of money laundering
ALBANY, N.Y. » A British bank schemed with the Iranian government to launder $250 billion from 2001 to 2007, leaving the United States’ financial system "vulnerable to terrorists," New York’s financial regulator charged Monday.
The bank conspired with its Iranian clients to route nearly 60,000 different U.S. dollar payments through Standard Chartered’s New York branch "after first stripping information from wire transfer messages used to identify sanctioned countries, individuals and entities," according to an order from New York State Financial Services.
Corn and soybean crops still in poor shape
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. » The Department of Agriculture says the condition of the country’s corn and soybean crops hasn’t gotten much worse in the past week, but that large portions remain in poor shape amid widespread drought.
The USDA’s weekly Crop Progress report said Monday that half of the nation’s corn is in poor condition. A week earlier 48 percent was in poor shape.
Similarly, 39 percent of the soybean crop is in poor condition compared with 37 percent a week earlier.
Airbus to double outlay
WICHITA, Kan. » European aerospace giant Airbus said Monday it plans to double the $12 billion it now spends with U.S. suppliers amid strong airplane sales, explaining that the company has a backlog that is "disturbingly healthy." Airbus said 40 percent of what the company uses to build its planes comes from U.S. companies.
On the Move
New York Life Insurance Co. has promoted Kristi Tanigawa from agent to agency associate at its Honolulu office. She will continue to serve clients as an agent and assist the office in recruiting new agents to the company. Tanigawa joined the company in 2006.
Hunt Cos. has hired Blair Suzuki as an assistant development manager. He previously managed a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio for Tradewind Capital Group.
Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort has promoted Natalie Caceres to sales manager from sales coordinator. Her experience includes working as a guest service representative at Ohana Waikiki West hotel and guest service manager at Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber.
