BUSINESS BRIEFS
Oracle beats out IBM, buys Sun Microsystems
Advertiser News Services
SAN FRANCISCO — Oracle Corp. snapped up computer server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc. for $7.4 billion yesterday, trumping rival IBM Corp.'s attempt to buy one of Silicon Valley's best known — and most troubled — companies.
The deal would end Sun's 27-year history as Silicon Valley's brash independent and shake up the computing industry.
IBM had retracted an earlier buyout offer for Sun after the two sides couldn't agree on key details.
PEPSI PONIES UP $6B FOR TWO OF ITS BOTTLERS
NEW YORK — PepsiCo Inc.'s $6 billion bid to buy its two largest bottlers should make the owner of the Gatorade, Naked juices and Aquafina brands more nimble in a landscape where soft drinks have declined in popularity in favor of healthier options such as water and juices.The deals for Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas would let PepsiCo control about 80 percent of its total North American beverage volume — something the company and analysts said would streamline the process of getting newer products to stores.
TAXPAYERS HAVE $29.84B STAKE IN AIG AFTER SALES
NEW YORK — American International Group Inc. completed a sale of preferred stock and issued warrants to the Treasury Department as part of a previously announced plan to receive additional financial support from the government, according to a regulatory filing submitted yesterday.New York-based AIG said in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it sold preferred stock and issued warrants to the government on Friday in exchange for $29.84 billion.
FIAT-CHRYSLER TALKS WILL RESUME; GM FIRING 1,600
DETROIT — General Motors Corp. began firing 1,600 white-collar workers yesterday and Fiat's CEO left Italy to resume talks on an alliance with Chrysler LLC, as deadlines draw closer for GM and Chrysler to finish their restructuring plans.Both automakers are living on a combined $17.4 billion in government loans and have said they'll need more money to survive. Chrysler must cut its debt and its labor costs and forge an alliance with Fiat Group SpA by April 30 to receive further government aid.
