Cnet Networks buys EDventure Holdings

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 20, 2004 | by BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE

Cnet Networks Inc., an owner of Internet sites featuring news and information about computers, said it bought Esther Dyson's EDventure Holdings to gain its PC Forum conference and monthly technology newsletter. Dyson, EDventure's chairman, will become editor-at-large of Cnet's business technology division, the San Francisco-based company said in a statement. Dyson is editor of the Release 1.0 newsletter, writes a column for the New York Times syndicate and wrote a 1997 book "Release 2.0: A Design for Living in the Digital Age," about the Internet. "She's world renowned as an expert in information technology," said Thomas Wyman, a fund manager at San Francisco-based Husic Capital Management, which held 778,221 Cnet shares in December.

Xerox sells stake in ScanSoft

Xerox Corp., the largest U.S. provider of copiers, sold its shares in software maker ScanSoft Inc. to New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC for $80 million. ScanSoft, which trades on the Nasdaq, started life as a project in Xerox's research laboratories, Xerox said. Xerox is selling the stake as part of a plan to "focus investments in areas related to Xerox's document managing core business," Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Zimmerman said in a statement.

Philips develops miniature lens

Royal Philips Electronics NV researchers have developed a miniature lens the size of a pinhead that can focus at different distances for use in digital cameras and medical equipment. The device, which has no mechanical moving parts, will be used in products such as miniature digital cameras and endoscopic medical equipment in two years, Philips Research spokesman Koen Joosse said in an interview at the Cebit fair in Hanover, Germany. Philips, Europe's largest maker of TVs and coffee machines, last year spent 2.6 billion euros ($3.23 billion) on research and development to generate technology that may repeat the commercial success of past inventions, such as the rotary shaver head, the audio cassette and the compact disc with Sony Corp.

Morgan pursues Canary Wharf

A Morgan Stanley-led group raised its bid for Canary Wharf Group Plc by 6 percent to 1.7 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) to surpass Canada's Brascan Corp. in a nine-month takeover battle for the London real estate developer. The 292 pence-a-share cash offer compares with earlier bids of 275 pence by Morgan Stanley and by Brascan, which is backed by Canary Wharf founder Paul Reichmann. British Land Co., the U.K.'s second-largest property developer, has agreed to join the Morgan Stanley bid, the group said in a statement. "Maybe this marks the end of the battle," said Katia Hellemans, who manages $430 million for KBC's European Real Estate funds in Brussels and owns about 1 million Canary Wharf shares.

Marathon Oil to buy Ashland stake

Marathon Oil Corp. agreed to buy Ashland Inc.'s stake in their refining venture and other assets for $3.01 billion, taking full ownership of the biggest U.S. Midwest network of refineries and filling stations. Houston-based Marathon will give Ashland $2.69 billion in cash and accounts receivable and $315 million in stock for its 38 percent stake in the Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC venture, spokesman Ken Matheny said. Marathon plans to sell $1 billion in stock and $1.9 billion in debt to help pay for the purchase.

Airbus nabs Spirit Airlines order

Airbus SAS, the world's biggest maker of commercial aircraft, won an agreement from closely held U.S. discount-carrier Spirit Airlines Inc. to order 35 planes worth $2 billion, and possibly 60 more. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding and still are negotiating delivery dates and training for the A319 and A320 models, Airbus spokesman Tore Prang said. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Spirit said all 95 planes would be worth $5 billion.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus topped Boeing Co. in 2003 by increasing its sales to discount airlines. Airbus last year beat Boeing on two orders from U.S. discount carriers Frontier Airlines Inc. and Jetblue Airways Corp. for a combined 80 A319s and A320s.

Technology rebound may be gradual

Motorola Inc., SAP AG and Lucent Technologies Inc. are among technology companies predicting only a gradual recovery in demand, underscoring that shares may have risen too fast in 2003 considering companies' growth prospects. "We all see positive signs," SAP AG Chief Executive Officer Henning Kagermann said in an interview at the Cebit technology fair in Hanover, Germany, Thursday. Still, "this is something that builds up over the year." Technology spending rose 0.4 percent in 2003, the first gain in three years, after jumping 13 percent to $906 billion in 2000, according to researcher IDC Corp. Walldorf, Germany-based SAP, the world's largest maker of software to manage businesses, has forecast its license sales will rise 10 percent this year. A recovery in demand for computers, mobile phones and network equipment may be slower than investors first anticipated.