S.F.'s credit rating boosted by property values

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 4, 2008 | by BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

Credit ratings

San Francisco's credit rating boosted: San Francisco's credit rating on more than $1.9 billion of bonds was raised by Moody's Investors Service, which cited growing property values that have helped the city weather the current economic slump. Moody's raised the city's rating on San Francisco's general fund-backed bonds to Aa2 from Aa3, the New York-based company said. San Francisco is ranked AA by Standard & Poor's Corp. and AA- by Fitch Ratings. San Francisco's property values doubled to $136 billion from $62 billion 10 years ago, Moody's said. That, along with growth in business services and technology-related jobs, has helped the city escape effects of the slowdown that has squeezed the California economy and the U.S. as a whole, Moody's said.

-- Bloomberg News

Retail

Bay Harbour SEEKS Steve & Barry's assets: Steve & Barry's LLC has received a $163 million offer for some of its assets from Bay Harbour Management. The teen apparel retailer, which filed for bankruptcy protection in July, has filed a "stalking horse" asset purchase agreement with a unit of Bay Harbour with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. A "stalking- horse" bid is the initial bid on a bankrupt company's assets from a buyer chosen by the company under bankruptcy protection. Subject to court approval, the "stalking-horse" proposal will serve as the opening bid during an auction process scheduled to take place later in the month. The investment firm says it intends to operate the Steve & Barry's chain as a going concern, with current staff and key facilities.

-- Associated Press

Pharmaceuticals

ImClone scoffs at Bristol-Myers offer: ImClone Systems Inc.'s board of directors said Monday cancer drug partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s $4.5 billion buyout offer "substantially undervalues" the company, with Chairman Carl Icahn personally against the deal. Despite calling the bid too low, ImClone stopped short of rejecting it and said its board formed a committee to weigh the offer. The board also said it is considering splitting the company into two units to focus on Erbitux and its developing pipeline separately. The New York-based companies are partners on the colon- and head- and-neck-cancer treatment Erbitux. They are also currently developing the drug as a lung cancer therapy.

-- Associated Press

Homebuilding

WCI Communities files for bankruptcy: Carl Icahn's WCI Communities became the latest casualty of the housing market crisis Monday, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the home builder failed to get additional financing in the face of massive losses. Icahn, chairman of WCI's board, said the filing was necessary because the Bonita Springs, Fla.-based developer's entire $1.8 billion debt may soon be in default. Icahn said this was confirmed when some holders of $125 million convertible notes insisted on being paid in cash in full today. WCI also fired Chief Executive Jerry L. Starkey and replaced him on an interim basis with David L. Fry.

-- Associated Press

Telecom

Motorola snares Qualcomm's Jha: Motorola Inc. snagged Sanjay Jha, the chief operating officer of Qualcomm Inc. and a star of the wireless industry, to head its handset division as that unit prepares to become an independent company. Jha will also be co- chief executive of the parent company, sharing the responsibility with incumbent Greg Brown until the spinoff next year. Brown will take responsibility for Motorola's other two divisions. Jha, 45, has a doctorate in electronic and electrical engineering. In addition to being Qualcomm's chief operating officer, he was president of the Qualcomm division that made chips for cell phones.

-- Associated Press

Entertainment

NY appeals court green-lights remote storage DVR: In a decision sure to affect millions of cable television subscribers, a federal appeals court Monday gave a green light to Cablevision Systems Corp.'s rollout of a remote-storage digital video recorder system. In overturning a lower court ruling that had blocked the service, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the judge wrongly concluded that Cablevision, rather than its customers, would be making copies of programs, thereby violating copyright laws. The next-generation technology would let any cable subscriber with a digital cable box store TV shows on computer servers rather than on a hard drive in their home.

---Associated Press