| eBay beats expectations, raises outlook
SAN FRANCISCO - Online auction leader eBay today reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations and said its outlook for the rest of the year would be at the high end of analysts' predictions. Shares of eBay jumped as much as 6 per cent after the company posted a 52 per cent jump in net profit on a 27 per cent revenue rise, led by growth in its core auctions business and the rising prominence of international sales. "I would say it was a very strong quarter across the board," Chief Executive Meg Whitman said in an interview. "We at the top end of analysts' predictions, which ranged from US$1.27 ($1.72) to US$1.34, based on Reuters Estimates data. "Overall it was a good report card," said Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with Global Crown Capital.
Zell wins bidding for Tribune: WSJ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell won the bidding for newspaper publisher and broadcaster Tribune Co. , The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter. A deal with Zell could freeze out Los Angeles billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and his partner, billionaire grocery store investor Ron Burkle, who had also bid for Tribune. Tribune, owner of leading U.S. newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday and The Baltimore Sun, has been pushing Zell to raise his bid, which had been close to $34 a share, the New York Times said on Sunday. .
A tale of two bids
FOR more than a century J. Sainsbury and Boots have been the two landmarks on Britain's high street that make towns feel complete and smaller villages envious. Both the grocer and the chemist bear the names of their founders. Unusually among British firms, they have dominant individual shareholders. Both, although they are well run, are stuck in the uncomfortable middle-ground of a retail market that is rapidly polarising between those that sell cheap goods and those that sell luxurious ones. And both have been stalked in recent weeks by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), an American buy-out firm. Now their ways are parting. On Friday April 20th Alliance Boots agreed to accept a £10.6 billion ($21.2 billion) bid from KKR, which has teamed up with Stefano Pessina, the chemist's executive deputy chairman and biggest shareholder.
Long-closed Valley store faces foreclosure, auction
More than six years after the HomeBase Inc. store closed in Spokane Valley, the 100,000-square-foot building and the land it sits on is set to be disposed of in a foreclosure action. The property is scheduled to be sold at auction at 10 a.m. May 11 at the Bank of America Financial Center, at 601 W. Riverside in downtown Spokane, says David C. Neu, the trustee in the case and a Seattle-based attorney with Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP. The building has had no retail tenants since Irvine, Calif.-based HomeBase closed it in 2001. Falcos Inc., of Spokane Valley, is leasing about 25,000 square feet of space in the building, where it stores stoves and parks delivery trucks for the Falcos Home Resort store, located at 9310 E. Sprague. Falcos owner Louie Falco says he has about a year left on the lease.
Pennsylvania Latest Battleground in eBay Consignment-Sales Regulation
Barry Fallon, who operates an iSold It store in Pennsylvania, says regulators in his state are forcing him to get an auctioneer's license to operate his eBay drop-off store. "To get a license in PA requires training and a one year apprenticeship before we can open a store," Fallon said. "So if they succeed, we will all have to close our doors for a year or pay someone with a license to oversee the operation." When asked about Pennylvania's apparent attempts to require eBay drop-off stores to have an auctioneer's license, eBay spokesperson Catherine England said in an email: eBay believes that Pennsylvania law is pretty clear and that trading assistants are generally not subject to the state's auctioneering regulations. We have been in contact with state regulators but they continue their enforcement actions against some sellers.
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