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GLAZER TAKEOVER BID COMING?: The British press is speculating that Malcolm Glazer, who owns 19 percent of Manchester United, might make a takeover offer this week valuing the British soccer club at 786-million pounds, or $1.4-billion. Glazer, through his adviser JPMorgan Chase & Co., has secured financing for a bid, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The two biggest investors, Irish horse-racing millionaires John Magnier and J.P. McManus, reportedly might sell their stake to the tycoon owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 310 pence ($5.57) a share. Takeover speculation has helped double United's shares over the past 18 months. United, which has been English champion in eight of the past 12 years, ranks fourth in the 20-team Premiership.
OIL REACHES HIGH: Oil futures prices advanced to a new high Monday as a strike began in Africa's largest exporter of crude, exacerbating global supply concerns at a time of strong demand and reduced output in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf of Mexico. Crude for November delivery rose 33 cents to $53.64, surpassing Friday's record settlement price of $53.31 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
ORACLE BID MIGHT GO LOWER: Oracle Corp.'s hostile $7.7-billion bid for rival software maker PeopleSoft Inc. could drop by one-third to one-fourth, Oracle co-president Safra Catz said Monday. Catz cited PeopleSoft's 2004 performance as the chief reason for what she said is likely to be a decline from the $21-a-share offering price.
PAYPAL, MSN EXPERIENCE OUTAGES: Repairs were under way Monday at PayPal as the widely used online payment service struggled to get customers back on track after several days of "intermittent" outages. Users of the eBay Inc.-owned company began experiencing some glitches Friday after a monthly upgrade of PayPal's software systems, said eBay spokeswoman Amanda Pires. The problems seemed to subside over the weekend but then recurred Monday, she said. It is unclear how many of PayPal users were affected. Also, Microsoft Corp. said its MSN instant messaging service, with 187-million users, became unavailable to some customers beginning Saturday after routine network maintenance. Service was restored late Monday. Microsoft did not immediately identify the source of the problem.
WAL-MART HIRES DOLLAR GENERAL CHIEF: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday it had hired Dollar General Corp.'s president and chief operating officer to head its human resources division. Lawrence Jackson, 51, will also serve as a strategic adviser to Wal-Mart's senior management team. Jackson, who resigned from his job at Dollar General on Friday, succeeds Coleman Peterson, who retired in April.
GM BUILDING HYBRID BUS IN CHINA: Automaker General Motors Corp. said Monday it will build its first hybrid bus in China next year with its partner in Shanghai to promote the technology for cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicles. GM and Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp. will begin by developing one bus and test-run it in Shanghai to see if it would be commercially viable in China, said GM's vice president of Environment & Energy, Elizabeth Lowery.
AIRLINE TO BUY TWO BOEINGS: Turkmenistan Airlines has decided to buy two Boeing 717-200s next year, the central Asian carrier and the manufacturer have announced. The two twinjet passenger aircraft, assembled in Long Beach, Calif., and valued at $80-million in list prices, are scheduled for delivery in August.
VIRGIN DEBUTS MUSIC PLAYER: The consumer electronics arm of the Virgin Group is introducing a new 5-gigabyte hard-disk portable music player, bringing a powerful brand name in music to the increasingly crowded product space. Virgin Electronics hopes its slim Virgin Player, which debuts today and is smaller than a deck of cards, will rise as a lead competitor to Apple Computer Inc.'s wildly popular iPod players. Apple dominates the portable player market that is filled also with choices from Rio Audio, Sony Corp., Samsung Electronics and Creative Labs Inc., among others. But few of the rivals have introduced a direct challenge to the iPod Mini model, which has a 4-gigabyte capacity. The Virgin Player has 20 percent more storage capacity than the iPod Mini. It is slightly larger but is a half-ounce lighter at 3.1 ounces. Virgin claims it has eight hours of continuous playback time on its rechargeable lithium ion battery - the same as the iPod Mini. The player will be available for $249 at the end of October. Unlike the iPod, the Virgin Player includes an FM tuner and while the player is fully integrated with its sister online music store, Virgin Digital, it also plays tunes bought from other online music services that use the Windows Media Audio or MP3 formats.
MBSL PICKS CFO: MBSL Group Inc., a Tampa firm that specializes in providing technology support to the financial services and internet processing industries, has appointed Gary Bogatay as chief financial officer. Bogatay is a certified public accountant with more than 13 years of experience in senior financial management roles, including serving as vice president of finance for iGate Corp.'s financial services subsidiary, Symphoni Interactive LLC.
CLEARWATER COMPANY SIGNS DEAL: Technology Research Corp., a Clearwater company that designs, manufactures and markets portable electrical safety products, has entered into a three-year deal with an unidentified major appliance manufacturer that makes TRC the exclusive supplier of cord fire protection products for this year's room air conditioner manufacturing cycle. The estimated value of products involved in the first year is $4.3-million.