| Credit Card Fine Print
If you're thinking of starting up your own credit card company and you'd like to sneak a bunch of unsavory terms and conditions by your customers with few people noticing or objecting, put them in tiny print in a long document that no one will want to read. That's what the big card companies seem to do. .
Constellation plans to buy Fortune's wine business
Constellation Brands Inc has said it plans to buy the US wine business of Fortune Brands Inc for $US885 million, in a move to expand its portfolio of higher-end California wines. The world's largest wine maker, whose California brands include Robert Mondavi, Ravenswood and Simi, also said it would consolidate parts of its Hardy Wine Co. business in Australia, which has suffered recently from a severe drought. The acquisition, which is expected to close by December 31, includes annual sales of 2.6 million cases of wine under brands such as Clos du Bois, Geyser Peak, and Wild Horse. It also includes more than 1,500 acres of vineyards in Napa, Sonoma and Carneros, California and five wineries. Constellation, which is taking on more debt to finance the deal, said the price represented a multiple of 13 to 14 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the past year.
BofA hosts talks to kick-start debt market
Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the three largest U.S. banks, reached an agreement on the structure of an $80 billion fund to help unfreeze the market for short-term debt, a person familiar with the talks said yesterday. Bankers working on the deal met at Bank of America's offices in New York on Nov. 9 and settled on a simpler plan than initially proposed last month, according to the person, who declined to be named because the agreement isn't public. Under the original plan brokered by Treasury Security Henry Paulson, the fund would buy some of the $320 billion in assets held by so-called structured-investment vehicles, known as SIVs. A term sheet may be ready in as few as two weeks, once ratings companies evaluate the super-SIV and the banks obtain tax and legal opinions, the person said.
Fitch Rates Interpublic Group's Exchange Notes 'BB-'; Outlook Stable
Fitch Ratings has assigned a rating of 'BB-' to Interpublic Group's (IPG) $200 million 4.75% convertible senior unsecured notes due March 15, 2023. The new notes rank pari-passu with other senior unsecured IPG debt. The Rating Outlook remains Stable. Fitch rates IPG as follows: --Issuer Default Rating (IDR) 'BB-'; --ELF notes 'BB-'; --Senior unsecured notes (including convertibles) 'BB-'; --Cumulative convertible perpetual preferred stock 'B'. IPG said Thursday that it has agreed to exchange half ($200 million) of its old $400 million, 4.5% convertible senior notes due 2023 for $200 million, 4.75% new convertible senior notes due 2023. This exchange enhances the IPG's financial flexibility by extending the first put date on the new securities to March 15, 2013 from March 15, 2008.
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