Vodafone AirTouch, rebuffed in its earlier attempt to acquire German telecom Mannesmann AG, said Tuesday that it will make another bid by the end of the week.
The British cell-phone giant is doggedly pursuing a merger with Mannesmann as it tries to become the dominant force in the European mobile-phone market. But it stopped short of launching a hostile takeover attempt of its longtime business partner -- an attempt that, if successful, would mark the biggest in corporate history.
"The logic of this merger is compelling," said Chris Gent, Vodafone's chief executive. "Mannesmann and Vodafone AirTouch belong together. We have been working together for many years and are natural partners in Europe."
Perhaps, but Vodafone's earlier bid of 103 billion euros (US$106 billion) was rejected by Mannesmann shareholders over the weekend. There was no projection of what Vodafone's new bid might be.
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Court stymies ATM ban: A federal judge has blocked two California cities -- San Francisco and Santa Monica -- from enforcing laws that would have prevented banks from assessing a surcharge to non-customers who use their automatic teller machines.
Judge Vaughn Walker granted a temporary injunction sought by the Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank, saying he believes the ATM ban will be invalidated by federal banking laws anyway.
A ban on ATM surcharges was approved by San Francisco voters earlier this month, while a similar ban was voted in by the Santa Monica City Council in October.
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Seeking professional help: In a move to bolster its position as an online player, Oracle Corp. has concluded alliances with 20 Internet business consultants, who will help Oracle customers deal with setting up e-commerce sites.
Separately, Oracle strengthened ties with Tibco Software, which develops real-time publishing technology. The expanded alliance will allow Oracle to set up a computer consulting practice to design and install systems using Tibco's software products, the companies said.
Tibco technology will also become a significant underpinning of the Oracle Applications suite.
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The merger song: Emusic.com, a seller of downloadable MP3 files, plans to acquire Cductive.com in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at around $38 million, the companies said.
When the acquisition is completed, it will create a company that can offer nearly 100,000 individual tracks on 500 independent labels. By contrast, rival MP3.com has a library of more than 100,000 songs from around 22,000 artists, many of whom are independent.
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One-stop service: Ford Motor Co. will consolidate its customer-contact centers following the announcement of a joint venture with TeleTech Holdings.
The deal, in effect, will allow Ford to put all its customer service eggs in one basket. Right now, the company has separate call centers for things such as financing and auto recalls.
