BUSINESS BRIEFS
Chavez demands Venezuela steel maker take deal
Advertiser News Services
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez yesterday threatened to expropriate Venezuela's largest steel maker unless the soon-to-be-nationalized company revises what he called excessive compensation demands.
Chavez dismissed a request made by Sidor's parent company, Luxembourg-based Ternium SA, for $4 billion in exchange for its 60 percent stake in the steel maker.
"I'm not going to pay $4 billion for that company," Chavez said during his weekly radio and television program. "If they don't want to reach an agreement with us, I'll sign an expropriation decree. I'll take immediate control."
Company officials could not be reached for comment.
Chavez has made nationalizing major industries a centerpiece of his socialist agenda. His government last year seized majority control of the country's largest telecommunications and electricity companies, and of joint oil ventures previously run by some of the world's largest oil companies.
'GRAND THEFT' MUCH ANTICIPATED
It's the video game that launched a $2 billion takeover war.
"Grand Theft Auto IV" is expected to have one of the biggest debuts in entertainment history when it hits stores tomorrow. Analysts predict it will ring up more than $400 million at retail in the first week, topping "Halo 3," which in the fall smashed the previous record with $300 million.
The "GTA" franchise, which lets players enact a host of criminal activities, has stirred up controversy with its sexually explicit and violent fare. This time, it's also generating corporate drama. With its eyes on the blockbuster game, Electronic Arts Inc. has offered $2 billion for Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the game's New York-based publisher.
Take-Two has told its suitor it's not willing to consider a deal, at least until after tomorrow.
EOS AIRLINES FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
ATLANTA — When Eos Airlines Inc. launched its first flights in 2005, the startup carrier named for a Greek goddess came with enthusiastic business travelers looking for more space who didn't mind hefty fares for premium service across the Atlantic.
The airline reconfigured Boeing 757s meant for 220 passengers with 48 seats that could extend into a fully flat bed. Flights served wine, champagne and gourmet foods. There were individual DVD players, and helicopter rides to the airport were offered to some travelers.
The price for the New York to London flights, which it offered twice a day, ranged from $3,500 to $9,000 roundtrip.
The high-flying luxuries came to an end yesterday as Purchase, N.Y.-based Eos ceased operations after filing for bankruptcy protection, the latest casualty of a credit crunch and a money-losing airline industry that has been hit hard by high fuel prices.
MITTAL STILL TOPS BRITAIN'S RICH LIST
LONDON — The collective wealth of Britain's 1,000 richest people went up by nearly 15 percent last year, and more than half the country's 75 billionaires are foreign-born, according to a list published by the Sunday Times newspaper.
The newspaper's annual Rich List ranked steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal as Britain's wealthiest man for the fourth year running. It put the Indian-born tycoon's fortune at 27.7 billion pounds, or $55 billion, up more than 8 billion pounds from last year.
Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich, owner of London's Chelsea soccer team, was in second place, with a wealth of $23.2 billion. The Duke of Westminster was in third place with $14 billion. The Briton owns huge parcels of land in central London and elsewhere.
Queen Elizabeth II — the country's richest person when the Rich List was first published in 1989 — now ranks 264th, with a personal wealth of $640 million. The estimate no longer includes the vast royal art collection, which is now considered to belong to the nation.
