BUSINESS BRIEFS
Sun may have to go it alone after all
Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Without IBM Corp.'s $7 billion takeover offer, Sun Microsystems Inc., a Silicon Valley rebel known for independence, is possibly alone again. Unless a new suitor somehow emerges, Sun will have to overcome the wobbly finances that forced it to shop itself around.
The two sides had been nearing an agreement before the weekend. But Sun balked at IBM's last price of $9.40 per share, which had come down from earlier offers but still was about double Sun's stock price before word of the negotiations leaked last month.
FORD CUTS DEBT BY 38 PERCENT
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said yesterday it completed tender offers that will reduce its debt by 38 percent and shave millions of dollars off its interest costs.The automaker retired about $9.9 billion in securities issued by either the parent company or its finance arm in exchange for cash and shares under terms of the debt buybacks.
Combined, the moves are expected to reduce Ford's interest expenses by more than $500 million this year, as it tries to weather the worst auto sales downturn in 27 years.
OIL PRICES SLUMP TO START THE WEEK
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Energy prices fell yesterday, a day before major first-quarter corporate results begin to arrive. It remained unclear if the U.S. economy has bottomed out, or whether demand for oil and gasoline will rebound strongly this year with many households cutting back on spending.Benchmark crude for May delivery fell nearly 3 percent, or $1.46 to settle at $51.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
SALLIE MAE TO ADD 2,000 JOBS IN U.S.
NEW YORK — Sallie Mae gave some hope to the unemployed yesterday, announcing it will bring 2,000 jobs to the U.S. within the next 18 months as it shifts call center and other operations from overseas.The move marks somewhat of a turnaround for the nation's largest private student lender, which two years ago was faced with the need to slash costs amid collapsing capital markets.
Sallie Mae scuttled jobs overseas as part of a plan to save about $300 million over a 12-month period.
