Getting the best return on life
Posted by Maha Shawki
I was in a homeless shelter recently with my daughters and neighbors serving a hot meal to some folks who didn’t have a roof over their heads.
They smiled gratefully and thanked us as they sampled my pasta recipe and other dishes. This was a frozen moment when I had to ponder the investment one makes not in stocks, bonds and funds, but life itself.
My friend Mitch Anthony, speaker and author of “the Bean is Not Green,” always has great insights on this process. He says we need to take stock of our “return on life (ROL).”
Return on life is about measuring what’s important to you in non-tangible terms. A warm place to sleep. A job. Health insurance. A decent meal with people you love.
Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo
Posted by Maha Shawki
AOL Inc, undergoing a radical transformation into the king of content on the Internet, is actively exploring a breakup involving a complicated series of transactions that may lead to a merger with Yahoo Inc, sources close to the plans told Reuters.
The plans are still in the exploratory stage and Yahoo has not been contacted, the sources said. The plans are also fraught with complications involving myriad moving pieces.
In many respects, the latest discussions are derivative of plans contemplated in 2008 and 2009 before Time Warner spun off AOL to Time Warner shareholders.
At the time, the media conglomerate had explored the option of breaking apart AOL's two main businesses. Its legacy dial-up Internet service would have been sold to or spun off into EarthLink or United Online. Its display advertising business would have been merged into Yahoo, the sources said.
Wal-Mart may scale back bid to keep Massmart listed
Posted by Khaled Ali
- Image via Wikipedia
Wal-Mart (WMT.N), the world's biggest retailer, may scale back its bid for South Africa's Massmart (MSMJ.J) to keep the company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Wal-Mart is now considering taking more than a 50 percent stake, rather than a full buyout, Massmart said in a statement on Thursday. The offer price was still 148 rand per share, Massmart said.
"Wal-Mart is investigating potential options for and the merits of retaining Massmart's listing," Massmart said.
Vodafone given $2.5bn Indian tax bill deadline
Posted by Randa Fathy
Indian tax authorities have given Vodafone 30 days to pay a 112bn rupee ($2.5bn, £1.6bn) tax bill, as part of an ongoing tax dispute.
The formal demand relates to the mobile phone company's 2007 purchase of the Indian telephone assets of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
Vodafone will appeal against the tax at the Indian supreme court on Monday.
The firm says the $11bn transaction was exempt from tax because it took place between two offshore entities.
AIG raises $17.9 billion and prices AIA IPO at top
Posted by Khaled Ali
AIA, the Asian life insurance arm of AIG (AIG.N), raised $17.9 billion by pricing its Hong Kong IPO at the top of its range as investors piled into the most attractive offering in the world's hottest financial market.
The pricing of the initial public offering, set to be the world's third biggest, comes as new listings proliferate in Asia. It puts an end to a long-running saga for American International Group, which tried and failed to sell AIA to Britain's Prudential (PRU.L) earlier this year.
AIG plans to use some of the proceeds of the AIA sale to pay back part of the $182.3 billion bailout that it received from the U.S. government during the financial crisis.
The successful sale made AIG the top gainer among U.S. insurance shares on Friday, adding more than 2 percent.
AIA said on Friday that the IPO was priced at HK$19.68 each and that it exercised its upsize option. If the underwriters exercise the overallotment option, the IPO size would rise 15 percent to $20.5 billion. AIA's will start trading on October 29.
