BNET Daily Dispatch: Fremont General, Kerkorian, Salesforce.com, and Outback
By
Joseph De Avila
May 22nd, 2007 @ 9:59 am
| Permalink
Categories: General
Tags: Salesforce.com Inc., Google Inc., Fremont, Joseph De Avila
- Fremont General said today that it agreed to sell its commercial real estate loan business to iStar Financial for $1.9 billion. The company also agreed to sell a minority stake in the entire company for $80 million to an investor group led by Gerald Ford, the former boss of Golden State Bancorp. Fremont is one of several lenders to less credit-worthy home buyers who have struggled to overcome rising defaults amid a U.S. housing slowdown.
- Tracinda Corporation, Kirk Kerkorian’s holding company, said in a regulatory filing that it intended to enter talks with MGM Mirage to buy the Bellagio and also the partly built CityCenter. The final costs for the two Las Vegas properties could exceed $12 billion. Last month DaimlerChrysler rebuffed Kerkorian’s $4.5 billion offer to buy Chrysler.
- It was reported yesterday that Salesforce.com is in negotiations with Google about possible combinations to help them challenge Microsoft. Salesforce.com CEO, Marc Benioff, has been secretive as to what this partnership will be. The software company already works with Google on services like its Salesforce for Google AdWords, designed to help businesses buy Google search terms for their online-advertising efforts.
- Outback Steakhouse owner, OSI Restaurant Partners, agreed to a $3.1 billion takeover bid from a group led by Bain Capital Partners and Catterton Partners. Buyout firms have been buying restaurants because they can use the companies’ cash flow and real estate to pay debt borrowed to finance the deals. Shareholders rejected the firms’ initial offer this past November, but analysts say this sweetened bid will likely win most of them over.
