The latest deal casualty: Agribusiness Bunge Ltd.'s proposed
acquisition of Corn Products International Inc. Agribusiness withdrew
its offer on Monday, five days after Corn Product's board withdrew its
recommendation for the stock-and-debt deal originally valued at $4.8
billion. The board said it no longer supported the deal due to its 60%
decline in value. Corn Products shares lifted 3.5% to close at
$25.17 Tuesday, reversing its Monday loss.
Newest on the list of
repricings: Polaris Acquisition Corp. said Tuesday it had revised the
terms of its purchase of Hughes Telematics Inc. to mitigate near-term
risk for investors. The all-stock deal is now valued at $385 million,
down from $700 million when it was announced in June. Hughes shares
slid 10.24% to close at $15.96 Tuesday.
Not all is lost or cut.
Two Monday events indicated that Canadian telecom giant BCE Inc. will
close its record-setting, C$52.3 billion ($43.8 billion) buyout by a
Dec. 11 deadline. BCE said it is offering to buy back about $1.95
billion of debt issued by its main subsidiary, Bell Canada, which would
reduce the debt the buyout partners will take on with the deal. BCE
also said a judge in Saskatchewan has denied a group of shareholders an
injunction against its sale. However, shareholders seem skeptical that
this long-deliberated deal will close as shares inched down 0.79% to
close at $31.45.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 176.58 to close at 8,693.96 Tuesday. - Michael Rudnick
