Strike Cripples Travel In Parts Of France Labor unions and President Nicolas Sarkozy faced off in a confrontation over his plans to curb the early retirement benefits of a small group of public sector workers.... Read Full Article Lexmark, Printer Maker, Posts Sharply Lower Profit The company said it planned a major job shift to cut costs, saying the reorganization will affect 1,650 jobs, or nearly 12 percent of its work force.... Read Full Article State Of The Art: The Sermon On The Tapes When old media formats die, there are ways to bring your Super 8 films, VHS tapes and 8-tracks into the DVD world.... Read Full Article Apple Says IPhone To Support Microsoft Exchange Apple said it will start supporting Microsoft’s Exchange product for corporate e-mail, opening a potential new market for the popular iPhone.... Read Full Article Music Review: Less Famous Now, A Pianist Returns Despite little fanfare, a boisterous audience filled the Blue Note to capacity when the Australian pianist David Helfgott, who was depicted in the movie ’Shine,’ returned to New York on Monday.... Read Full Article |
Rural Press Vote Ratifies Fairfax MergerRURAL Press preferred shareholders have overwhelmingly endorsed a planned $9 billion merger with Fairfax Media at the first of two meetings to vote on the issue. If the result is mirrored when ordinary shareholders meet on April 19, the merger could be completed within three weeks. That would likely make it the first ownership change completed since — although not because of — the Federal Governments media ownership reforms, which were enacted this week. Almost 98 per cent of Rural Press preferred shareholders endorsed the plan to become part of an expanded Fairfax, owner of The Age. Those preferred shareholders accounted for 61.9 million votes — 99.8 per cent of the total votes cast. Rural Press chairman John B. Fairfax described the result as "a major vote of confidence by our shareholders for the merger", while his Fairfax Media counterpart, Ron Walker, said it was "a significant step forward". Fairfax is offering Rural Press shareholders the option of either two Fairfax shares and $3.30 in cash for each of their shares, or 2.3 Fairfax shares and $1.80 in cash per share. The Rural Press board will pay a fully franked special dividend of 57.1¢ for each of its ordinary shares and 62.9¢ for its preferred stock. A rival takeover offer for either of the companies in the 24-hour window between the official proclamation of the media ownership laws and the Rural Press shareholder vote had been rumoured in the past week but did not eventuate. Fairfax shares rose 1¢ to $5.11. Rural Press ordinary shares lost 3¢ to $13.85; the preferred stock was unchanged at $13.90. The reporter owns Fairfax Media shares. http://theage.com.au/businessday Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional Information2 Sides Meet Face to Face on Dow Jones...Ex-Governor Denies Approval of Payments to Conrad Black... European court rules against tax on foreign dividends... 2 Companies That Cater to Women See Marketing Potential in Presidential Politics... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - Rural Press Vote Ratifies Fairfax Merger |
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