| PSO bidding date extended to May 19
KARACHI: The Privatisation Commission (PC) Board has declared Attock Group ineligible to participate further in PSO privatisation and extended the oil marketing giants bidding date to May 19.
The PC Board, which met here on Thursday with Zahid Hamid, Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment in the chair, decided to accept the recommendations of Pakistan State Oil Privatisation Transaction Committee to disqualify the Attock Group of Companies from participating in the privatisation process of the PSO.
This decision has been taken in accordance with the PC law, rules, regulations and procedures and keeping in view the guidelines contained in the judgment of the Supreme Court in Pakistan Steel Mills case.
The decision has been taken inter alia for non-disclosure of material information by the Attock Group as required in the RSoQ (Request for Statement of Qualification) rendering the Group liable for disqualification.
CDS report: Boots tighter despite bidding war
The cost of insuring the debt of Alliance Boots fell on Friday morning even as a bidding war erupted over the UK health and beauty group. A consortium led by private equity firm Terra Firma raised its offer for Boots to £11.26 a share, topping an earlier recommended offer from private equity group KKR and Stefano Pessina, the Italian billionaire. Still, the group's credit default swaps, a kind of insurance against the non-payment of debt, was 5 basis points tighter on the day at a mid-price of 177.5bp, meaning that it costs €177,500 a year to insure €10m of the group's debt against default in a five-year contract. Market sources say the movement in the CDS market reflects uncertainty about what offer would result in more leverage. Some have raised questions about whether the company's existing bonds may be bought back, making the CDS based on them, in essence, worthless.
Speeding ticket sold in online auction
It started as a speeding fine on a lonely road, but by the end Bob Grieve was a Trade Me star, $NZ51 ($A45.60) richer and fielding amorous advances from complete strangers. Grieve, a TV3 news cameraman in Christchurch, was peeved when a slightly heavy foot while driving back from Geraldine resulted in a policeman handing him a $NZ130 ($A116) fine. So he did what anyone does these days - he put the ticket up for sale on online auction site Trade Me. "I thought it would be a bit of fun. I didn't really know how it would go, but I figured quite a few people would notice it," he said. Ten days later, his auction had been viewed nearly 30,000 times, questions were being posted faster than he could answer them, and then his ticket was being sold to an insurance assessor from near Pukekohe who vowed to pay for the privilege of having someone else's speeding fine.
INVITATION FOR BIDS FOR SALE OF FOREST PRODUCTS PUBLIC LAND
Sealed bids will be received by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Goodman, Mississippi up to and not later than 10:00 a.m. May 8, 2007, for the purpose of selling forest products on the designated areas of Holmes County State Park, Section 32, Township 14 North, Range 4 East, in Holmes County.
Before bids are submitted, full information concerning the sale may be obtained from the Service Forester, Mississippi Forestry Commission, P.O. Box 576, Kosciusko, MS 39090.
The right to reject any and all bids is reserved.
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