The Star Online: Business

Google, like Facebook, in talks to buy Waze for about US$1bil
Crown selling entire 10% in rival Echo, partly owned by Genting
First edition of 'Great Gatsby' to be sold at auction, can fetch US$150,000

Google, like Facebook, in talks to buy Waze for about US$1bil

Posted: 23 May 2013 06:43 PM PDT

Published: Friday May 24, 2013 MYT 9:43:00 AM

NEW YORK: Google Inc is considering buying Israeli mobile satellite navigation start-up Waze Inc, which may lead to a bidding war with Facebook Inc, Bloomberg news reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Waze is seeking more than $1 billion and is fielding expressions of interest from multiple parties, said Bloomberg, citing a source.

Other media have reported that Facebook Inc has held talks to buy Waze for as much as $1 billion.

Google and other parties approached Waze after the Facebook talks became public but none of the bidders are close to clinching a deal, Bloomberg said, adding that the start-up might decide to remain independent.

Waze could not immediately be reached for comment. Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Waze uses satellite signals from members' smartphones to generate maps and traffic data, which it then shares with other users, offering real-time traffic info. - Reuters

Crown selling entire 10% in rival Echo, partly owned by Genting

Posted: 23 May 2013 05:51 PM PDT

SYDNEY: Australian casino company Crown Ltd is selling its entire 10 percent stake in rival Echo Entertainment Group, the operator of Sydney's sole casino, a source with knowledge of the sale said.

Crown is seeking in a book build through UBS to sell 82.5 million Echo shares at A$3.20 each, or for a total of A$264 million ($255.51 million), according to a term sheet provided by the source. That's a 7 percent discount to the stock's closing price on Thursday.

The sale comes a week after Crown received government approval to raise its stake in Echo to as much as 23 percent. The source said he does not know why Crown is selling the stake.

"Perhaps Crown's confident it's going to win approval for Barangaroo," said CLSA analyst Sacha Krien, referring to Crown's planned A$1 billion hotel development on Sydney's waterfront that includes a high-roller casino.

Crown's stake in Echo, which has the rights until 2019 to operate the only casino in Sydney, was widely viewed as an insurance policy to grab a slice of the lucrative Asian gambling market in case the Barangaroo proposal was rejected.

Echo has put forward a rival proposal to expand its existing Star casino and the government will only approve one of the developments.

However, Krien noted that the New South Wales state government only recently extended its review deadline for the two proposals to June 21, suggesting that other factors could also be behind the move.

"There is some reasonably bearish sentiment around the Australian economy, and maybe they think there's more downside in trading conditions," Krien said.

Officials at Crown, controlled by billionaire James Packer, as well as Echo couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Along with Crown, Echo has been courted by companies associated with Malaysian gaming giant Genting Bhd.

However, Genting, through Genting Singapore PLC, unexpectedly cut its stake in Echo last September, giving no reasons. It still owns Echo shares through its Genting Hong Kong Ltd unit.

Genting has also applied to increase its stake above 10 percent. ($1 = 1.0332 Australian dollars) - Reuters

First edition of 'Great Gatsby' to be sold at auction, can fetch US$150,000

Posted: 23 May 2013 05:45 PM PDT

Published: Friday May 24, 2013 MYT 8:45:00 AM

NEW YORK: A first edition copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, "The Great Gatsby," will be up for sale next month and could fetch up to $150,000, Sotheby's said on Thursday.

The book, which once belonged to the critic and author Malcolm Cowley, will go under the hammer along with a group of Fitzgerald's letters and an unpublished poem in the June 11 books and manuscript sale in New York.

"The book is now almost universally recognized as standing among the great achievements of 20th-century American literature with the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, and more broadly, the American dream, resonating with readers for generations," Sotheby's said in a statement announcing the sale.

Fitzgerald wrote the Jazz Age drama while living in France. Although it was popular when it was published in 1925, it wasn't until Fitzgerald's death in 1940 that it was hailed as the great American novel.

News of the sale comes just weeks after the opening of director Baz Luhrmann's film "The Great Gatsby," starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the hero of the tragic love story. - Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Khamis, 23 Mei 2013