The shareholders of Kettle Foods ("Kettle") and Lion Capital LLP ("Lion") are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached whereby Lion will acquire Kettle Foods, a leading premium natural potato chip company in the US and UK. Lion is acquiring the company in a private transaction which, conditional upon regulatory approval, is expected to close in the next 30 days. No financial details of the transaction are being released
Oslo, London, Copenhagen, Zurich and Tokyo are the world's most expensive cities in relation to a standardized basket of 122 goods and services. The UBS study "Prices and Earnings" shows that life is particularly expensive in London and New York if the cost of housing is included. The basket of goods and services costs the least in Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Delhi and Buenos Aires.
Bank of America Corporation has entered into definitive agreements to exchange its BankBoston operations in Chile and Uruguay for stock in Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. (Itau). These agreements follow a similar transaction for the operations of BankBoston in Brazil that was announced on May 2. At that time, it was also announced that the two companies would negotiate exclusively with respect to the Chile and Uruguay businesses.
At the request of eMarketer, online measurement companies Nielsen//NetRatings and Hitwise each produced a list of the top retail Web sites in the UK, ranked by number of visitors in June 2006. Nielsen//NetRatings also listed the top e-commerce sites in Germany and France.
The US is the global leader in online travel expenditures. Its leisure and non-corporate travel consumers will spend $122.4 billion by 2009, up from $64.9 billion last year, eMarketer projects in its new report, Online Travel Worldwide: A Mosaic of Separate Markets.
Consumers overwhelmingly want smart, live and responsive customer service, preferably over the phone rather than by e-mail. Highest expectations found among women, 18-34 year olds and residents in the Southwest and Midwest
Sole proprietors, who make up three-fourths of all small businesses, lack the time and resources to focus on generating new business, according to a new survey from Visa USA and SCORE, a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small businesses nationwide. At the same time, the vast majority say they are happier now than they were at their previous employer, despite working as hard or harder.
Nike Brand President Charlie Denson announced management and organizational changes designed to strengthen alignment of the Nike brand with geographic growth opportunities and core global product categories and consumer segments. The moves evolve Nike from a product-driven business model supported by brand initiatives, to a consumer-focused organization driving profitable growth through global category management of core business segments.
Toyota Motor Corporation today announced operating results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2006. Net revenues and earnings mark new record for the first quarter.
