IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 28 April
28-04-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
BCM shareholders reject Day package | MySpace names new execs
The Irish Times reports that shareholders of Babcock & Brown Capital (BCM), which controls 57 percent of Eircom, have voted overwhelmingly against a controversial remuneration and termination package for newly appointed chief executive Andrew Day. The move opens the way for a renewed bid for BCM from TaemasBridge, a company led by former BCM director Rob Topfer. Topfer threatened last week to withdraw the TaemasBridge offer if the package for Day was passed. BCM chairman Kerry Roxburgh said he was not surprised by the 88 percent vote against the incentive package for Day. Shareholders also voted to separate BCM from its former parent company Babcock & Brown and to change BCM's name to Eircom Holdings.
The paper also reports on the latest row at the Moriarty tribunal, which concerns the ownership of Esat Digifone in 1996. Businessman Denis O'Brien and former government minister Michael Lowry have claimed a document drafted in May 1996 contradicts one of the provisional findings made by the tribunal. The tribunal's findings were issued confidentially late last year to interested parties.
The Irish Independent says that Entertainment.ie has refused to carry a controversial ad attacking the HSE on one area of its site. The ad featured was devised by Fine Gael to highlight the party's health reform plan. The entertainment website told Fine Gael's media buyers that the ad could not feature on one section of its site, which was sponsored by the HSE. The ad is available on other sections of the website, however.
According to the Financial Times, US telco Verizon Communications has posted a 12 percent rise in revenue and a modest increase in profits. The healthy results were boosted by the strength of its Verizon Wireless mobile unit and its purchase of Alltel, a smaller mobile operator. Net income grew to USD3.2 billion, or USD0.58 a share, up from USD3.05 billion, or USD0.57 a share, a year earlier. Excluding some items, earnings per share rose to USD0.63 from USD0.61. Revenue increased to USD26.6 billion.
Separately, the paper says that Verizon Communications has held discussions with Apple about selling a version of the iPhone. Both Verizon and Apple declined to comment about the talks, but sources said Verizon had held talks with Apple about the possibility of selling an iPhone based on the 3G wireless technology CDMA 2000. If Verizon were to secure an iPhone deal it would be a significant coup, as AT&T, the second-largest US mobile operator, currently has an exclusive sales deal for the iPhone, using a different wireless technology.
The Wall Street Journal reports that online bookseller Amazon.com has acquired Lexcycle, a company that makes a popular e-book reading application for Apple's iPhone called Stanza. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The paper also notes that News Corp has named a new chief operating officer and chief product officer at MySpace, after naming former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta as CEO last week. Michael Jones, a former executive at AOL, was named chief operating officer. Former MTV Networks executive Jason Hirschhorn has been named chief product officer, a new position at the company.
Free! "In the papers" email newsletter -- get the full text to your in-box every business day. Email itp@enn.ie with 'subscribe' in the subject line.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 