DOUGLAS COUNTY – Douglas County-based Western Union Co., the largest U.S. money-transfer company, has sold $2 billion of fixed- and floating-rate debt to refinance most of a loan the company used to fund its spinoff from First Data Corp. in September.
The debt, rated BBB+ by Fitch Ratings, comprised $1 billion of 5.4 percent notes due in five years, $500 million of 6.2 percent bonds maturing in 30 years, and $500 million of two-year notes that pay interest at 15 basis points above the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor.
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DENVER
Energy-aid nonprofit cited as a top charity
Energy Outreach Colorado, a statewide nonprofit organization that raises funds for energy assistance and energy-efficiency upgrades for affordable housing, was one of 10 charities across the United States to be named to the Charity Hall of Fame, compiled by Charity Navigator.
Charity Navigator annually ranks the financial health of more than 5,000 charities in the country. It released its Charity Hall of Fame this week as part of its 2006 Holiday Giving Guide. Energy Outreach Colorado also received the organization’s top four-star rating for five straight years.
FOSTER CITY, Calif.
Gilead buys shares
to acquire Myogen
Gilead Sciences Inc., a maker of top-selling AIDS drugs, bought $2.1 billion of Westminster-based Myogen Inc.’s outstanding shares, clearing the way for the acquisition of Myogen in a few days.
Gilead offered $52.50 a share for the stock and bought 40,072,463 shares, the company said Tuesday in a statement.
SAN FRANCISCO
Former HP chief set for court date today
Former Hewlett-Packard chair woman Patricia Dunn will be arraigned today in Santa Clara County Superior Court in connection with criminal charges stemming from the company’s corporate spying scandal.
Dunn and four other co-defendants face fraud, identity-theft and conspiracy charges for their roles in HP’s botched probe of boardroom leaks to journalists.
SAN FRANCISCO
Google builds cushion for YouTube addition
Google Inc. has set aside more than $200 million in its just-completed takeover of YouTube Inc. to cover possible losses on the deal, creating a financial cushion that might protect the Internet search leader if it’s hit with legal bills for the frequent copyright violations on YouTube’s video-sharing site.
Without elaborating in a late- Monday statement, Google said it is withholding 12.5 percent of the stock owed to YouTube for one year “to secure certain indemnification obligations.”
ATLANTA
Housing slowdown hits Home Depot
Home Depot on Tuesday blamed a slowing housing market and a relatively calm hurricane season as it reported a 3.1 percent drop in third-quarter profit.
Home Depot said it earned $1.49 billion, or 73 cents a share, for the three months ending Oct. 29, compared with a profit of $1.54 billion, or 72 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.
NEW YORK
Internet advertising sets spending record
Internet advertising reached a new high of $4.2 billion in the third quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of growth, according to a study released Tuesday. The estimate comes from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
, which conducted the quarterly online advertising study for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, an industry trade group.
PITTSBURGH
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Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc., the largest U.S. publicly traded sporting goods retailer, agreed to buy rival Golf Galaxy Inc. for $225 million.
Golf Galaxy’s stockholders will receive $18.82 a share, a 20 percent premium above Tuesday’s closing price, Dick’s said in a statement. Golf Galaxy’s 61 stores, Internet site and catalog had $250 million in sales in the year through Aug. 26.
WASHINGTON
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Franklin Raines, the former Fannie Mae chief executive who was ousted two years ago in the mortgage giant’s accounting scandal, will receive $2.6 million from the company under a deal disclosed Tuesday that largely resolves a dispute over compensation.
Fannie Mae, which finances one of every five home loans in the United States, reported the agreement signed last week with Raines in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
MINNEAPOLIS
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Target Corp., the second-largest U.S. discount chain, posted the biggest profit gain in two years on sales of food and holiday toys.
Third-quarter net income rose 16 percent to $506 million, or 59 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates. Profit was $435 million, or 49 cents, a year earlier. Revenue increased 11 percent to $13.6 billion.
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