Level 3 Communications has increased the amount of money it will set aside for special bonuses that Broadwing employees will receive after the companies’ $1.4 billion merger is completed next year.
Broomfield-based Level 3 is allocating $6.4 million for bonuses, up from $5 million when the merger was initially announced in October, according to a regulatory filing.
MORE BRIEFS
DENVER
Moody’s upgrades Qwest debt rating
Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday that it has raised Qwest’s debt rating by two levels to Ba2, which is two levels below investment grade.
The upgrade reflects expectations for “steady growth in earnings and operating cash flow over the next two years,” Moody’s said in a statement.
DENVER
New Janus fund eyes non-U.S. firms
Janus Capital Group Inc. on Tuesday introduced Janus Adviser International Equity Fund, a portfolio that seeks long-term growth of capital by investing in non-U.S. companies.
The fund, which is based upon an existing institutional strategy, aims to identify and capitalize on firms with strong growth prospects.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.
Suits linking oil well, cancer thrown out
A California judge has thrown out 12 lawsuits claiming that an oil well – operated by Denver-based Venoco Inc. – on the campus of Beverly Hills High School caused cancer in former students.
The case began in 2003 when the law firm that employs celebrity legal crusader Erin Brockovich located hundreds of people who believed emissions from the well were responsible for their cancers or other illnesses.
The city and the Beverly Hills Unified School District spent more than $1 million to determine the area was safe. Venoco was named as a defendant in one of the 12 lawsuits the judge dismissed.
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
EchoStar to cut off some network TV
About 34,000 West Virginians will lose touch with their favorite network TV programs on Friday.
After that date, Douglas County-based EchoStar Communications Corp., operator of the Dish Network, must stop providing subscribers in the rural areas around Beckley, Bluefield, Clarksburg, Parkersburg and Wheeling with distant feeds of several networks.
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge William Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., rejected an attempt by EchoStar to delay the cutoff date.
SAN BRUNO, Calif.
Deal to put YouTube videos on cellphones
YouTube, the video-sharing website owned by Google Inc., struck an agreement with Verizon Wireless to show its most popular video clips on cellphones in an effort to expand beyond personal computers.
Consumers will be able to watch YouTube clips on phones starting next month, San Bruno, Calif.-based YouTube said Monday in a statement.
ST. LOUIS
Anheuser-Bush profit outlook stays positive
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.’s earnings outlook remains positive as improving revenue per barrel is offsetting a slowdown in volume growth, executives of the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light told investors and analysts Tuesday.
Speaking at a gathering in New York, Anheuser-Busch vice president and chief financial officer W. Randolph Baker noted that sales and earnings were up in the first nine months of 2006 over the same period in 2005.
WASHINGTON
Securities regulators o merge operations
The companies charged with regulating the two largest U.S. stock exchanges – the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market – announced plans Tuesday to combine their operations, calling it one of the biggest changes in the regulatory system since its creation 72 years ago.
The new organization, which will combine NASD, formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers, and NYSE Group Inc., will be the world’s largest securities regulator. The combination aims to cut costs by eliminating redundancies.
LONDON
Buyout would create huge European utility
Scottish Power PLC said Tuesday it has agreed to a $22.5 billion buyout offer from Spanish company Iberdrola SA that would create one of Europe’s biggest utilities.
But the cash-and-stock bid was lower than some had expected, and analysts said it opened the possibility of a rival bid.
NEW YORK
Merger of Sirius, XM Satellite possible
An attempt to merge Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the two largest pay-radio providers, may occur within the next 18 months, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Kit Spring said.
A combination would create $650 million in annual savings, Spring said in a report published Nov. 27.
He put the chances of a bid by one side or the other at 75 percent.
REDMOND, Wash.
Microsoft: Sales of music player on track
Microsoft Corp. said initial sales of its Zune music player are in line with the company’s expectations amid reports of waning interest in the device that competes with Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod.
Initial sales “indicate we are on track to meet our internal business projections,” Zune director Jason Reindorp said in an e-mailed statement. Microsoft has refused to disclose sales or projections.
