UFO Info Week-End

An attempt to acquire Shire would probably be motivated sources said by the idea of getting

An attempt to acquire Shire would probably be motivated, sources said, by the idea of getting access to Transkaryotic products.Investors approved a measure in April to allow Serono to raise a $5.6bn war-chest, on top of its cash pile and credit lines, to fund purchases. “Shire would be the best fit,” said one banker.Serono, which is run by Ern-esto Bertarelli, Switzerland’s richest man, was outbid by Shire in 2004 for Transkaryotic Therapies. “Management has a clear, renewed sense of urgency to do a deal,” said ABN Amro fund manager Arnoud Diemers, who recently spoke with management. Investors have been pressing the company to deliver on the pledge it made in April to hit the acquisition trail after it failed to sell itself.
Speculation has begun to centre on a select group of targets, of which Shire is the largest. Its pension fund deficit remains significant at £5.6bn, and management recently agreed to raise annual payments to the fund from £480m to £750m.As well as the increasingly bitter row about pay, the union is unhappy at Mr Leighton’s plans to offer shares in the company to staff.. Swiss biotechnology group Serono is gearing up its $10bn (£5.5bn) acquisition drive, which could include a tilt at pharmaceutical giant Shire. The market was opened up to competition on 1 January, ending the Royal Mail’s monopoly, and insiders say the company is already losing business as a result.

Earlier this year, it reported a rise in full-year pre-tax profits to £609m.It has also won some key concessions from the Government. It was recently granted permission to use a ring-fenced £850m to prop up its pension deficit. In addition, the Government agreed to lend it £900m.But some challenges remain. Under the leadership of Mr Leighton and Mr Crozier, the Royal Mail has been returned to the black. However, it has offered to pass a proportion of the savings from its latest cost-cutting drive on to workers. What are companies going to do, not send out their mail?”The CWU has rejected a 2.9 per cent pay rise, claiming this will not bring salaries into line with the national average.

It was further angered when the Royal Mail went ahead and imposed the pay offer on staff, despite the union’s rejection.Talks between management and the CWU are continuing, but workers say that the union plans to notify the Royal Mail tomorrow that ballot papers are being sent out.The Royal Mail claims it cannot afford to pay any more than 2.9 per cent. “But I would rather that if it allows us to get everything out in the open. If we strike now, we would lose 10 per cent of our business in the first week There’s now an alternative [to the Royal Mail]. Its chairman, Allan Leighton, and chief executive, Adam Crozier, will meet the staff on Wednesday and Thursday. Dave Ward, deputy general secretary at the Communication Workers Union (CWU), will also be present.
Mr Leighton and Mr Crozier have held meetings with their managers before, but this is the first time that union representatives have been invited to accompany them.”It will be very different and I’m sure it will get sparky from time to time,” said one senior insider. The Royal Mail will this week meet hundreds of senior managers and their union representatives as the state-controlled postal giant seeks to prevent a walkout over pay. The announcement, to be made tomorrow, comes in the week that celebrity campaigners Bob Geldof and Bono launch their own evaluation of how well the G8 leaders have kept their promises.

The report, commissioned from a team of independent experts, will be published by Data (Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa), the rock stars’ lobbying organisation, on Thursday – three days before the anniversary of last year’s Live8 concerts.. The biggest Hollywood party in Australian history will today celebrate Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman’s marriage to singer Keith Urban in Sydney.. The pledges to the world’s poor made by the leaders of the rich world at the G8 summit in Gleneagles last year are to be policed by an independent, high-level international group being set up by Tony Blair. Family and friends will be summoned to the latest showbusiness wedding of the year by humble text message. Krrish is the story of Rohit’s son, Krishna, born with even more remarkable powers.. The bride is, arguably, the hottest box-office attraction on the planet The groom is a Grammy award-winner The guest list is a Who’s Who of film and TV But there will be no gold-embossed wedding invitations.

His costume – ill-advised given the heat in India and Singapore, where the movie is set – is made of black leather, complete with a face-mask.Krrish is the work of Rakesh Roshan, a major Bollywood director who is at the vanguard of attempts to emulate Hollywood. Keeping it in the family, he cast his son, Hrithik – a major star in his own right – as Krrish.The film is a sequel to Roshan’s 2003 hit Koi Mil Gaya, India’s first science fiction movie (influenced by ET, even down to the alien with glowing finger) which gave extraordinary powers to Rohit, an ordinary Indian. But Krrish is the first Superman-style superhero: a being gifted with extraordinary powers and a ridiculous costume.In fact Krrish is more a mix of Superman and Spiderman. Like Superman he is so strong he can leap over buildings; like Spiderman he can climb them.