| Burlco eyes Web auctions
Burlington County plans to join other local governments in auctioning government surplus items on the Web. The Burlington County Freeholders authorized its treasurer's office to sign an agreement with GovDeals Inc., which operates an Internet auction site called www.govdeals.com. The freeholders said they will sell vehicles and office equipment to the public online to make more money, save time and attract more bidders. Sharon Brauckmann, county purchasing agent, said the auction would be held later this year and not until the state Department of Community Affairs gives its approval. She said the state must approve a county application to waive the normal local public auction using an auctioneer. Kurt Brock, the county's chief financial officer, said the state is approving Internet auctions of government property only on eBay and GovDeals.
The Pot Is Sweetened In Clear Channel Bidding
The buyout groups bidding for Clear Channel Communications have suggested sweetening their offer by allowing shareholders to co-invest in the firm. The bidders, private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, have proposed raising their $26 billion offer and have also suggested a broad package of adjustments, which includes letting shareholders co-invest in a small part of the deal, says a report from the New York Times.
Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital's $37.60-a-share offer has run into resistance from some shareholders and proxy advisory firms, who argue that the deal undervalues Clear Channel. It remains to be seen whether a potential small rise in the deal price will be enough to sway investors, or whether shareholders will demand a more significant hike.
PBS kicks off three weekends of auctions
It's that time of the year again, when fundraising for Rocky Mountain PBS - half a century old - is of the auction sort, rather than call-in pledges. Beginning tonight and running through three weekends, the state's Public Broadcasting Service, including the local outlet, KTSC-TV, will televise several hours of auction, bidding for which may be accomplished online as well as on the air. The initial weekend, today through Sunday, will be a statewide event focusing on more than 800 art pieces donated by artists from throughout the state. Up for bidding and buying will be paintings, sculpture, pottery, glass, furniture, jewelry and textiles. People may view the items online at rmpbsAuction.org. Next weekend - April 20-22 - KTSC-TV will broadcast live from the the Pueblo studio, located on the campus of Colorado State University-Pueblo.
FTSE 100 movers: Boots rockets as bids mount up
LONDON (SHARECAST) - An auction for Alliance Boots between Terra Firma and KKR/Pessina has sent the chemist chain shooting to the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard. Terra Firma fired the last shot by upping its offer to 1,126p and topping an agreed bid of 1,090p announced by KKR/Pessina this morning. As yet, the AB board has not responded to the Terra Firma bid. Standard Chartered has recovered along with Asian markets as concern over the runaway growth of the Chinese economy eases. There were early losses for WPP as the advertising giant reported "slightly disappointing" first quarter revenue figures, although Goldman Sachs kept the shares as a "buy". The broker said the 0.7% drop in reportable revenues to 1.37bn was 2.6% below its estimate of 1.40bn, mainly due to an underestimation of the exchange rate impact.
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