IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 24 July
24-07-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
Mobile phone evidence carries new legal weight | Nokia set to acquire Twango
The Irish Times reports that merger and acquisition (M&A) activity fell in the second quarter, with Irish companies involved in deals valued at EUR3.7 billion, compared to EUR4.2 billion in the same period last year, as noted by ENN on Monday.
The Irish Independent says that the State will now seek to win a series of convictions based on mobile phone evidence, following the Joe O'Reilly murder verdict. Mobile phone records will be used in a series of high-profile trials due to come before the courts within months. Until now, prosecutors have been reluctant to rely on the kind of evidence used to secure a conviction in the O'Reilly trial, because of concerns about its admissibility and value as evidence. The O'Reilly conviction hinged on legally obtained mobile phone data that placed him in the vicinity of his home in The Naul on the morning he murdered his wife.
The Irish Examiner reports that Domino Pizza's recent launch of its online ordering service in Ireland has got off to a slow start. However, its internet service is performing very well in Britain, according to Domino's first-half pre-tax results, which showed online sales increasing by 42.1 percent to STG13.6 million, up from STG9.6 million last year.
According to the Financial Times, Texas Instruments, the biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, has posted second-quarter sales 7 percent higher than in the previous period. TI said demand had begun to rebound, increasing revenues from USD3.19 billion to USD3.42 billion. However, revenues were 7 percent lower than a year earlier "due to lower demand across a broad base of products". TI also announced a strategic partnership with Ericsson to package TI's application processors with Ericsson's modems, appealing to manufacturers of high-end and mid-range 3G phones.
The paper also says that the rebel shareholder calling on Vodafone to spin off its minority stake in Verizon Wireless admitted on Monday night that it was heading for defeat in its campaign to persuade a majority of the UK group's investors to back its stance. However, Efficient Capital Structures, the activist shareholder backed by John Mayo, former deputy chief executive of Marconi, claimed it had won the argument in favour of Vodafone changing strategy on its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless. Glenn Cooper, chairman of ECS, claimed Vodafone's efforts to defeat the ECS resolution meant the UK group would have to change its strategy on Verizon Wireless, possibly within a year.
The paper also says that online travel agency Expedia has slashed plans to buy back its own shares, blaming unattractive financing conditions in jittery credit markets. Plans to finance a USD3.5 billion share buyback with new debt ran aground as funding costs have risen in response to a heavy pipeline of new debt supply for leveraged buyouts. Credit investors have also been skittish on fears that the US sub-prime mortgage crisis could spread to other asset classes. Expedia said it would now buy back 25 million shares, or 8 percent of its stock. In its original plan, announced in June, the company said it would tap the debt markets to help fund the buyback of 42 percent of its shares
The Wall Street Journal reports that Nokia is planning to announce on Tuesday that it has bought an online photo- and video-sharing start-up. Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones by sales and market share, is acquiring Twango, a closely held media-sharing website. The exact size of the deal is not clear, but it is expected to be less than EUR70 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 