INTERNATIONAL BRIEFING
INTERNATIONAL BRIEFING
Tuesday, August 29, 2006; Page D05
LEGAL
Scores Investigated in Ikea Bribery Case
German prosecutors said they were investigating dozens of people, including seven former Ikea employees, over allegations of bribery involving the Swedish furniture giant. The former employees are suspected of accepting bribes and other gifts from German firms in exchange for construction contracts.
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Prosecutors in Frankfurt said they had 51 people under investigation -- 44 of whom worked for construction and services companies. A spokeswoman for Ikea in Germany said that the seven employees had left the company and that the Swedish firm had severed its business links with the implicated companies.
BRAZIL
Petrobras Seeks Offshore Deal With Mexico
Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras, is exploring a partnership with its Mexican counterpart Pemex for deep-water exploration and production. Mexico also needs to find new oil sources and sees deep-water exploration as the long-term answer to declining production elsewhere.
Mexican president-elect Felipe Calderón has said he is interested in learning about deep-water exploration and production from Petrobras, though Mexican law prohibits private or foreign companies from owning oil or gas concessions.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Unilever to Sell European Food Unit
Unilever agreed to sell most of its European frozen-foods unit to Permira Funds for $2.21 billion to focus on more profitable brands. The division, which includes Iglo and Birds Eye, was put up for sale in February. Earnings growth at Unilever has been trailing gains at Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods.
Unilever does not own Birds Eye Foods in the United States, which is a private company based in Rochester, N.Y.
Large Italian Banks to Merge
Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI announced over the weekend that they would merge, a move expected to usher in an era of consolidation of Italy's fragmented banking sector. The combined bank would be Italy's largest.
A major shareholder in Sanpaolo IMI, Banco Santander Central Hispano, said that Sanpaolo's value wasn't sufficiently reflected in the exchange ratio but that it nonetheless supports the proposed merger. France's Credit Agricole, which owns 18 percent of Banca Intesa, has indicated that it also supports the deal.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.