Gazprom Postpones Sale of Bonds, Fitch Withdraws Credit Ratings on Debt

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural-gas
monopoly, postponed a planned sale of bonds prompting Fitch
Ratings to withdraw assigned grades for the debt.

More than 50 companies from U.S. carmaker Chrysler to
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s Alliance Boots Plc postponed or
reworked debt sales since mid-June as investors shun riskier
assets amid concern that U.S. subprime mortgage-related losses
will spill into other parts of the debt markets.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Bank ratings intact despite LBO funding jam -S&P

(Reuters) - Turmoil in the global credit markets has left banks unable
to syndicate funding for a string of high-profile leveraged
buyouts, including those of British health and beauty chain
Alliance Boots [AB.UL] and U.S. carmaker Chrysler.




The funding, often with aggressive terms, was committed to
when the credit-market sky was clear and investors seemed to
have an unquenchable thirst for debt.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

TREASURIES-Benchmark yields hit 7-week low on volatile stocks

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks briefly dipped into negative territory as
concerns about financing for takeovers hit financial shares,
stalling an earlier rebound. The drop followed news that
Chrysler Corp. had postponed a $12 billion auto loan deal. For
details see [ID:nN25348993].




The news lent underlying support to Treasuries -- which had
been down sharply earlier in the session -- as investors
considered safer fixed income assets to park their cash and
assess the ongoing shakeout in lending markets.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Cerberus says Chrysler buyout remains on track

(Reuters) - The comments came after bankers on Wednesday were forced to
postpone a $12 billion syndicated loan needed to finance the
deal.




DaimlerChrysler said earlier it remained
confident the sale would close in the current quarter.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Chrysler says closing of Cerberus deal very close

(Reuters) - LaSorda also said Chrysler, now the No. 4 automaker in the U.S. market, needs to close a gap in hourly labor costs with Japanese rivals making vehicles in the U.S. market.




Chrysler says its U.S. hourly labor costs, including health care, are some $30 per hour higher than equivalent costs for Japanese automakers led by Toyota Motor Corp. .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UAW's Gettelfinger Stuck Between Reuther's Legacy, `Crashing' Car Industr

(Bloomberg) -- Ron Gettelfinger, chief of the United
Auto Workers, will sit at the bargaining table with the Big
Three automakers while holding one of the weakest hands in the
72-year-old union's history. He'll also have the shadow of union
icon Walter Reuther looming over him.

Gettelfinger starts negotiating today with companies that
lost a combined $15 billion last year -- a far cry from the era
when Reuther won health insurance and pensions for the rank-and-
file during two decades running the UAW until his death in 1970.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler now are
looking to roll back those so-called legacy costs, which include
retiree health-care liabilities of $114 billion.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Delphi ends Cerberus deal; sees new plan in July

(Reuters) - Delphi terminated the $3.4 billion equity investment plan on Saturday. Cerberus, which is buying Chrysler Group from DaimlerChrysler AG , was a co-lead investor in the plan with Appaloosa, Delphi's biggest shareholder.




The developments are not expected to prevent Delphi from exiting bankruptcy this year and Delphi's board is scheduled to meet July 16 to consider the matters, it said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

UPDATE 1-Material Sciences posts quarterly loss; shares fall

(Reuters) - Chief Executive Clifford Nastas said he expects the
slowdown in the U.S. auto market to continue through the year.




Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, which account for
about 45 percent of Material Sciences' sales, have been seeing
lower U.S. sales on high gas prices and a weak housing market.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

German Stocks Increase, Led by ThyssenKrupp on Upgrade; BMW, Daimler Climb

(Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark DAX Index rose,
recovering some of yesterday's decline. ThyssenKrupp AG paced
gains after Goldman, Sachs & Co. recommended buying the stock.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG climbed after the world's
largest maker of luxury cars said sales increased to a record
last month. Shares of DaimlerChrysler AG also increased.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Sales slide for Ford, Chrysler; Nissan jumps

(Reuters) - Ford's overall monthly sales, including sales into commercial fleets, were down 8 percent, although the No. 2 U.S. automaker eked out its first monthly gain in showroom sales since October.




Sales for Chrysler Group were down 1 percent in one of its last months in operation as a unit of DaimlerChrysler AG . Chrysler is being taken private by Cerberus Capital Management in a $7.4 billion deal expected to close as early as this month.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

DaimlerChrysler CEO sees good years ahead: paper

(Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler announced in May it would sell an 80.1-percent stake in Chrysler Group to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management , unwinding the 1998 merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler that never worked out as planned.




Zetsche pointed out that the risk of being taken over by a financial investor was much lower after the sale.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

European Stocks Drop; Air France, DaimlerChrysler, Nokia Lead the Decline

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell the most in two
weeks as rising oil prices pushed airlines, automakers and
chemical producers lower and Goldman, Sachs & Co. downgraded
shares of Nokia Oyj.

Air France-KLM Group, the region's largest carrier, carmaker
DaimlerChrysler AG and chemical company BASF AG led a retreat by
companies most sensitive to increasing energy costs. Nokia, the
world's biggest maker of mobile phones, had its biggest drop in
five months.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

European Stocks Rise on Fed Comments; Daimler, Axa, Rio Tinto Pace Gains

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced for a second
day, led by exporters and mining companies, after the U.S.
Federal Reserve said the world's largest economy is growing
without spurring inflation and copper prices increased in Asia.

DaimlerChrysler AG and Axa SA led an advance by companies
that rely on the U.S. for revenue. Rio Tinto Group, the world's
third-biggest mining company, climbed to a record. Cadbury
Schweppes Plc gained on expectations the world's largest
confectioner may get offers for its U.S. drinks unit.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News