RPT-IPO-VIEW-Blackstone IPO sets stage for robust 2007

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 24 - The past week's U.S. market
for initial public offerings lacked quantity, but Thursday's
$4.13 billion offering by Blackstone Group more than made up
for it, and put the U.S. IPO market on a high note for the
first half of 2007, and likely the rest of the year.




Blackstone, the week's only major IPO, raised $1.6 billion
more than the $2.5 billion generated by initial public
offerings during the entire month of June 2006, according to
Dealogic.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Russia to Help Balkans Become New Energy Hub, Putin Tells Energy Summit

(Bloomberg) -- Russia will take an increasingly
central role in turning southeast Europe into a new energy hub,
President Vladimir Putin said.

Russian companies are ready to increase supplies of energy
to the region and invest in new power plants, Putin said,
speaking at a Balkans energy summit in Zagreb, Croatia, today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Nice Systems may buy Actimize for $280 mln -paper

(Reuters) - Nice and Actimize spokesmen declined to comment.




Actimize was established in 1999 and is owned by several
Israeli venture capital funds, which have so far invested some
$24 million in the company.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Hyundai Motor says union scales back strike plan

(Reuters) - "The union decided not to stop work from Monday to Wednesday," a Hyundai spokesman said by telephone without elaborations.




Hyundai's union was not available for comments.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

China says regrets new IMF currency guidelines

(Reuters) - China's representative to the International Monetary Fund "regrets" changes to the fund's currency surveillance guidelines that were adopted this month despite objections from Beijing and other members, according to an interview published on Sunday.

"Such an important revision should be adopted with the maximum consensus. But since this revision was adopted without addressing the concerns of some developing countries, China had to withhold its support," Ge Huayong, Chinese representative to the IMF executive board, said in an interview published on the central bank's Web site (www.pbc.goc.cn).


Read more at Reuters Africa

Trade rules waiver needed for small firms - Sarkozy

(Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Saturday that European small businesses should have the same exemption as their U.S. counterparts from global trade rules on the awarding of public contracts.

France has long pushed the European Union's executive commission to secure an exemption for small businesses from World Trade Organisation rules that government contracts should be open to all bidders. It argues that the United States and other countries have waivers to help their local companies.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Putin Visits Balkans to Bolster Russia's Energy Role in Southeast Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin
meets with leaders of the 10 Balkan countries in Croatia today to
bolster Russia's presence in southeast Europe as the region
becomes a hub for energy transport.

Putin will use the summit to help Russian energy companies,
such as OAO Gazprom, set up new partnerships, buy assets and win
contracts in the region, the Russian presidency said in a
statement. Gazprom, Russia's gas-export monopoly, and Eni SpA,
announced yesterday a plan to build a new gas pipeline linking
Russia to the European Union across the Black Sea and through the
Balkans.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News