KarstadtQuelle hires banks to sell property-paper

(Reuters) - Last week, the tourism, department store and mail-order
group had said it could merge its department store division
with a rival as a prelude to a separate stock market listing
for the unit within 18 months.




In March 2006, KarstadtQuelle sold its property portfolio
for 4.5 billion euros, more than three times its book value, to
a joint venture owned 49 percent by itself and 51 percent by
Whitehall, a Goldman Sachs property fund.



Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

As Real Soars, Brazilians Make Love to Gucci, Porsche, Praada and Tiffany

(Bloomberg) -- Never have Gucci, Porsche, Jaguar,
Prada and Tiffany been so in love with Brazil, home of the
world's best-performing currency over the past three years.

The waiting list for Prada SpA's new spring-summer line of
leather bags has swelled to 120 people at Dona Santa, a luxury
goods store in the Brazilian coastal city of Recife. The most
expensive bag in the collection costs $3,600, equal to about
half the annual income of the average Brazilian household.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

UPDATE 1-Norddeutsche says to bid 30 eur/shr for Cumerio

(Reuters) - Norddeutsche will make a cash tender offer of 30 euros per
Cumerio share, which would be a premium of 28.5 percent to the
closing share price on June 21, valuing Cumerio at 777 million
euros , Norddeutsche said in a statement.




"This is the ideal combination for both companies. It
provides a unique opportunity to lead the consolidation of our
industry and create an international leader and a growth
platform in the sector beyond Europe," Norddeutsche Chief
Executive Werner Marnette said in a statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

WEEKEAHEAD-Emerging debt investors wary of subprime, Fed

(Reuters) - Fears that the subprime mortgage crisis could spill over
into other markets already led some investors to flee risky
assets on Friday, in an initial flight to safe-haven U.S.
Treasury notes.




Emerging debt spreads over Treasuries, an important measure
of risk aversion, widened 6 basis points to 159 basis points
during the week, according to the JP Morgan's EMBI+ index
. Only on Friday, spreads widened 4 basis points.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Gold Futures May Decline on Speculation Dollar Will Climb, Survey Says

(Bloomberg) -- Gold may fall for the second straight
week on speculation that rising U.S. interest rates will boost the
value of the dollar, reducing the appeal of the precious metal as
an alternative investment.

Ten of the 25 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg from Sydney to Chicago on June 21 and June 22 advised
selling gold, which fell 0.3 percent last week to $657 an ounce on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Nine said
to buy, and six were neutral.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities 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

Customer service a casualty of U.S. airline recovery

(Reuters) - If carriers want to ensure long-term survival, they say
they have no choice but to restrain capacity, fill as many
seats as possible and cut costs wherever they can.




And for travelers who don't like it, there is always the
bus.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News