Tender Offers

The results of the competing tender offers for Paramount Communications are to be announced at 9 a.m. EST today. The stock market bet on Viacom Monday, pushing Paramount and Viacom stock lower and QVC Network's price higher. The company perceived as the winner in the bidding has seen its stock fall because of the debt and other obligations it would assume. Paramount shares fell 87.5 cents to $76 on the New York Stock Exchange. Viacom Class B shares fell $1.75 to $29.

Russell Martin used to be an All-Star. He was supposed to become the face of the Dodgers. Thursday night, he became a free agent ? two years before he was eligible to hit the open market. Unwilling to risk the possibility of paying him around $6 million next year and unable to agree on a deal that would have assured them of avoiding the costly salary arbitration process, the Dodgers declined to tender the 27-year-old Martin a contract on Thursday night, the deadline for clubs to offer deals to players under their control.

Ade Ogunjobi apparently hasn't given up on his plan to buy the world's biggest companies. And federal regulators haven't given up in their efforts to stop him from trying. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit in federal court in Washington on Monday, accusing Los Angeles-based Ogunjobi and his company, Toks Inc., of offering unregistered "promissory notes" to investors on the company's Web site.

Shawne Merriman is finally with the San Diego Chargers in training camp after signing his one-year tender contract. Merriman, 26, was made a restricted free agent when the Chargers offered him the tender in the off-season. The linebacker was absent from camp until Friday, when he joined the team for a walkthrough in preparation for Saturday's exhibition opener against the Chicago Bears. Merriman isn't expected to be ready to play until at least the third exhibition game, versus Dallas on Aug. 21. The Maryland product, taken with the 12th overall pick in 2005, is coming off an unspectacular year that saw him record four sacks in 14 games, this after a knee injury caused him to sit out all but one game in 2008.

Two days before the expiration of rival tender offers for Paramount Communications Inc., bankers representing the sought-after entertainment conglomerate said there had been no new offer from Viacom Inc., leaving QVC Network Inc. the leading bidder. Competing tender offers for Paramount from Viacom and QVC, with which Paramount has signed a merger agreement, are due to expire Friday. A banker at Lazard Freres, which represents Paramount, said Paramount received no new bid from Viacom.

Federal securities regulators proposed rule changes Tuesday that would make it easier to include U.S. stockholders in tender offers for their holdings in foreign securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to seek public comment on proposed changes that would exempt foreign entities from some U.S. registration requirements to encourage them to extend offers for shares to American holders. Under current rules, for U.S.

Paramount Communications Inc., moving closer to a deadline on auctioning itself, Friday unveiled steps designed to attract the highest possible bids. The New York-based entertainment conglomerate said it will not disclose the size of the offers it receives by Monday's initial bidding deadline. By keeping bidders in the dark, Paramount will reserve its power to continue negotiations with its two main suitors: QVC Network Inc. and Viacom Inc.

The Senate Banking Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would impose some restrictions on corporate raiders by tightening key provisions of laws governing stock tender offers. After a day-long session, the committee voted 14-6 to approve the measure, which would require quicker public disclosure of significant stock holdings and for the first time restrict the purchase of large amounts of stock. But the bill, the Tender Offer Disclosure and Fairness Act of 1987, faces an uncertain future.

QVC Network Inc. is expected to begin its cash tender offer todayfor 51% of Paramount Communications Inc., without trying to top an equivalent bid launched Monday by Viacom Inc. QVC Chairman Barry Diller remains under pressure to raise his $80-per-share offer significantly, since Viacom has already negotiated a friendly merger agreement with the Paramount board and cleared the federal government's scrutiny for antitrust problems.

In a bare-knuckles maneuver that's audacious even by Hollywood standards, corporate raider Carl Icahn is moving closer to seizing more control of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. The stage is now set for the activist investor to launch his proxy war to win control of Lions Gate's board. By Wednesday evening, Icahn was on the verge of becoming the largest shareholder in the Santa Monica film and TV studio. Shortly before the 5 p.m. Pacific time expiration of his $7-a-share tender offer, Icahn had received 12.5% of Lions Gate's outstanding shares, which would give him at least a 31% stake, according to two people familiar with the matter.

With once-promising talks at a standstill, Carl Icahn on Friday again extended his $7-per-share tender offer to take control of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. In a sign that the parties are still very much at odds, activist investor Icahn took another public swipe at Lions Gate's board, calling its recent decision to put aside $16 million for potential golden parachutes for top executives "reprehensible." "This latest action, together with the board's failed and misguided attempts to implement a poison pill and its reckless retention … of no less than six professional advisory firms … to defend against our offer, shows just how far removed this board has become from its mission of holding management accountable and safeguarding the interests of shareholders," Icahn said in a statement.

One day after the merger of concert industry giants Ticketmaster Entertainment and Live Nation gained regulatory approval, cable mogul John Malone moved to vastly increase his stake in the newly formed colossus. Malone's Liberty Media Corp. made a tender offer Tuesday to acquire 34.5 million shares of Live Nation Entertainment for $12 each. If fully subscribed, Liberty's stake in the company would more than double to 35%. The move strengthens the alignment of Malone and Live Nation Entertainment Chairman Barry Diller, who two years ago battled over plans to split Internet conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp into five companies.

General Motors Corp.'s last-ditch, Hail Mary bid to avoid bankruptcy fell with a thud Wednesday as its bondholders overwhelmingly rejected a deal to swap their debt for equity in the company. That offer was a central element in the automaker's efforts -- guided by the federal government -- to restructure outside of court. Without it the company appears almost certain to file a Chapter 11 petition by Monday.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. officially said Thursday that it was remaining "neutral" on whether investors should tender their bonds to activist shareholder Carl Icahn. At the same time, the company is sending a strong message to debt holders: Seller beware. In a two-page statement, the film and TV studio marshaled five arguments that it "strongly urged" note holders to consider before tendering their bonds.

Swiss drug developer Roche Holding on Friday boosted its hostile tender offer for biotechnology pioneer Genentech Inc. to $93 a share, or $45.7 billion in total, after its initial bid failed to pick up much support from shareholders. For weeks, Genentech's board had been calling Roche's $86.50 bid too low, with much of Wall Street saying shareholders probably wouldn't bite at the offer.

The board of Paramount Communications Inc. reaffirmed its support for a friendly merger with Viacom Inc. on Monday as the bidding war entered its eighth week, while rival QVC Network Inc. appeared close to finalizing a deal with BellSouth Corp. that would allow it to increase its offer. Sources close to QVC also revealed that Liberty Media Corp. may now remain as a partner in the rival bid, even if BellSouth comes on board.

Casino operator MGM Mirage Inc. will announce today that it is increasing its joint tender offer with Dubai World for MGM Mirage shares by 50% to 15 million, and it is setting the price at $80 a share, an executive said. The revised tender offer, at a 20% premium over the stock's most recent closing price, came after an MGM Mirage board meeting Tuesday in which directors discussed surging revenue resulting from the weak U.S. dollar, President Jim Murren said.

Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. plans a $1.4-billion tender offer to acquire a 16% stake in Tesoro Corp., a U.S. refiner whose profit jumped tenfold in the last four years as gasoline demand and prices climbed. The offer will be for 21.9 million shares of San Antonio-based Tesoro at $64 each, Los Angeles-based Tracinda said Friday. The price is 12% higher than Thursday's close. Kerkorian, a 90-year-old billionaire, would become Tesoro's largest shareholder, with a 20% stake.