Deals of the Hour

Trying to find out what's the deal with the world, tracking what's on sale and who's talking about it on Twitter. Update hourly.

Deals of the Hour / October 7, 2010, 1:40 pm

UPDATE 1-Air Products opens court fight in Airgas deal bid

GEORGETOWN, Del., Oct 4 (Reuters) - Airgas Inc ( ARG.N ) stockholders, not the company itself, should be allowed to decide the fate of a $5.5 billion takeover bid, top executives of larger rival Air Products & Chemicals Inc ( APD.N ) told a court on Monday ... (Source: Reuters 2010-10-04T18:28:54Z)

AMD CEO: Chip maker is not up for sale

At an industry conference in Barcelona on Wednesday, Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) chief executive Dirk Meyer revealed that the company is not officially up for sale. "AMD is not for sale, but we are happy to listen to any proposal which is in the ... (Source: Afterdawn.com 2010-10-06T22:37:04Z)

LG Mobile Phones Together with T-Mobile and Sprint to Optimize the Android Experience with ...

SAN DIEGO , Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Mobile Phones announced today the launch of the first LG Optimus handset devices to be available in the U.S., LG Optimus T™ with Google™ and LG Optimus S™ with Google. In partnership with T-Mobile USA, Inc. and ... (Source: SmartBrief 2010-10-07T14:57:45Z)

T-Mobile and LG Mobile Phones Offer a Simple-to-Use, Affordable Android Device for First-Time ...

T-Mobile ( News - Alert ) USA, Inc. and LG Mobile Phones today announced the latest easy-to-use and affordably priced smartphone to join T-Mobile's extensive Android™ portfolio, LG Optimus T™. Equipped with the latest Android platform, LG Optimus T ... (Source: TMCnet 2010-10-07T00:24:26Z)

Air Products to judge: Airgas offer not the final one

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Air Products & Chemicals Inc. took its nearly yearlong fight to buy Airgas Inc. for $5.5 billion to court here Monday, with the Allentown company's top executives arguing that the Airgas board's refusal to negotiate is unfair to ... (Source: Philadelphia Daily News 2010-10-05T07:00:31Z)

Sprint to offer app packs on Android phones

Sprint Nextel is planning a service to make it easier for consumers to get what they want from the thousands of applications available for phones based on Google's Android. Sprint said Wednesday that starting next week it would offer its customers packs ... (Source: msnbc.com 2010-10-06T21:32:38Z)

NCR, Universal Studios Ink DVD Rental Distribution Pact

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--NCR Corp. (NCR) has inked its first studio distribution deal, agreeing to wait 28 days after Universal Studios Home Entertainment's movies first go on sale before renting them out. NCR, which rents DVDs and Blu-Ray titles at nearly ... (Source: Wall Street Journal 2010-10-06T16:03:22Z)

Airgas Official Says Buyout Bid Is Lowball OfferAirgas Official Says Buyout Bid Is Lowball Offer

(Bloomberg) -- Air Products & Chemicals Inc.'s $5.5 billion bid for rival Airgas Inc. amounts to a "lowball offer" that isn't worthy of consideration, an Airgas board member testified in a trial over the rejected buyout. Air Products' $65.50-per-share bid ... (Source: Allentown Morning Call 2010-10-05T20:43:43Z)

'It Was A Big, Big Surprise,' New Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa Tells NPR

As we reported earlier , the Swedish Academy has awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature to Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, currently a visiting lecturer in creative writing in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, in recognition ... (Source: NPR News 2010-10-07T19:51:14Z)

Chip maker AMD not for sale, CEO says

BARCELONA — Advanced Micro Devices is not for sale but the chip maker will listen to interesting proposals, its chief executive said on Wednesday when asked about Oracle's recent interest in the sector. "AMD is not for sale, but we are happy to listen ... (Source: msnbc.com 2010-10-07T08:02:34Z)

Liverpool manager delighted at club's $476M sale to Red Sox owner

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson said Thursday he was "delighted" that the soccer club's board had agreed to the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). A $476 million (£300 million) offer to buy the club was tabled Tuesday by NESV, a company ... (Source: New York Post 2010-10-07T13:53:19Z)

Skittish retailers mean great holiday deals

The Christmas shopping season doesn't kick off for another six weeks, but retailers already are signaling they're prepared to discount aggressively to entice shoppers still skittish about spending. Gift buyers are likely to scrutinize every purchase, from ... (Source: AP - msnbc.com 2010-10-07T15:40:42Z)

Boston Red Sox jump feet first into another new sport with deal to buy Liverpool soccer team

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox owners have tried their hand at golf, auto racing, U.S. college sports and — of course — baseball. Now comes a deal to buy Liverpool of the English Premier League. New England Sports Ventures reached an agreement with the ... (Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune 2010-10-06T16:39:09Z)

Sprint shows off three new Android smart phones

Oct 07, 2010 (The Kansas City Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- At the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference Wednesday, Sprint rolled out three Android phones that also carry a new feature called Sprint ID. The feature ... (Source: TMCnet 2010-10-07T09:35:38Z)

Christmas shoppers' skittishness likely to have retailers rolling out the discounts

NEW YORK (AP) — The Christmas shopping season doesn't kick off for another six weeks, but retailers already are signaling they're prepared to discount aggressively to entice shoppers still skittish about spending. Gift buyers are likely to scrutinize ... (Source: Chicago Tribune 2010-10-07T18:39:39Z)

Wells Fargo in Mortgage-Relief Pact

Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to offer hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgage relief to borrowers in eight states as part of a pact over allegedly deceptive marketing of payment-option adjustable-rate mortgage loans offered by companies it acquired. The ... (Source: Wall Street Journal 2010-10-06T19:45:16Z)

Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa wins 2010 Nobel Prize in literature, 1st South American since 1982

STOCKHOLM - Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa won the 2010 Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday as the academy honored one of the Spanish-speaking world's most acclaimed authors and an outspoken political activist who once ran for president in his tumultuous ... (Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune 2010-10-07T19:15:27Z)

NCR, Universal in kiosk deal

New Universal Pictures movies will be available at NCR Corp. 's Blockbuster Express DVD-rental kiosks just 28 days after first release. Starting now, Universal will directly supply NCR with new release DVD and Blu-ray titles, beginning with Robin Hood ... (Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle 2010-10-06T19:38:06Z)

Wells Fargo to offer mortgage relief to Florida borrowers

More than 4,000 Florida homeowners will be eligible for loan modifications and mortgage-balance forgiveness totaling nearly $388 million under an agreement Wells Fargo Bank reached with eight states, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said Wednesday ... (Source: TradingMarkets.com 2010-10-07T15:55:01Z)

Dirk Meyer: AMD is NOT Up For Sale!

Last month Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said during an analyst meeting that the software company may purchase chip manufacturers without specifying likely targets. Ellison added that "silicon is important," and that the company was focused on building its ... (Source: Toms Hardware 2010-10-06T20:13:54Z)

AIG Said to Offer AIA Stock at HK$18.38 to $HK19.68 in Initial Share Sale

American International Group Inc. , the bailed out insurer, will offer shares of its main Asia unit at a price of HK$18.38 ($2.37) to HK$19.68, according to two people with knowledge of the plan. The stock is scheduled to start trading on Oct. 29. The ... (Source: Bloomberg 2010-10-04T12:23:50Z)

Wells Fargo, Arizona homeowners settle mortgage-loan case

Mortgage relief is on the way for Arizona homeowners who took out "pick-a-pay" loans from two companies that since have been acquired by Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo has agreed to provide more than $150 million in mortgage relief to homeowners who obtained the ... (Source: AZCentral.com 2010-10-07T19:08:17Z)

LG Optimus T Brings Android to T-Mobile

A new Android-powered mobile is on its way to wireless carrier T-Mobile in the United States, namely the LG Optimus T, which was officially announced on Wednesday. The new smartphone runs under the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and sports a responsive ... (Source: Softpedia 2010-10-07T16:52:17Z)

LG Introduces the Optimus T: An Entry-Level Android Smartphone

So far, a trend at this year's CTIA show in San Francisco is Android for everyone.Tuesday night, Motorola launched a slew of Android phones targeted at younger audiences and first-time smartphone owners. On Wednesday, LG unveiled the Optimus T for T-Mobile ... (Source: Washington Post 2010-10-07T02:47:36Z)

Kuwait Investment Authority To Buy About US$1 Bln Of AIA Shares In IPO - Source

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--AIA Group Ltd., the pan-Asian life unit of American International Group Inc. (AIG), has secured around US$1 billion from the Kuwait Investment Authority for its US$10 billion-US$15 billion IPO, a person familiar with the deal said ... (Source: Wall Street Journal 2010-10-04T03:48:26Z)

Cleveland: Retailers optimistic amidst holiday sales forecast

ROCKY RIVER -- Jack Seelie is like a big kid in a toy store. In fact, that's exactly what he is after opening Once Upon A Time Toys 26 years ago on Detroit Avenue. Seelie is hopeful that the latest holiday retail sales estimates will hold true for his ... (Source: WKYC 2010-10-07T15:47:51Z)

Peruvian writer/politician Mario Vargas Llosa wins Nobel Prize in Literature

The Swedish Academy wandered outside of its usual European base to select Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature today, according to the official Nobel website . From the publication of his first novel, 1963′s The Time ... (Source: Entertainment Weekly Online 2010-10-07T16:02:10Z)

NCR Inks Distribution Deal With Universal

NCR Corp. Oct. 6 said it signed a distribution deal with Universal Studios Home Entertainment that gives the owner and operator of Blockbuster Express kiosks access to new release titles 28 days after street date. Duluth, Ga.-based NCR operates 7,000 ... (Source: Home Media Magazine 2010-10-06T19:02:19Z)

AIA Names Ex-AIG Executive Edmund Tse as Director Before IPO

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Edmund Tse, who helped build American International Group Inc.'s life insurance operations for more than four decades, has been named a director of the main Asia unit being prepared for an initial public offering. Tse, 72, was ... (Source: BusinessWeek 2010-10-05T23:06:53Z)

Owner of Red Sox to Buy Liverpool Soccer Club

Liverpool F.C. said Wednesday that it had agreed to sell itself to New England Sports Ventures , which also owns the Boston Red Sox and is run by the hedge fund manager John W. Henry, for an undisclosed sum. The deal may be worth about £300 million (about ... (Source: New York Times Blogs 2010-10-06T20:49:41Z)

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