Article Abstract:
The Japanese Cabinet is considering whether to approve legislation that would allow foreigners to buy a stake in the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). The Japanese Government once owned the telephone monopoly, but the company went public in 1987. NTT was one of the most profitable stocks in 1987, valued at $350 billion at one time. Shares have fallen since then by up to 80 percent, but the government still owns some of the company. If the proposed legislation passes, foreigners will be allowed to buy up to 20 percent of the shares directly. Foreigners will not be allowed to serve on the company board. The government currently own 65 percent of the company and would like to reduce that figure to 50 percent. Sales of 15 percent could generate $12 billion.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
Unisys Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co are two companies in the computer industry which have made acquisitions that have not proved to be all they were supposed to be. Unisys was formed when Burroughs bought Sperry in 1986 for $4.8 billion. Unisys, which specializes in mainframe computers, reached a high value of $7 billion before it fell to its $440 million value in Dec 1990. Hewlett-Packard suffers a market share decrease to around 23 percent from 26 percent in the workstation market after it buys Apollo Computer Inc in 1989 for more than $500 million. Analysts say that big mergers in the computer industry do not work because technology changes so quickly and because of a general trend in the business community that discourages takeovers.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Article Abstract:
Unisys Corp, the nation's third-largest computer manufacturer, will sell Timplex Inc, a computer networking company. Timeplex will be purchased by a joint venture led by Ascom Holding AG, which is a Swiss Telecommunications and automation company, for $207 million. Unisys will use money from the sale to pay down its debt, which amounted to $3.43 billion at the end of Mar 1991. The company lost $551 million in 1990, on revenues of $10.1 billion, mainly because of interest payments. Unisys's stock was down 37.5 cents on Tuesday, Jun 11, 1991, closing at $3.75.
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic: