Every day we hit the refresh button, full of hope that billionaire investor Carl Icahn’s blog will finally arrive despite long odds and uncooperative lawyers. Looks like we’re almost there.

Icahn told Reuters on Wednesday that The Icahn Report is finally going live — “in a week or two” — with its founder’s famously strong opinions about corporate governance and the individual companies that fail to live up to his standards.

“I think the time has finally come when people are starting to focus on the many abuses in a number of companies in corporate America and the damage they do,” the 71-year-old financier and hedge fund operator said.

The blog will arrive in the wake of Icahn’s successful, highly publicized demands for change in companies including Motorola Inc and Time Warner Inc , both of which ultimately gave in to his demands that they change leadership and spin off major divisions. He also was instrumental in clearing roadblocks in Oracle Corp’s $8.5 billion bid to acquire BEA Systems.

Not all of Icahn’s investments work out, however, notably real estate developer WCI Communities Inc , whose shares have collapsed over the past year as the high-end condominium market dried up. Icahn is WCI’s largest shareholder, with 4.8 million shares, according to regulatory filings.

Icahn, whose net worth is estimated at $14.5 billion by Forbes, dismissed the lackluster performance in some stock plays, saying investors need to be patient.

He pointed out that he bought the Stratosphere Casino and other Las Vegas properties a decade ago for around $300 million. Last week, he closed on a deal to sell them to real estate funds managed by Goldman Sachs for $1.3 billion, a $1 billion gain.

(Reporting by Dane Hamilton)

The other shoe — or is it an ax — is finally dropping for staff at Bear Stearns, with letters going out this week telling them whether they’ll keep their jobs when JPMorgan’s acquisition is complete.

One Bear employee who works in the emerging markets business in London has received confirmation he will be laid off, he told Reuters on Wednesday. Another in the same department said he was expecting to hear later in the day that he would be retained.

“Some individuals and some businesses are beginning to hear what their status is,” added a source close to the bank.

A third London-based staffer who does not work on a trading desk, but on the business side said: “I’m waiting for my letter from JPMorgan to see about a job offer. I’ve been told verbally there is a job for me, which is a great relief.”

The total number of layoffs is not yet known, but more than half of Bear Stearns employees are expected to lose their jobs. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has declined approximately one thousand times to give details.

Not that it will come as much consolation to axed Bear Stearns employees, but executives including co-head of fixed-income Jeffrey Mayer, co-heads of equities Steven Meyer and Bruce Lisman, and former CEO Ace Greenberg are known to have survived the purge. CEO Alan Schwartz, CFO Sam Molinaro, controller Jeffrey Farber and general counsel Michael Solender may also eventually accept employment with the bank, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Ace Greenberg, who started as a Bear Stearns clerk in 1949, is gifting $360,000 to 25 longtime mailroom and clerical employees — $200 a month over six years. Greenberg “has sold over $30 million in Bear stock since early 2007,” the Times reported.

Photo: A man holds a battle ax during three-day Highland Games Festival in Fehraltdorf near Zurich, REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Call it the new simplicity. IAC's businesses are better off on their own in the market than trying to work with a strategic partner, according to chief mogul Barry Diller.
    
Recently empowered by a court decision that says he can do what he wants with IAC with little limitation from controlling shareholder Liberty Media, Diller said today a plan to spin off four major IAC units probably won't involve any partners and that he was on track to complete the separation in August. 

Here's his comments from a conference call to discuss quarterly earnings. We're wondering how much of this may still be a negotiating position, or should we expect to see one big IAC, and four little IACs, trading on the Nasdaq before Thanksgiving: 
    

What we're not discussing is the possibility of a so-called swap transaction with Liberty. While the potential for such a deal exists just by the nature of our relationship, I think it's very unlikely that one will occur. 
 
Relative to private equity, we've had lots of discussions, we have lots of people knocking on the door and coming in and talking about different schemes and ideas. The truth is as we go through this, I think we're not probably going to do any of them. I think that the best thing to do is simplicity. We may do one or some modified thing but I don't think we're going to do anything that would particularly engage (the) private equity world. 
    
The best thing is to get these companies spun out and to get them into the public markets, get their managements out there, so to speak, and taking care of their own businesses and talking to the investment community. I think that's probably the better step forward for us at this point. 

For those watching at home, Liberty was mulling a swap for IAC's HSN shopping channel, or maybe a smaller asset. Firms such as Quadrangle and Elevation Partners were also among the parties who have discussed taking a stake in another IAC unit.

(Photo: Reuters)

Time Warner Inc's plan to split off its cable services division -- widely expected by many and welcomed by some -- raises just as many questions as it answers.

When is the split going to take place, for instance? And how? And what does this mean for AOL? Is it next up for a separation? Remember, Time Warner has already held discussions to merge the AOL unit with Yahoo Inc.

(Speaking of which, The Wall Street Journal says Microsoft could be making its next move in the takeover saga for Yahoo as early as Wednesday. One possibility: nominate a proxy slate of directors to replace the board at Yahoo. Also, Microsoft has considered earnmarking $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo employees should it win the company, Reuters says.)

At Time Warner, meanwhile, splitting off of the cable services division would mark the latest move by CEO Jeffrey Bewkes to revamp the company, whose stock price has lost a third of its value since the beginning of 2007.

Despite his efforts, first quarter earnings fell slightly more than expected. The breakdown: cable services were strong, with revenue up 8 percent, and AOL struggled, with revenue down 23 percent.

Keep an eye on:

• Paramount Pictures, which last year cast its lot exclusively with the ill-fated HD DVD home video format, enters the Blu-ray world with titles "Face/Off," "Next" and "Bee Movie". (Hollywood Reporter)
• A committee to protect editorial integrity at The Wall Street Journal said it will be more active in the search of a new managing editor for the paper after being blindsided by the resignation of Marcus Brauchli (Reuters)
• CBS Corp and NBC Universal plan to bid for the Weather Channel in the second round of bidding due in early to mid-May, sources say (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

Citigroup’s $3 billion $4.5 billion stock offering didn’t exactly dazzle one of its most well-known critics, as Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney said the company will need to raise an additional $10 billion to $15 billion or sell assets worth billions to truly shore up its capital position. “The fact that Citi raised capital at this time did not come as a surprise to us, but the fact that the company raised such a small amount of capital at this time confounds us,” said Whitney, who correctly predicted last year that the company would have to cut its dividend.

Time Warner is kissing its majority-owned cable division goodbye, part of CEO Jeffrey Bewkes’s attempt to revamp the company and lift its sluggish stock price. Details on how the transaction will be structured were scarce, but analysts have speculated that the separately listed unit could be spun off to shareholders.

UK gas producer BG Group has made a $12 billion bid approach to Origin Energy, seeking to bolster its position in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific gas market by securing the Australian utility’s gas reserves. The companies said BG, valued at around $85 billion, had approached Origin with a proposal of A$14.70 per share in cash — a 40 percent premium to Origin’s close of A$10.47 on Tuesday.

* Huaneng Power, China’s largest independent electricity provider, said it will buy Singapore’s Tuas Power from its parent China Huaneng Group in a deal worth about $3 billion.

** Carmaker Daimler is buying a 22.3 percent stake in heavy diesel engine maker Tognum from Swedish investment group EQT for around 585 million euros ($911.2 million), Daimler said.

** Malaysian state investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd will buy a stake of 16.41 percent in Singapore healthcare service provider Parkway Holdings Ltd for S$531.51 million ($389.5 million), Khazanah said.

** Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd said it had agreed to acquire BASF’s drug contract manufacturing business and a related facility in the United States for an undisclosed amount.

** Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Allied Banking Corp, both owned by tycoon Lucio Tan, announced a long-awaited merger, and said the new entity would the fourth-largest bank in the country.

** Thailand’s Siam Cement Group PCL (SCC) said it planned to buy outstanding shares of Thai Cane Paper from minority shareholders at 16.0 baht each ($0.504) and would delist the paper firm.

** Daimler AG has reached a preliminary agreement to set up a truck-making joint venture with Beiqi Foton Motor Co in China, the Chinese company said.

** SMR, the mining unit of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element company, has pulled out of negotiations with the Serbian government about the sale of copper miner RTB Bor, the company said.

Cox Enterprises, the parent company of Cox Newspapers and cable company Cox Communications, is buying online advertising firm Adify for at least $300 million — not a bad multiple on revenues of $7 million in 2007 and an expected $35 million this year, according to paidContent.org.

“By any standards, it is a very rich deal,” paidContent’s Rafat Ali wrote. Adify creates custom online ad platforms for customers like the Guardian and Forbes. Reuters announced a deal with Adify in January to create an ad-supported network of small- to medium-sized publishers in areas like personal finance and football.

peHUB’s Dan Primack notes that it’s a “big day for Adify backer US Venture Partners, whose latest fundraising drive has been met with lukewarm enthusiasm.” Venture capital backers, which also included Venrock, NBC’s Peacock Equity fund and Time Warner, had invested about $27 million in Adify.

Clear Channel Communications says a Texas court has dismissed a request by a group of banks to delay a trial over the funding of the $20 billion buyout of the radio station operator. The banks asked to delay the June 2 trial until January, 2009, saying they needed more time to prepare, according to court documents obtained by Reuters. “Hopefully the banks are running out of delay tactics, and they will soon face a Texas jury who will make them take responsibility for their actions,” Clear Channel said in a statement. What could this defense be that requires another seven months to refine? Perhaps their lawyers are looking to twist the infamous Material Adverse Clause to protect lenders, not just borrowers.

Italian prime minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi threatened to re-nationalize Alitalia if the European Commission continued to “whine” about a government loan to keep the ailing airline afloat. With an overwhelming victory in national and city elections in his pocket, Berlusconi has attacked the European Commission for doubting whether the $467 million loan met European rules barring further state aid to the airline. The tycoon said a bid by a group of Italian businessmen remained the first choice for salvaging the carrier, but that EU trouble could prompt the state or its railways to buy the 50.1 percent of Alitalia that it does not already own.

Midwest Corp recommended a revised A$1.36 billion ($1.27 billion) offer from China’s Sinosteel, ending resource-hungry China’s first hostile foray into Australia’s mining sector. The A$6.38 per share offer falls short of the A$7 price target set by Midwest’s chief executive Bryan Oliver, but is still a 13.9 percent boost to Sinosteel’s previous offer. Midwest was last quoted at A$6.10 before trading in its shares was halted early on Tuesday. Sinosteel already owns 19.9 percent of Midwest. Meanwhile, Chinese Iron and Steel Group plans to lift its stake in Australian prospector Apollo Minerals to 19.9 percent, Apollo said.

Other deals of the day:

* British market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres is in talks with Germany’s GfK over a nil-premium merger which would create the world’s second-largest market information group by revenue.

* Taiwan contract notebook PC maker Wistron said it will buy Lite-On Technology’s monitor business for T$9.2 billion ($300 million) in cash.

* Oilfield services group Seadrill has raised its sake in rig group Scorpion Offshore to 36.0 percent and said it would launch an offer for the rest of the stock within four weeks.

* The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development plans to invest up to $94 million into a Kazakh state-controlled private equity fund, the bank said.

While the skyrocketing cost of fuel is forcing U.S. airlines to consider cost-cutting measures — chief among them is consolidation — Continental Airlines has used the rising price of oil as one of the reasons to back out of advanced merger talks with United Airlines.

Continental Airlines on Sunday called off talks with United Airlines, citing the other carrier’s weak financial condition and the increasing cost of jet fuel prices, which have more than doubled since the start of last year.

That reason has left many sractching their heads — how does the rising cost of oil hinder the benefits of a merger? I suppose one could argue that United, with its extensive international network, could siphon too much money as fuel costs continue to rise — probably offsetting any cost benefits a merger could accomplish.

That brings us to another question: how do airlines strike a balance between selling the deal to investors (saying they would cut costs by reducing capacity, shedding hubs etc.) and selling the deal to Washington (saying they would protect jobs, not shed hubs etc.)

Delta Air Lines, which has agreed to merge with Northwest, has obviously gone with the latter approach. In hopes of getting the deal approved by the DOJ, the carriers promised to not let the merger get in the way of job security.

Naturally, Wall Street reacted unfavorably, causing shares of both the airlines to slide in response to the news.

Now United, which has been having a parallel set of merger talks with US Airways and could announce a deal in early May, will have to decide who they want to sell the deal to.

Actually, it’s not about who you sell the deal to. It’s about who you sell it to first. 

Surely Delta’s plans to not cut capacity or shed hubs or lose jobs will look a bit different after antitrust approval, if that does come through. Because, really, what good is going through the huge headache of merging with another carrier if you aren’t going to cut costs?

Meanwhile, Continental is in advanced talks with British Airways and American Airlines about a potential alliance, with plans to seek antitrust immunity.

In sum, despite all the different routes airlines are taking, one thing is certain: skyrocketing fuel prices are prompting some major decisions in the U.S. airline industry. To merge or not to merge is the question.  

Microsoft's weekend deadline to Yahoo to negotiate a friendly deal has come and gone. So, now what? Microsoft has its options. It could raise its bid, walk away, go hostile at a lower price or go hostile at the current price. Most Wall Street analysts think the last option is the most likely.

Separately, Marc Andreessen , co-founder of Netscape, provides a thorough breakdown of the options for Microsoft and Yahoo. Especially interesting is the part about a potential legal fight if Yahoo's board decides to exercise its poison pill as a defense to a tender offer by Microsoft.

(Photo: Reuters/Christian Charisius)

The convoluted history of attempted deals in the candy industry are enough to make an Oompa-Loompa’s head spin, but Mars’ $23 billion takeover of Wrigley may force rivals to reassess their options for consolidation, Bill Wrigley Jr said on Monday.

(The deal also proved that Warren Buffett “chews gum and identifies value at the same time,” as the FT’s Alphaville blog noted.)

“There have been lots of rumors in the confectionary space over the past few years, and very recently, and no one can say exactly what’s going to happen … but I think it’s likely that we’ll see more consolidation,” Wrigley said on a conference call. “The folks at Hershey, the folks at Cadbury, the folks maybe at Nestle have to think about what they want to do in this space and will evaluate their opportunities.”

The deal between Mars, the world’s biggest chocolate maker, and Wrigley, the biggest gum maker, will push Cadbury off the world’s top spot in confectionery just as the London-based group is planning a demerger of its soft drinks business. Analysts predicted that the Mars-Wrigley deal will prompt Cadbury to re-start talks with the U.S.’s biggest chocolate maker Hershey Co.

Previously in the candy wars, Nestle — which, by the way, owns the Willy Wonka candy brand — combined with Cadbury for a bid for Hershey. Wrigley also made a run. The controlling Hershey Trust pushed for a sale, only to pull back later after pressure from community groups at its headquarters in Pennsylvania.

And finally, if Cadbury cannot hammer out a Hershey deal, it might face a bid itself from the likes of Kraft Foods Inc as North America’s biggest food group could be interested in expanding its European Suchard chocolate unit.

Representatives of the Lollypop Guild were not immediately available for comment.

Further reading:

Mars and Buffett to buy Wrigley for $23 billion

Cadbury eyes Hershey as Mars chews up Wrigley

Photo: Yahoo Movies/Warner Home Video