Headlines

Nortel Networks Corp. said Monday it has received court approval for a $900-million "stalking horse" bid by Google for the company's remaining patents and patent applications, the Winnipeg Free Press reported on a Canadian Press story. Qualified bidders hoping to top the Google offer will be required to submit offers by June 13, while the auction is set for June 20. The winning bid will require approval by the U.S. and Canadian courts overseeing the sale process.

Saab Automobile AB said Monday it has agreed to a strategic partnership with China's Hawtai Motor Group, just hours after Saab owner Spyker Cars NV secured EUR30 million ($44.6 million) in short-term funding that will enable the Swedish company to restart production, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported.

Italy's market watchdog Consob is to speed up its examination of the offer prospectus filed by French dairy group Lactalis for Italian rival Parmalat, Consob's head said in an newspaper interview on Sunday, Reuters reported. "We will examine it (the prospectus) rapidly, even before the legal timeframe limit," Giuseppe Vegas was quoted as saying in La Stampa. Under Italian law Consob has 15 days to look at a takeover offer but can ask for more time if it needs further information. Lactalis filed documents with Consob on Friday.

The government announced a package of measures designed to stimulate the housing market by helping first-time buyers and property investors, which included creating a bad bank to soak up soured construction loans, The Korea Times reported. Reducing transfer taxes for homeowners in Seoul and the metropolitan area and extending tax incentives for real estate investment trusts (REITs) and funds that buy unsold properties were also part of the plan unveiled Sunday.

Spain's first-quarter unemployment rate soared to 21.3%, with the economy losing more jobs in the three-month period than in the whole of 2010, as the country's government said talks for much-needed labor market reform may soon result in a deal, The Wall Street Journal reported. Spain's unemployment rate, the highest in the industrialized world, rose from 20.3% in the fourth quarter as the economy lost jobs across all sectors, data released Friday by the country's statistics institute INE shows.

Restoring investor confidence in New Zealand’s financial markets is the major goal of the new Financial Markets Authority, which was formally established Monday, The National Business Review reported. The FMA takes over the functions of the Securities Commission and Government Actuary which are being disestablished, and consolidates other regulatory functions from the Ministry of Economic Development.

Spyker Cars NV, which owns the troubled Swedish car maker Saab Automobile, is in talks with three Chinese companies about possible investments, according to two people familiar with the situation, as the Dutch car maker Friday cut its 2011 sales outlook and reported an operating loss for the first quarter. The Chinese companies are Great Wall Motor Co., China Youngman Automobile Group Co. and Jiangsu Yueda Group Co., two people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires.

Nortel Networks Corp.'s European units are pressing more than $10 billion worth of claims against their Canadian parent, including a claim for $4.6 billion worth of damages for alleged mismanagement under French law, court documents say, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The intercompany claims were listed in a report filed publicly Thursday by Ernst & Young, monitor of Nortel's Canadian insolvency proceeding. The demands for payment from Nortel's European units are enough to double the size of the claims filed in the Canadian case, the report, filed with the U.S.

Saab Automobile Thursday said that talks with Chinese auto makers and the European Investment Bank over financing continued, but the head of a parts-supplier organization said the Swedish car maker's predicament was critical, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "The situation is extremely serious," said Lars Holmqvist, chief executive of European Association of Automotive Suppliers, known by the French-language acronym Clepa.

The Czech Constitutional Court's ruling to strike down legislation that would reduce state support for consumer savings in home-building bank accounts amounts to judicial activism and the court's venture into politics, Czech President Vaclav Klaus said, The Wall Street Journal reported. "Today's decision by the Constitutional Court clearly demonstrates that the court is operating outside the constitution and has entered the sphere of politics," Mr. Klaus told local media late Wednesday.