Headlines

Dunedin-based listed company Botry-Zen will be placed in receivership, BusinessDay reported. Botry-Zen, which was formed in April 2001 to research, develop and commercialise biological control agents for use in the agriculture and horticulture industries, said late today its board had asked its bank - the BNZ - to appoint receivers. The move comes after the company failed to raise a minimum of $1.5 million from investors through a share purchase plan or other capital raising options.

Two quarters of economic growth after five quarters of contraction is positive news but New Zealand’s recovery remains fragile, Finance Minister Bill English says, The National Business Review reported. GDP figures released today show the economy grew 0.2% in the September quarter and the June quarter has been revised upward from 0.1% to 0.2%. For the year to September, the economy contracted 2.2% compared with the year to September 2008. Mr English said the recovery remained fragile and any further problems abroad could weaken New Zealand's growth prospects.

Ford Motor Co. agreed with China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. on most terms for a sale of the U.S. automaker’s Volvo Car Corp. unit in the second quarter, Bloomberg reported. A definitive agreement probably will be signed by March 31, with a sale completed by June 30, the companies said in statements today. Ford has made progress to resolve issues such as protecting intellectual property, a person familiar with the talks has said. Ford named Geely its preferred bidder for Volvo on Oct.

Canadian ski resort operator Intrawest ULC, which owns some 2010 Winter Olympics venues, may default on a $1.4 billion loan and is in talks with its lenders about debt repayment, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. Intrawest, which is owned by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC, is due to make a $524 million payment on Wednesday after obtaining a 60-day extension on Oct. 23, Bloomberg said. Vancouver-based Intrawest was bought for $2.8 billion in 2006 by Fortress, which did the leveraged buyout with a $1.7 billion loan.

Temirbank, a unit of BTA Bank, Kazakhstan’s second-biggest lender by assets, said its decision to default last month came after the value of bad loans on its books quadrupled, a Temirbank managing director said. Temirbank’s bad loans soared to 80.6 billion tenge ($543 million) in the third quarter from 22.2 billion tenge in the second, according to a filing on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange Web site, BusinessWeek reported on a Bloomberg story. Erulan Kusainov said the increase followed the bank’s third-quarter decision to halt extensions made on “masses” of loans in 2008.

Spyker Cars pressed ahead with efforts to cut a deal for Saab with General Motors, with talk of possible backing from a Dutch billionaire fanning the Swedish carmaker's faint hopes of an eleventh-hour reprieve, Reuters reported. Shares in the Dutch luxury carmaker rose sharply on Tuesday after local media reported the bid, modified after GM said on Friday it would wind Saab down despite Spyker's ongoing interest, had won support from financier Marcel Boekhoorn.

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday became the third ratings agency to downgrade Greece's sovereign debt rating, saying that the Greek government's long-term credit strength was "eroding materially," The Wall Street Journal reported. The ratings agency cut the country's government bond ratings to A2 from A1. Moody's also gave Greece a negative outlook and said future ratings decisions will hinge on the government following through with deficit-reduction plans. But Greek stock and bond markets rallied after the Moody's downgrade.

Dubai World will present a standstill offer to banks in early January as the state-owned holding company attempts to restructure about $22 billion of debt, three bankers who attended a presentation on the matter Monday told Bloomberg News, The New York Times DealBook blog reported. Dubai World, which owns property unit Nakheel, port operator DP World and private equity company Istithmar World, told lenders it needs time to allow its assets to recover from the drop in value following the credit crunch, said the bankers, who declined to be identified because the meeting was private.

Brazilian airline TAM said on Monday it will pay 13 million reais ($7.3 million) to buy control of smaller rival Pantanal, expanding its footprint in the fast-growing regional aviation market and winning more slots in one of the country's busiest airports, Reuters reported. As part of the deal, Brazil's largest airline will also assume about 70 million reais of debt owed by Pantanal, executives told analysts on a conference call. The transaction still requires regulatory approval from the civil aviation authority and antitrust authorities.

GE Energy Financial Services and Vancouver-based Plutonic Power Corporation have paid CAD $52.2 million ($48.9 million) to the financially troubled EarthFirst Canada Inc for the 300-megawatt Dokie Wind Project in British Columbia, CleanTech Brief reported. EarthFirst has been under court-ordered protection from creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. GE and Plutonic have formed a partnership through which they will construct and operate the project’s first 144-megawatt phase which is expected to enter commercial operation by early 2011.