Headlines

A Texas judge has issued final approval of Grupo Mexico SAB's plan to regain control of copper miner Asarco LLC, ending a lengthy takeover battle with rival suitor Sterlite Industries, The Associated Press reported. The ruling will return control of Asarco to Americas Mining Corp., a Grupo Mexico subsidiary. The deal is expected to close by mid-December. Under the plan, Grupo Mexico will give $2.2 billion to Asarco to be distributed to creditors together with an estimated $1.4 billion in cash held by Asarco.

Kuwait's Investment Dar, the Islamic financial firm that owns half of British luxury carmaker Aston Martin, plans to present a proposed debt restructuring plan to creditors this month, the company said Sunday. The meetings organized by Dar and the nine-member Coordinating Committee representing creditors will take place in Kuwait and Dubai on November 24 and November 25 respectively, the company said in a statement. The creditors will have a period of time to review and approve the plan after the meetings, Dar said.

The merger agreement between British Airways PLC and Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA announced late Thursday after more than 15 months of negotiations puts new focus on BA's ongoing wrangling over its ballooning pension deficit, The Wall Street Journal reported. According to the preliminary deal, which the two companies hope to formalize in February, Iberia can walk away from the linkup if talks between BA and the trustees of its pension is not "satisfactory" to the Spanish carrier. The two airlines hope to close their merger by next November.

In a related story, The Economist reported that one reason for keeping apace with European rivals is that size will become an important factor if consolidation among airlines goes global. The two airlines are already seeking antitrust immunity in America and in Europe for a tie-up with American Airlines, which would see all three co-ordinating over costs and revenues on transatlantic routes.

Top executives at failed childcare chain ABC Learning will take home a $250,000 end-of-year bonus, just weeks before the firesale of the company. Taxpayers have spent $56 million propping up the nation's biggest childcare corporation since it sank into receivership a year ago, beneath a $1.6 billion pile of debt. But chief executive Rowan Webb - who earns $1.6m a year - company secretary Matthew Horton and chief financial officer Peter Trimble each have been authorised to receive a $250,000 "retention bonus" on top of their hefty salaries.

People who want to declare themselves bankrupt will be able to do so online, avoiding the courts altogether, under UK government proposals announced today, The Guardian reported. The government said it was planning to introduce the change after it found that in some parts of England and Wales debtors faced delays of up to three months between first contacting the court and being granted a bankruptcy order. The change is expected to allow decisions to be made in days rather than weeks or months.

German carmaker Volkswagen has dropped a threat to stop awarding contracts to Magna after the Canadian auto supplier failed to buy rival carmaker Opel. "If Magna doesn't act like a competitor, we will continue to do business as usual," a spokesman told German mass-circulation tabloid BILD in an article published on Friday. When Magna bid for Opel, Volkswagen executives grew concerned that the auto supplier would become a competitor, but General Motors subsequently decided to keep its Opel unit. Read more.

General Motors Co. needs financial support from employees and governments to restructure its German unit Adam Opel GmbH, a GM spokeswoman said Friday, despite indications from GM's chairman that the carmaker could shoulder the cost itself, Dow Jones reported. In an interview this week with the German newspaper Koelnischer Rundschau, Chairman Edward Whitacre suggested that GM could pay to restructure Opel and its U.K. sister brand Vauxhall itself. "If Ms.

Japan Airlines posted a $357 million loss in the latest quarter and said it was in fresh talks to suspend loan payments as the debt-ridden carrier awaited a formal go-ahead for a government-led bailout, The New York Times reported. The airline’s president, Haruka Nishimatsu, also said that it would be easier for JAL to remain within the OneWorld Alliance, seemingly giving its alliance partner American Airlines a lead over Delta in talks over a possible stake in the Japanese carrier.

European Union regulators will next week approve KBC's restructuring and allow it to remain in banking and insurance in Belgium and eastern Europe, two sources familiar with the situation said on Friday. The European Commission is scrutinising whether an injection of €7 billion ($10.5 billion) into Belgium's KBC by the Belgian and Flemish regional governments complied with EU state aid rules. "The Commission's decision on KBC's restructuring plan is due on Wednesday," one of the sources told Reuters. "The key message is that KBC has kept its bancassurance model.