Business Briefs

Jan 26, 12:53 AM

KLA-Tencor Corp. has agreed to pay $65 million to resolve a shareholder lawsuit triggered by the computer chip supplier's rampant mishandling of employee stock options.

The abuses involved retroactively picking a date to price the underlying value of the stock options to increase the potential windfall for the recipient. The manipulation isn't illegal unless the maneuvering isn't recorded on the books properly - a problem that tripped up KLA-Tencor and a long list of other companies.

After federal regulators opened an investigation, KLA-Tencor opened its own inquiry. That led to the retirement of its chairman, founder Kenneth Levy, who acknowledged receiving improperly priced options.

To clean up its accounting mess, KLA-Tencor wiped out more than $230 million in previously report profits.

Holiday dip cuts Restoration Hardware acquisition price

Restoration Hardware Inc. of Corte Madera agreed to be taken over by Catterton Partners for $179 million, one-third less than the buyout firm's previous offer, following an unexpected drop in holiday sales.

The parties agreed on a price of $4.50 a share. Catterton, which previously offered $267 million, is also providing a $25 million loan for "working capital," according to a news release.

Dow posts gain for wild week

Wall Street ended a tumultuous week with a sharp decline Friday, backtracking following two days of stunning gains as investors turned cautious and cashed in some of their winnings. The Dow Jones industrial average still managed to record its first weekly advance of 2008, even as it fell more than 170 points on the day.

The week, which started with a 465-point drop in the Dow soon after the market opened Tuesday, showed that the stock market is still fractious but may be going through healthy process of trying to establish a bottom following weeks of sharp declines.

Brewers will buy British beermaker

Brewers Carlsberg and Heineken will buy beermaker Scottish & Newcastle for $15.3 billion, the companies said Friday.

Scottish & Newcastle PLC, which rejected two earlier bids, agreed to an all-cash offer of 800 pence ($15.68) per share.

The offer values the existing share capital of S&N at 7.6 billion pounds ($14.9 billion), and the bidders said they plan to issue another 200 million pounds worth of shares.

-From news services

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