| S&P: Axcan Pharma Inc. Assigned 'B+' Corporate Credit Rating; Outlook ...
NEW YORK Jan. 25, 2008--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it assigned its 'B+' corporate credit rating to Quebec, Canada-based Axcan Pharma Inc. (Axcan). At the same time, we assigned our bank loan and recovery ratings to fully owned financing subsidiary Atom Intermediate Holdings' (Atom) proposed $475 million senior secured facilities, consisting of a $350 million term loan B facility due 2015 and a $125 million revolving credit facility due 2014. The facilities are rated 'BB-' (one notch higher than the corporate credit rating on Axcan) with a recovery rating of '2', indicating the expectation of substantial (70%-90%) recovery in the event of a payment default. We also assigned our 'B-' rating to Atom's $275 million senior unsecured notes maturing in 2016. .
Shanghai's Wealthiest Man's Trial Involves Family of Former Chinese ...
HONG KONGOn November 30, 2007, the richest man in Shanghai, Zhou Zhengyi, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Zhou appealed on December 10 and claimed he wanted revenge according to a newspaper report. After the verdict, his sister stated he was a scapegoat. Several media in Hong Kong revealed former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin's oldest son, Jiang Mianheng, was involved in Zhou's case. Human rights lawyer Zheng Enchong who's been keeping a close eye on the case said in fact Jiang Zemin's second son, Jiang Miankang, was also involved. According to Zheng, among the eight parcels of land that Zhou allegedly embezzled, two of them belong to Jiang's two sons. Zhou was in fact the two brothers' front man and they worked closely with one another. On the days of Zhou's trial (October 23) and judgment (November 30), the Hong Kong based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy (ICHRD) released two news reports about Jiang Mianheng's involvement in Zhou's case.
Corrections and clarifications
A list in the Sports section Thursday of the National Football League's AFC and NFC statistical leaders was based on games played through Dec. 17, not through last weekend. Corrected statistics appear today. 12/25/07 A review of the movie "The Great Debaters" in Tuesday's Cue section incorrectly says that teen actor Denzel Whitaker is the real-life son of actor Forest Whitaker. 12/20/07 Because of incorrect information provided by a Milwaukee County Zoo spokeswoman, an article Tuesday incorrectly stated that zoo official Bruce Beehler led a research expedition in Indonesia on which a giant rat and a tiny opossum were identified. A different Bruce Beehler led the expedition. 12/19/07 A panel of three pictures that accompanied an article Tuesday about recalled toys and their effect on charity gift drives incorrectly included pictures of two toys that have not been subject to Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls.
Crop under curse
Associate professor Dr S.S Bhardwaj at Bajaura centre of Dr Y.S Parmar University of Forestry and Horticulture-Nauni said the officials had visited the scab-effected area in Mandi and have directed the department of horticulture there to conduct a camp in Janjheli. The farmers are advised to spray urea to destroy the leaves so that they are decomposed. Otherwise, the fungus remains dormant in the soil and spreads in the rest of the area, he cautions. The 1980s problem of scab is now showing up in certain pockets in Mandi and Barshani area in Kullu. He also suggested ways of controlling the situation. The scab-infected fruit should be destroyed to control the spread of fungus. A farmers meet will be organised at Bajaura in the second week of the month to know the problems of the farmers in the central region, he said.
The down-payment-poor are about to get squeezed
Call it the credit risk hangover following the housing boom binge: Homebuyers and refinancers who can't come up with sizable down payments, and whose FICO credit scores are below 680, are about to get squeezed in the mortgage market. Giant investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are imposing significant increases in fees for a broad range of borrowers who have lower than 30 percent down payments and formerly were treated as "prime" credit applicants. .
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