Financial News

LONDON (ShareCast) - Birds Eye Foods, the largest frozen-vegetable company in the US, is expected to be acquired for more than $1.3 billion by Pinnacle Brands, according to people familiar with the matter. The all-cash deal is likely to be announced as soon as Thursday, said these people, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A defendant accused of exchanging a case of cash for inside information has ties to Galleon Group's former No. 2 executive—the first link between a top executive at the hedge fund and smaller-time players cited in a sprawling insider-trading case, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Wells Fargo has agreed to reimburse investors who bought $1.4 billion in auction-rate securities that were frozen in the credit crunch early last year, including $700 million held by California residents, reports the LA Times.

A second wave of foreclosures is poised to hit the market, potentially undermining housing recovery efforts as more homes add to the glut of inventory and drive down prices. These homes largely represent loans that are delinquent but have not yet resulted in foreclosure sales, according to USA Today.

The global economic recovery will be stronger than previously expected, but it will take years to bring unemployment and government debt back to their pre-crisis levels, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Top executives at four companies that jettisoned their employee pension plans received $49.5 million in retirement and severance benefits in the years before the companies filed for bankruptcy, while retirees saw their benefits cut by as much as two thirds, congressional investigators conclude in a report to be released today. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that pensions at the companies, United Airlines, US Airways, Polaroid and Reliance Insurance, were underfunded by more than $11 billion when the companies turned them over to a government-backed insurance fund, says USA Today.

J.P. Morgan Chase extended its reach in Europe on Thursday with the expected announcement that it will pay £1 billion ($1.67 billion) to take full control of the investment-banking and broking joint venture it set up with Cazenove Group in 2005, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled an $849 billion health care bill Wednesday that advanced President Obama's broad vision to revamp the health insurance market but left key moderate Democrats uncommitted, reports USA Today.

Simon Property a mall owner and property investment trust, has hired advisers to explore a possible bid for rival General Growth Properties, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, people familiar with the matter said according to the FT.

American Express (NYSE: AXP - news) said on Wednesday that it would buy Revolution Money, a provider of Internet-based payment services started by Stephen M. Case, AOL (NYSE: TWX - news) 's co-founder, for $300 million, reports the NY Times.

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by AT&T to force competitor Verizon Wireless to pull its "There's a Map for That" commercials, according to USA Today.

Signaling that marketing and international expansion will be critical to its future in an increasingly competitive landscape, DirecTV Group on Wednesday selected a top executive from PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP - news) with no experience in television to be its chief. Michael White, chief executive of PepsiCo's international operations and vice chairman for the beverage giant, will become CEO of El Segundo-based DirecTV on Jan. 1, writes the LA Times.