Word: parmalat
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...final months of last year, faced with a hidden but looming bankruptcy, the Italian food-and-dairy conglomerate Parmalat was desperate for money. Officially, it had j3.95 billion in cash on its books; in reality, it had debts of j14 billion and no cash at all. Unless the firm could raise new money fast, it would collapse and the most spectacular alleged fraud in European corporate history would be exposed. At that point, two of Europe's biggest banks - Switzerland's UBS and Germany's Deutsche Bank - stepped in. Both injected fresh funds into Parmalat - but at a huge cost...
...institutions to protect them are gone. In part, that is a reaction to the irrational exuberance of the late 1990s, when CEOs like Jean-Marie Messier of Vivendi acted like rock stars and paid themselves accordingly, and to the scandals that have enveloped European firms, such as Italy's Parmalat and the Dutch retailer Ahold, which owns a number of U.S. grocery chains. But the change also reflects the influence of American-style investor activism and the growing clout of U.S. pension funds in stock markets across the Continent. "The performance culture has come to Europe," says David Newkirk...
What are today's companies looking for in a shiny new CEO? Talk of vision and synergies has been replaced almost everywhere by a laser-like focus on profitability. Debt and heavy-handed micromanagement are out; sustainable earnings and delegation of authority are in. Some corporate crises, such as Parmalat's, may be too big for any mortal to solve completely and point to the need for broader regulatory changes. But the new boys--women remain rare in the top jobs in corporate Europe--are under enormous pressure to untangle the failed legacy of their predecessors as fast as possible...
...conducted by a firm different from the company's outside auditor, to avoid conflicts of interest. The agency's chairman, former New York Federal Reserve Bank chief William McDonough, is close to finalizing joint supervision rules with the European Union--welcome news to U.S. investors after the collapse of Parmalat, the Italian firm that had concealed $18 billion in debt...
...wrongdoing). Prosecutors hope to skip the preliminary hearing and obtain rapid convictions in a case that has eroded confidence in Italian industry and finance. Another important delivery arrived last week, as state-appointed executor Enrico Bondi presented his bailout plan. He hopes to sell all noncore businesses and reduce Parmalat's brands from 120 to 30 (concentrating on fruit juices and, of course, milk). Prosecutors in Milan are expected to seek more trials, under normal timetables, against other suspects. T-Mobile's Berry Big Deal The BlackBerry, which allows secure wireless access to e-mail behind corporate firewalls...