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FYI: Business

By Associated Press
Published: 11/20/2009 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 11/20/2009 9:25 AM

Mortgage rate dips, remains below 5 percent

The nation's benchmark mortgage rate remains below 5 percent.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate home loans is going for 4.83 percent, down from 4.91 percent last week, mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday after conducting its weekly survey of rates from across the nation.

Last year at this time, the rate averaged 6.04 percent. It hit a record low of 4.78 percent last spring.

Verizon Wireless lays off former Alltel workers

Verizon Wireless is laying off former Alltel Corp. headquarters workers in Little Rock.

Verizon would not put a number to the Thursday layoffs. Spokeswoman Lucie Pathmann said the company is cutting positions that became redundant with the 2008 purchase of Alltel.

Area business leaders bemoaned the takeover because the city would lose many high-paying professional positions. Pathmann said layoffs were in areas such as finance, marketing and legal.

Pathmann said laid-off workers could apply for call center jobs and other positions available in Little Rock, where she says Verizon is expanding parts of its operation.

EBay completes sale of Skype for $2 billion

EBay Inc. has completed its sale of Skype for about $2 billion to an investor group that included the founders of the Internet phone service.

Last week, the online auction site settled a legal skirmish with co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis which allowed the deal to move forward. The settlement gave Skype ownership of software that had been licensed from the company they founded, Joltid Ltd.

San Jose, Calif.-based Ebay said Thursday it sold a 70 percent stake in the company for about $1.9 billion plus $125 million that it will receive at a later date. The company is keeping the remaining 30 percent stake.

The settlement means Zennstrom and Friis get a 14 percent stake in Skype. The investor group, led by Silver Lake, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz, get 56 percent ownership.

Berkshire borrowing $8 billion for BNSF deal

Warren Buffett's company has lined up an $8 billion loan to help pay for its $26.3 billion acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Thursday that it signed the financing deal with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo on Wednesday.

Buffett has said Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire plans to borrow half of the $16 billion cash needed for the deal and repay the loan over three years.

Berkshire has agreed to pay $100 a share in cash and stock for all the BNSF shares it doesn't own.

AOL shedding 2,500 more jobs

Struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs — more than a third of its work force — as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage.

Major job cuts had been expected and seemed certain after Time Warner said last week that AOL would take $200 million in charges for severance and other restructuring-related costs.

AOL, which has already pared thousands of workers in recent years and now employs about 6,900, is asking for volunteers to accept buyouts. If it falls short of the 2,500 target, it plans layoffs to reach a payroll cut of up to 2,300 positions, a third of its current total.

By Associated Press

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