The bottomline

NEW YORK: Dish Network Corp, the No. 2 US satellite television provider, offered to buy Sprint Nextel Corp for $25.5 billion in cash and stock, a move that could thwart the proposed acquisition of Sprint by Japan’s SoftBank Corp.

Sprint shares soared as much as 17.8 percent after the announcement to their highest level since August 2008 and slightly topped the value of the Dish bid.

Dish’s surprise bid on Monday is the latest twist in a wave of consolidation in the US wireless industry. Dish had already made a counter-offer against Sprint for Clearwire Corp, the wireless company majority-owned by Sprint.

It was also the boldest step yet by Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen, who has bought billions of dollars worth of wireless spectrum in the last few years and has been seeking some sort of deal to make use of the airwaves.

“This is the culmination of a lot of years of work. Whether it be the purchase of spectrum, entering auctions, the acquisition of Sling Media, all those things come together now with the merger with Sprint,” Ergen said on a conference call with analysts and reporters. (RTRS) NEW YORK: The Associated Press said Monday that its revenue declined slightly in 2012 because US elections and the Olympics drew less interest than expected, but it was largely successful in replacing lost revenue with increased sales of video and photos.

Revenue dropped 0.8 percent to $622.2 million last year from $627.6 million in 2011, the not-for-profit news cooperative said at its annual meeting on Monday.

The AP had a net loss of $25.6 million for 2012, down from a loss of $193.3 million the year before. The 2011 loss was mostly due to a non-cash charge of $168 million that was taken as a reserve against future tax benefits.

The AP is owned by 1,400 US newspapers and is largely a wholesaler of news. It sells the content it gathers and produces to newspapers, commercial websites and radio and TV stations. (AP) ROCHESTER, New York: Kodak has agreed to sell some of its document imaging assets to Brother Industries Ltd. for about $210 million, its latest deal as it seeks to exit bankruptcy protection.

Japan-based Brother also would assume the business’ deferred service revenue liability, which totaled about $67 million as of Dec. 31, the companies said Monday. Kodak’s document imaging business provides scanners, capture software and related services. Brother makes laser, label and multifunction printers, along with fax machines and sewing machines.

Eastman Kodak Co. filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2012. It has said it hopes to emerge from court protection this summer. (AP) NEW YORK: Scientific equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific said Monday it was taking over biotech firm Life Technologies, a major force in genetic sequencing, for $13.6 billion.

The two said they had signed a definitive agreement on the deal, in which Thermo Fisher will pay $76 a share for Life Tech, a price 11.7 percent above Friday’s close.

The deal also includes Thermo Fisher assuming $2.2 billion in Life Tech debt.

“The combination builds on both companies’ technological strengths to accelerate results for life sciences customers working in proteomics, genomics and cell biology,” the companies said in a statement.

Thermo Fisher shares were up 3.4 percent at $82.29 in early trade Monday, while Life Tech shares jumped 7.7 percent to $73.25.

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher is a leader in equipment used for genetic sequencing, while Life Tech, in Carlsbad, California, is one of the leaders in developing sequencing technology. (AFP) LONDON: Ladbrokes, Britain’s second largest bookmaker, warned investors it expected annual operating profit to fall this year after a poor performance from horse racing and online gaming in the first quarter.

Ladbrokes shares fell eight percent after the unscheduled trading statement, which dashed expectations that the company was turning itself around after problems with its online operations last year.

Ladbrokes has fallen behind market leader William Hill , which has built up a head of steam in the growing online gambling sector and expanded overseas. It also faces competition from a number of new entrants in a crowded sector ripe for consolidation. Private equity firm CVC said on Monday it was considering a takeover of online betting exchange Betfair, one of Ladbrokes’ rivals for online gamblers’ cash. (RTRS) BRUSSELS: The European Commission on Monday cleared USbased cable operator Liberty Global to acquire Britain’s Virgin Media in a deal worth 17.2 billion euros.

The Commission said the tie up between Liberty Global, the largest cable operator in Europe, and the second largest pay TV firm in Britain “would not raise competition concerns” because of the nature of the business and the continued competition the new entity would face.

Announcing the deal in February, the two companies said it would create “the world’s leading broadband communications company,” serving 47 million homes and 25 million customers in 14 countries.

The new company would focus on “the strongest and most strategic markets in Europe, with the scale to be at the forefront of technological change for customers,” they said. (AFP) HELSINKI: Finnish mining company Talvivaara said it succeeded in raising 261 million euros ($341.85 million) in a rights issue to keep its mine running, securing a chance to recover from its costly waste water leaks.

Talvivaara’s Sotkamo mine, once hailed as a pioneer in a nickel extraction process called bioheapleaching, has been hit by a series of problems including a November accident in which toxic waste leaked into nearby waters and halted production for weeks.

There were concerns some investors could back out of the rights issue after a new leak was discovered a week ago, particularly after pension insurance firm Ilmarinen cancelled its subscription and sold off its 5.08 percent stake.

But Talvivaara said on Monday that the rights issue was oversubscribed and banks’ underwriting was not used. (RTRS)