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The National Football League offered voluntary buyouts to at least 200 employees as it gears up for start of the playoffs this coming weekend, according to a memo obtained by CNBC. The NFL, which has about 1,100 employees, told staff that it is “continuously evaluating ways to enhance efficiency and improve outcomes,” according to the memo. “Every organization is increasingly challenged to be agile, responsible and strategic. The NFL is no exception,” the memo says. The buyouts come when the league has shown financial strength, with revenue in 2022 hitting nearly $12 billion. Commissioner Roger Goodell has set a goal...

BEIJING - Chinese state-controlled oil company CNOOC Ltd. said Monday it is paying $2.3 billion for a 45 percent stake in a Nigerian oil field in its first major investment since its failed bid to take over Unocal Corp. last year. The deal adds to a multibillion-dollar string of foreign acquisitions by Chinese oil companies, which are aggressively pursuing energy supplies to fuel China's booming economy. The agreement, which requires approval from the Nigerian and Chinese governments, covers a deep-water area of the oil-rich Niger Delta region, CNOOC said. It said the area includes the Akpo oil field discovered in...

SunEdison is now eyeing bankruptcy, but Paul Pelosi invested right before a 2014 stock rally House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s husband bought up to a quarter million dollars of stock in a now financially troubled green energy company just weeks before it announced a major 2014 acquisition that sent stock prices soaring, public records show. SunEdison told regulators last week that it is eyeing bankruptcy under the weight of $11.7 million in debt. But in late 2014, investors were bullish on the company, which manufactures and operates solar and wind power facilities. Its 2014 purchase of wind energy company First...

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department is offering buyouts of up to $25,000 in an effort to trim 641 employees from its ranks, department officials said Saturday. A state official told ABC News the voluntary buyouts would be in addition to the normal attrition expected within the department by the end of 2018. Multiple officials told The New York Times that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's goal is to reduce the department by 8 percent, or 1,982 people. The department already has instituted hiring and promotion freezes, left a number of ambassadorships and senior leadership positions fulfilled and...

Boeing Co. is offering voluntary buyouts to some workers on the flight line at its 787 Dreamliner campus in North Charleston, but the aerospace giant says it's too early to say whether more layoffs are in the offing. Those affected by this latest round of cost-cutting include flight readiness technicians and flight readiness inspectors. The buyout offers represent the first time workers who were eligible to vote for union representation have been asked if they'd like to voluntarily leave the company. Those workers have until Aug. 4 to decide whether to take the buyout offers. "There is still time remaining...

Companies with corporate pensions will end up paying a price if a sweeping budget and debt deal proposed by Congress becomes law. The House of Representatives is expected to pass legislation as soon as Wednesday that would eliminate the risk of a government default until after 2016 and increase government spending for the next two years. But the plan proposes steep increases to fees that companies pay to the nation's pension insurer, to help fund the added budget spending. According to the proposed budget, companies that have defined benefit pension plans would have to increase the fees they pay to...

The new owners of H.J. Heinz Co. have offered buyouts to all workers in Pittsburgh, where the ketchup-and-food giant has been based for decades, but insist the offer doesn’t signal a plan to move the company’s headquarters. Instead, Heinz officials said the buyout is being offered because the new owners Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital recognize the company’s new culture might not be “the perfect fit” for longtime Pittsburgh-based employees. Heinz officials said any workers who quit will be replaced, leaving the company with the same number of workers in Pittsburgh. …

NEW YORK Potentially sacked with $13 billion in debt on top of weak Q1 results the Tribune Co. is planning a new wave of job cuts, sources told the Chicago Tribune. According to Michael Oneal at the Chicago Tribune, 100 positions at his paper could be targeted for buyouts. It's not known how many cuts Tribune plans to make company-wide. If not enough people step forward to take the packages, Tribune could result to layoffs. On Thursday, Tribune reported a net loss of $15.6 million in Q1. Operating cash flow fell to $238 million from $271 million compared to the...

I attended a recent Investment in China and India Summit hosted by Financial Research Associates. I will use this forum to share some of insights that were given at this summit for the benefit of those hoping/thinking/planning on investing in an Asian country -- China, India, or Japan. Growth Capital- Dominant type of fund in Asia by number, especially in country-focused funds; focused on backing firms that are already established but are looking for capital to support strong growth. Buyouts- True control buyouts are a more recent phenomenon in Asia. Most funds focused on buyouts are larger Pan-Asian funds or...

The New York Times How to Look at a Gift Horse By MICHELINE MAYNARD Last week, General Motors, in a cost-cutting move, offered to pay 113,000 hourly workers and 13,000 workers at the Delphi Corporation to quit their jobs. That may sound like dream fulfilled to many people, but are G.M.'s buyouts really a good deal? G.M.'s blue-collar jobs, which pay $27 an hour with virtually free health care, are almost impossible to find elsewhere, said Gary Chaison, professor of labor relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "They have to look at the possibility of earning wages that are...

NEW YORK The application deadline for the Boston Globe's buyout package passed yesterday, and media reports indicate that at least 34 editorial employees have applied for the deal. That number about matches the Globe's goal for cuts. Writing in the Boston Phoenix, former Globe media writer Mark Jurkowitz reports that those seeking buyouts include "eight staffers in a Living/Arts (features) department that would be hit particularly hard by the cutbacks." Jurkowitz adds: "The company still has to respond to the applicants as well as negotiate how long some of the departees will remain in their jobs. But among those confirmed...

News to Gladden the Heart ?? Or something ! Remember that lonesome Maytag Repairman ? It looks as if he is going to have company pretty soon. Whirlpool – a major competitor – has made a whopping big offer , that will likely include a lot of debt exchange between the two giants , a REALLY big payday for shareholders , and a REALLY big boot in the tail for a lot of actual repairmen. In case that falls through, the People’s Liberation Army of China is also interested,and has made an attractive bid. (That’s not the actual name on...

China is moving into the merger-and-acquisition major leagues, as its star corporations shop for American household names like Unocal, Maytag and IBM, looking for bigger profits through global ambitions. China's growing appetite for Western corporate icons is reflected computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd's recent takeover of IBM's personal computer business and two big deals reportedly in the making for Unocal Corp. and Maytag Corp. "I'd expect at least a half a dozen similar deals by the end of the year," said Jack J.T. Huang, chairman of international law firm Jones Day's Greater China practice. But the deals are not without...

Reuters UPDATE - Bethlehem Steel agrees to be acquired by ISG Wednesday February 5, 1:47 pm ET (Adds details on the terms of the deal, background) BETHLEHEM, Pa., Feb 5 (Reuters) - Bankrupt Bethlehem Steel Corp. (OTC BB:BHMSQ.OB - News) on Wednesday said it reached an agreement to be acquired by International Steel Group (ISG), creating the largest U.S. steel company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but will be presented to Bethlehem's board on Saturday, the company said. ISG, which is backed by New York buyout fund W.L. Ross & Co., on Jan. 6 had offered $1.5 billion...

Reuters UPDATE - AK Steel named lead bidder for National Steel Thursday February 6, 5:52 pm ET By Nichola Groom (New throughout, adds analyst comment, U.S. Steel comment, USWA statement, byline, changes dateline previous MISHAWAKA, Ind.) NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy court named AK Steel Holding Corp. lead bidder in the race to buy National Steel Corp., beating out United States Steel Corp., though a March deadline to strike a deal with the steelworkers' union could still sidetrack the $925 million deal. Thursday's ruling, which grants AK Steel (NYSE:AKS - News) "stalking horse" or priority status,...