US based retailing chain Circuit City Stores has said that they are fine with giving access to their books to Blockbuster for reviewing as they have shown interests in acquiring them.

The company added that billionaire investor Carl Icahn is also interested in a possible deal if Blockbuster fails to get the financing for a deal.

Icahn has shown interest in acquiring the company on his own.

Circuit City added that they have now hired the services of Goldman Sachs & Co. to explore strategic alternatives. They have however not decided what they are going to do.

Circuit City had earlier said that they doubted that Blockbuster would be able to generate enough resources to acquire them.

A company representative said: “While it is our hope that the due diligence process will reinforce both the strategic and financial rationale behind the deal, we are committed to only doing a transaction that provides substantial benefits for our shareholders.”

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Japanese automaker Nissan has said that they are working on several new model launches in India.

The company is aiming to sell 100,000 vehicles a year in the world by 2012.

Nissan India would be launching eight new models by that time to expand their presence in the Indian market.

One of these models would be an entry-level car which would be powered with an engine between 1 liter and 1.2 liters.

They are also going to introduce their commercial vehicles too in India.

Nissan India is also working on expanding their dealership network. They aim to have 50 new dealers by 2012.

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Czech automaker Skoda has said that they are working on a brand new small car platform for markets like India.

This would be different from the platforms they share with their parent company Volkswagen.

This car would be made in India and is expected to be out in the next two years.

Skoda would export the car to their international markets as well.

The company currently has on sale their Skoda Fabia small car in India which is too expensive to compete with other models in the segment.

A Skoda representative said: “Our small car will be launched first in India. The car will cater to virgin markets and will be priced in the Rs 3-5 lakh bracket.”

Skoda India is big plans for India and they are aiming to sell 100,000 cars annually beginning 2012 in this market.

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News Corp. has announced that they have now withdrawn their acquisition offer for Tribune’s Newsday newspaper.

Surprisingly, this announcement comes just days after Rupert Murdoch said that their talks were in advance stage.

They had offered $580 million for the deal.

A company spokesperson said that the deal was becoming too expensive for them.

Murdoch had originally planned to integrate Newsday with his own New York Post operations.

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US based software giant Microsoft has revealed that they are now appealing the historic $1.39 billion fine imposed on them by the European Commission.

This fine was imposed on the company for failure to comply with a 2004 antitrust order.

Microsoft Spokesman Jack Evans added in a statement: “We are filing this appeal in a constructive effort to seek clarity from the court.”

That judgment was issued in the case filed by Sun Microsystems way back in 1998.

Microsoft has been fined close to around $2.63 billion by European Union regulators over the past couple of years.

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Japanese automaker Nissan has said that they have now appointed Hover Automotive India Private to set up their sales network in the Indian market.

The company is planning to have as many as 55 dealers by 2012. The aim is to sell a lakh car in that year.

Nissan India currently has just five dealerships in India. They sell X-Trail sport utility vehicle and Teana sedan through this small network. Both of these models are imported.

The company is working on bringing their Murano crossover vehicle next year. They need to expand their presence in the market to generate more sales.

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US based mobile service provider T-Mobile USA has revealed that they added around 981,000 customers in the first quarter.

The company also completed the acquisition of SunCom Wireless which added another 1.1 million subscribers.

T-Mobile USA as a result now has close to 30.8 million mobile subscribers.

Market analysts say that this performance is better than rival company Sprint Nextel. Sprint Nextel is losing their customers and had 53.8 million subscribers at the end of last year.

T-Mobile USA is now likely to benefit from their recent launches. The company has just launched their 3G mobile network in New York City.

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Now that it is pretty clear that Microsoft is taking its eyes off Yahoo, market sources say that they are considering enhancing their stake in the social networking service Facebook.

Wall Street Journal claims that the company has sent messages to Facebook indicating their interest for a possible acquisition.

Facebook and Microsoft have declined to comment on these latest rumors in the market.

Microsoft incidentally is already a minor stakeholder in Facebook. They acquired the stake for around $240 million. That deal had put the value of Facebook at massive $15 billion.

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Vonage has now announced that they would be reselling DSL services powered by Covad.

This would help them expand their services range. The company said that their packages would feature speeds of 3.0 or 6.0 megabits per second.

These services would be provided to both home users and small businesses.

A company representative said: “The new service is expected to be offered to new and existing customers by the end of the year. We are not releasing price information at this point. We will be announcing more details about pricing in the weeks to come.”

Jeffrey Citron, chairman and interim chief executive officer at Vonage added: “Consistent with our strategy of focusing on the customer, Vonage Broadband enables us to respond to the demand we hear from customers who prefer the Vonage brand. In addition, it provides us with a competitive offering that continues to give customers the freedom of choice.”

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Italian superbike manufacturer Ducati Motor Holding has now announced their entry into the Indian market.

The company has launched five models in India. These are: Hypermotard, classic 1098, 1098R, 848 and Monster.

Ducati CEO, Mr Gabriele Del Torchio spoke at the launch ceremony: “India is no longer an emerging country. It is a reality worldwide. We feel it is the right time to enter the Indian market.”

They are aiming to sell 50 units in the first year of operation here in India. They would have dealerships in major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

These bikes are being imported for sale in India through their partner Precision Motor India Pvt Ltd.

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