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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: H James Morris who wrote (117123)	2/7/2001 10:29:49 PM
From: Victor Lazlo	Respond to of 164684

<<I think Amzn is worth at least $600 million to someone. >> yup- through Chpt 11, they will be bought out for debt, with little or no value assigned to the stock, as I have been saying for the last 18 mos. Victor

To: H James Morris who wrote (117123)	2/8/2001 1:40:27 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Feb 02,2001 Consortium Considers Buyout Of Diamond Giant De Beers By Robert Block and Deborah Ball Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal A consortium of companies that already controls De Beers is considering a bid to buy out minority shareholders and delist the diamond giant from the Johannesburg and Swiss stock exchanges. If it goes ahead, the takeover looks set to be a huge boost to sister company Anglo American PLC, a disaster for the South African equity market, and an important step in De Beers's efforts to turn itself into a luxury-goods company. The consortium -- including Anglo American and the Oppenheimer family, the driving force behind De Beers's diamond cartel since the beginning of the 20th century -- announced on Thursday that it was considering a bid for the company at a value of $40 (42.83 euros) a share, valuing the group at about $16 billion. The announcement caught most analysts by surprise. The group hasn't given any indication of when it will make a final decision on the bid, but De Beers spokesman in South Africa, Tom Tweedy, said the intention was to turn De Beers into a privately owned company. This would mean delisting De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and De Beers Centenary AG from the Swiss market. De Beers Centenary was set up during South Africa's apartheid years to hold the company's foreign assets. Its depositary receipts are publicly traded in Zurich and the shares of the both entities are linked. The deal would be a complex affair. De Beers is a labyrinthine web of cross-holdings in which Anglo American owns 35% of De Beers, the Oppenheimers 2% and Debswana Diamond Co. -- a joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government -- a further 5.5%. In turn De Beers holds about 40% of Anglo American. In Johannesburg trading, De Beers shares gained 17% to close at 300 rand (41.43 euros), while shares in Anglo American gained 1.3% to 488.40 rand. Some analysts say if the takeover goes ahead, it will simplify De Beers's complex ownership structure, resulting in a de facto merger with Anglo American, and turning the united entity into the biggest diversified mining group in the world. Anglo American has interests in gold, coal, base and strategic metals, while De Beers mines about 40% of the world's diamonds, and sells about 65% of the world's supply of rough stones through its Diamond Trading Company in London. Anglo American refused to comment. However, a De Beers official in London said that by taking full control of De Beers, the consortium would increase its maneuvering room to implement the company's new strategy to change the firm from the custodian of the world diamond trade into a producer of luxury goods. Until recently De Beers only mined and sold rough gems, and has never sold finished diamond jewelry products. But just last month, the company announced an agreement with French luxury-goods giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, whereby the two would establish a joint venture to sell De Beers-branded jewelry. The South African stock market would be the real loser if the bid goes ahead. Over the last two years, five of the country's biggest companies, including Anglo American, moved their primary listings to London, downsizing the local market and bleeding hard currency from the country. The delisting of De Beers would be a further blow, removing one of the market's last remaining blue-chip firms and draining badly needed liquidity from the market. "It's very negative for South Africa," said Board of Executors Ltd.'s diamond analyst Hilton Ashton. "De Beers was one of South Africa's largest trading stocks and an international attraction for our market." Mr. Ashton said he thought the deal would likely attract the attention of South Africa's Reserve Bank, which could possibly scupper the possible takeover if it felt that the move was an attempt to move capital offshore. Write to Robert Block at robert.block@wsj.com and Deborah Ball at deborah.ball@wsj.com public.wsj.com

To: H James Morris who wrote (117123)	2/10/2001 2:50:20 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

SB, yesterday I bought the first issue of Amzn Junk bonds and let me tell why. First, I paid 55% less than the original bond holders paid. Second, In the event of a default we get to take Amzn into busto, and the current common shareholders get nothing. Yep Zero! Amzn currently has a market cap of $5.36 billion. Us amzn bond holders can get this POS for $600 million. I think Amzn is worth at least $600 million to someone. Btw If I'm wrong and Amzn does make it I'll still get 18.2% on my money. My risk is simple. Amzn gets liquidated for less than $600 million, and I never received an Interest payment.:O) James, I do not know if you read the prospectus on both sets of bonds. Amazon's suppliers can issue merchandise on credit that becomes a liability the preceeds the bond debt. I believe the end result will be the common stock shareholders receive nothing, the bond holders receive nothing, the vendors will be paid the majority of what is owed and the insiders all walk away with a total of about $3 billion for a firm that did nothing but burn capital that could have been used for R & D for other technology or for the development of power plants, etc. Glenn