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To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (44568)	1/12/2004 7:16:39 PM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

Mars by 2525. That darn song just keeps coming back...

To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (44568)	1/12/2004 7:20:10 PM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Enlargement: five years ago Slovakia was inimaginable. Ten years ago Slovenia would be unthinkable. But it is there. It is as simple as that: The only way for Europe to keep its economic standing will be to keep bring new members in.

To: smolejv@gmx.net who wrote (44568)	1/12/2004 7:28:25 PM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

After raising cheap money while the going is good. After buying companies on the cheap, now it sells while it is high, raising money to buy cheap once it goes down again. 1) Now if they cancel the pensions like Commerzbank did... 2)Compare with MOT which has yet to divest its chip making business. 3) Thinking better; raising money to buy MOT infrastructure business it is quite a good idea, now that Galvin is out of the door. Siemens to Raise EU1.8 Billion Selling Infineon Stock (Update3) Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Siemens AG, Germany's largest electronics company, is raising as much as 1.8 billion euros ($2.3 billion) by selling half of its Infineon Technologies AG stake, taking advantage of the chipmaker's best annual share performance since a spinoff almost four years ago. Siemens will sell 150 million shares in Europe's second- largest chipmaker, leaving it with about 19 percent, spokesman Peter Gottal said. Citigroup Inc., the world's largest financial services company, is selling the shares for between 12 euros and 12.25 euros, said Jeremy Hughes, a spokesman for the bank. Heinrich von Pierer, chief executive officer of Munich-based Siemens, is raising money to finance acquisitions in the areas of medical equipment, telecommunications and automation to close in on rivals such as General Electric Co. The former chip unit has only posted one quarterly profit in more than two years. ``It's good that they are getting out of Infineon sooner rather than later,'' said Raimund Saier, who helps manage $41 billion at WestAM in Dusseldorf. ``The timing was good.'' Infineon shares fell as much as 69 cents, or 5.6 percent, to 11.75 euros, the biggest drop in more than two months. Before today, the stock had gained 13 percent this year. Last year's 57 percent rise was Infineon's only annual gain in three years, and made it the sixth-best performing member on Germany's DAX Index. Siemens's shares, which rose 0.1 percent to 67.60 euros at 10:58 a.m. in Frankfurt, were the fifth-best performing stock in the DAX last year. Booking Gain Siemens will have a net gain of ``at least'' 600 million euros and will book it in the fiscal second quarter, Gottal said. For the year ending in September, Siemens plans to raise net income by more than 10 percent, von Pierer said in November. ``The timing seemed just right for us to realize our target price,'' Siemens's Gottal said in an interview. Siemens's holding will eventually drop to zero, he said. Siemens owned 286.3 million Infineon shares, or 39.7 percent of the company, in September 2003, according to Bloomberg data. Siemens first sold Infineon shares three years ago for 35 euros apiece. Last March, the company's pension fund sold all its 36 million Infineon shares for 6.55 euros each. The most recent large sale of Infineon shares was in January 2002, when Siemens sold 40 million shares, Gottal said. At its annual general meeting on January 22, Siemens plans to ask for shareholder approval to issue convertible bonds and new shares to help fund purchases. The company also releases fiscal first-quarter earnings that day. Discount Siemens is selling the stock at a 1.5 percent discount to Friday's close on optimism investors will buy the shares as the chip industry recovers. Infineon in November reported its first profit in 10 quarters, helped by rising prices for memory chips used in personal computers. ``Siemens wants independence from Infineon and the sale is part of that strategy,'' said Frank Rothauge, an analyst at Bank Sal. Oppenheim Jr & Cie in Frankfurt. ``The money they raise is another drop in an already rather large ocean of cash,'' The 1.1 billion-euro purchase of Alstom SA's turbine unit was Siemens's only major acquisition in 2003 and its biggest in two years. Pressure is mounting from General Electric, which is expanding in Europe and last year agreed to buy Amersham Plc, a U.K.-based medical imaging company, in what was the U.S. company's biggest takeover in Europe. Siemens said it will publish the final sale price after the market closes. Citigroup has guaranteed a minimum price for which it will sell the shares, Gottal said, declining to give the amount. Last Updated: January 12, 2004 05:02 EST