The Wall Street Journal-20080129-In Brief
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In Brief
Full Text (300 words)WestLB to Rid Itself
Of Some Risky Assets
The owners of WestLB AG, one of Germany's largest state-controlled banks, plan to offload about 20 billion euros ($29.3 billion) in risky assets into an off-balance-sheet, special-purpose vehicle, people familiar with the matter said yesterday. By doing so, WestLB avoids having them on its own balance sheet and having to take any related write-downs. It is unclear how much the assets, which consist of structured products, have already declined in value. However, WestLB's move could leave taxpayers with the bill for any losses incurred by the special-purpose vehicle.
Gore's Current Media
Files for Stock Offering
Current Media Inc., co-founded by former vice president Al Gore, is planning to go public, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to $100 million of shares. The San Francisco company operates a television network, Current TV, and a Web site, Current.com, that distributes both viewer-created and professional content. Current TV, launched in 2005, is available in about 51 million subscriber households in the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Pacific Crest Securities Inc. were listed as underwriters.
Morgan Stanley to Sell
Its Spanish Wealth Unit
Spanish savings bank La Caixa said it agreed to buy Morgan Stanley's Spanish private-banking unit and planned to keep expanding it until it was the country's biggest wealth manager. A La Caixa spokesman said a price hadn't yet been set for the private bank, which has 9 billion euros ($13.2 billion) of assets under management and is Spain's sixth- biggest wealth manager. The Spanish private-banking sector has been swelling in the past several years, mostly on the back of a property boom. At the end of September, La Caixa had assets under management of more than 16.6 billion euros.
