Can Visa’s IPO Help Lift Its Partner Banks Out of the Economic Doldrums?

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- Like the prettiest debutant at the biggest spring ball, Visa Inc (NYSE: V) launched its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Wednesday to a gaggle of swooning investors.

“The company sold 406 million shares at a price above its expected $37 to $42 range, raising a total of $17.86 billion. That makes it the largest U.S. IPO ever, topping a $10.6 billion offering from AT&T Wireless in 2000,” reported The Wall Street Journal in an online article.

Analysts are expecting that the credit card giant will generate nearly $19 billion for the approximately 447 million shares of its Class-A common stock. In an economy that is threatened by rising consumer debt and spending, the Visa IPO is ironically the deal that is giving banks and investors some hope of a turnaround.

Since its rival MasterCard Inc (NYSE: MA) went through an IPO of its own two years ago, raising $2.4 billion, investors have been impatient for Visa to make a similar move. Those with much to gain from the deal include the big investment banks that have been feeling the squeeze thanks to the ongoing credit crisis, a crisis that just claimed the venerable investment-banking firm The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE:BSC) as its most prominent victim.

UPDATE: Analyst Gives Upbeat Assessment of News Corp-Yahoo Deal

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- While weighing in on the rumor that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NYSE: NWS) is pondering a strategic alliance with Yahoo! Inc (NASDEQ: YHOO), a prominent Wall Street financial analyst asserted that a deal with Yahoo “offers little downside to News Corp,” according to a MarketWatch.com article on Thursday.

Identifying the analyst as David Bank of RBC Capital Markets, the MarketWatch  article also quoted Mr Bank as saying that such a deal would probably ensure that Yahoo could “fend off” a hostile takeover from Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Regardless of the Microsoft dynamic, there exist many potential synergies between Yahoo and News Corp.

In particular, the most prevalent rumor suggests a strategic alliance between News Corp’s Internet property MySpace and Yahoo.

Yet, as NewsVisual reported in our Feb 22 article, Yahoo owns a revenue-generating Newspaper Consortium service that features 634 newspapers or partners.

Could Yahoo Be Eyeing Time Warner After Rejecting Microsoft Bid?

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace )-- Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) may have rejected Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid, but that doesn’t mean that another strategic partnership is out of the question, namely with Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX).

Claiming that Microsoft’s offer “substantially undervalues” Yahoo, the company is left with the opportunity to negotiate a better deal out of Microsoft or even another interested party. Insiders say that Yahoo may have reached out to Time Warner's AOL unit, a rumor that has yet to be confirmed by either company.

NewsVisual illustrated the connections to Time Warner that could help Yahoo land a deal with the creation of an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map. A number of direct connections combined with current relationships through common entities could soon lead to a partnership between Yahoo and Time Warner.

Connections Between Google and Yahoo Create Alliance Against Microsoft

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace )-- Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) may be far from rivaling Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) in a takeover of Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO), though that likely won’t stop the web giant from becoming deeply involved in the situation.

No counter offers have yet been made to challenge Microsoft’s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, which could potentially make the deal a sure thing and boost Microsoft’s web presence as a serious competitor to Google. Due to regulatory concerns, it is doubtful that Google will make a competing offer,  however the company could be strategizing other manuevers to keep Microsoft from acquiring Yahoo.

In order to identify how the companies may be collaborating to challenge Microsoft, NewsVisual created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map of the notable relationships held between key Directors and Executives at Yahoo and Google.

BHP Billiton Faces Deadline For Rio Tinto Bid

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace )-- The fate of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) will be known Wednesday, the deadline for rival and the world’s largest mining company BHP Billiton to make a final decision about whether to pursue a merger.

What stands to be one of the corporate worlds biggest mergers could even increase in price from the present $127 billion bid before the deadline, thanks to a strategic investment in Rio Tinto from China. The bid inflation could stop BHP in its track, as well as the fear of upsetting China, which has opposed the deal and happens to be the company’s principal customer.

Board Room Connections Between Google and Clearwire May Have Guided Deal

In what could be an important step in furthering the evolution of ubiquitous Internet connectivity, Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Clearwire Corp (NASDAQ: CLWR) announced on Tuesday morning a new business deal between the two companies to collaborate on Internet services, the companies said in a joint statement. 

The deal requires Clearwire to deliver to its customers the Google Apps communication suite, which includes Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Talk in the first half of this year.  In addition, Clearwire will use Google’s AdSense for Search for future Clearwire portal applications.

Personal Connections Between the Directors from GM and Navistar Could Be Impetus Behind Deal

The new strategic realignment in the automotive industry began to evolve another link on Thursday when General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and Navistar International Corporation (Other OTC: NAVZ) jointly announced their plans for a major transaction.

Under the terms of a non-binding memorandum of understanding, Navistar would purchase certain properties relating to GM’s medium-size truck business, including assets, intellectual property and distribution rights.

Specifically, Navistar’s benefits from the deal would include the rights to manufacture GMC and Chevrolet brand vehicles in the class 4-8 gross vehicle weight range, the purchase of the related service-parts business, and the right to sell vehicles and service parts through GM’s proprietary dealer network in the United States and Canada.

The two companies emphasized that the deal will benefit them mutually.