Ali Dibadj

Whitworth Takes PepsiCo Stake, Meets With Executives

Activist shareholder Ralph Whitworth has built a stake worth about $610 million in PepsiCo Inc. and held meetings with the soft-drink maker’s executives.

Coty Raises Avon Bid to $10.7 Billion; Buffett Backing

Coty Inc. boosted its offer to acquire Avon Products Inc. to about $10.7 billion and said Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will provide financing as the perfume-maker seeks to kickstart negotiations with Avon.

Avon Profit Trails Analysts’ Estimates As Costs Increase

Avon Products Inc., the door-to-door cosmetics seller that’s the target of a $10 billion takeover bid from Coty Inc., fell the most in six months after reporting quarterly profit that trailed analysts’ estimates, hurt by higher labor and materials costs.

P&G Cuts Full-Year Earnings Forecast

Procter & Gamble Co., the world’s largest consumer-products company, fell the most in more than two years after reducing its earnings forecast, hurt by regulations in Venezuela and slowing sales shipments in some developed markets.

3G Capital Has Funds to Back Coty Avon Bid, Analyst Says

3G Capital Inc., the private-equity firm backed by Brazilian billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann, has $1.4 billion that it could use to back Coty Inc.’s bid for Avon Products Inc., Trevor Stirling and Ali Dibadj, analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said today in a note.

Coca-Cola Profit Tops Analysts’ Estimates as U.S. Gains

Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest soft-drink maker, reported first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by pricing increases and demand in North America.

Coty Prefers Closely Held Structure for Avon Turnaround

Coty Inc., the closely held perfume maker seeking to buy Avon Products Inc. for $10 billion, has determined that a private-company structure will make it easier to turn around the door-to-door seller of cosmetics, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Jung’s Outside Successor May Shake ‘Entrenched’ Avon Culture

Replacing Avon Products Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Andrea Jung with an outsider may inject fresh energy into a company where the leader and much of her board have served for more than a decade.

Coty Went Public With Avon Offer to Press Board, Becht Says

Coty Inc. Chairman Bart Becht said he went public with the offer for Avon Products Inc. so shareholders will press the company’s board to consider a merger and allow Coty access to confidential financial documents.

Avon CEO Appointment Raises Doubt over Coty Deal

Avon Products Inc.’s naming of Johnson & Johnson’s Sherilyn McCoy as chief executive officer may delay the company’s turnaround efforts and decrease the chances of a takeover by Coty Inc., analysts said.

"It certainly increases the pressure now that you have Berkshire Hathaway involved, that you have an upped bid, that you have a deadline."

- Ali Dibadj on May 10, 2012

New York

Brazil

Andrea Jung

North America

Greece Plans for June 17 Vote Under Caretake Government

Facebook Said to Raise Size of IPO to 421 Million Shares

Merkel-Hollande Meeting Yields Greece Growth Signal

Greek President Told Banks Anxious as Deposits Pulled

Goldman, Merrill E-Mails Show Naked Shorting, Filing Says