BUSINESS BRIEFS
Corporate lobbies backing off as new rules loom
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A decade-long boom for corporate lobbyists in Washington is showing signs of quieting down, just as tougher congressional rules threaten to muffle the multibillion-dollar industry even more next year.
The new rules mandate more detailed disclosure of lobbying activities, industry oversight by the Justice Department and penalties of up to $200,000 for violations. They will force corporations and trade groups to provide more precise spending records and to take a harder look at who's lobbying for them.
Reports for spending in the second half of 2007 are due by Feb. 15. But under the new rules, which take effect Jan. 1, lobbyists and companies must now file quarterly reports.
The lobbying reforms come as corporate spending habits appear to be shifting. Since the late 1990s, total expenditures grew by about 80 percent and, in some years, at an annual clip of 12 percent, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group that tracks such expenses.
MALAYSIA, IRAN OK GAS FIELD DEAL
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran and Malaysia signed a $16 billion agreement to develop two Iranian gas fields, state-run television reported yesterday, describing the deal as the largest energy contract in Iran.
Iran's Pars Oil and Gas Co., or POGC, and Malaysia's SKS Ventures signed the multibillion-dollar contract to develop Golshan and Ferdows gas fields in southern Iran.
The contract was formally signed by Ali Vakili, director of POGC, and Mokhtar Al-Bokhari, director of SKS Ventures, in the capital Tehran, according to the report.
"This contract is worth $16 billion. Some $6 billion is for development of offshore and $10 billion for development of onshore gas fields for a period of 25 years," Vakili told the official IRNA news agency.
BUFFETT BUYING 60% OF MARMON
CHICAGO — Warren Buffett's investment company said it will pay $4.5 billion for 60 percent of Marmon Holdings Inc., a private company of more than 125 manufacturing and service businesses.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., based in Omaha, Neb., said it plans to acquire the remaining 40 percent of Marmon over the next five to six years depending on future earnings of Marmon, according to a statement released Tuesday by both companies.
Marmon is owned by trusts for the benefit of the Pritzker family of Chicago, the family that developed the Hyatt Hotel chain.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.
Brothers Jay and Robert Pritzker acquired Marmon in 1953 when it was a small manufacturing operation in Ohio, according to the release. In 2002, Jay's son, Tom Pritzker, took over as chairman.
BARRON HILTON TO DONATE $2.3B
LOS ANGELES — Hotel magnate Barron Hilton will give $2.3 billion, the bulk of his fortune, to charity, officials said yesterday.
Hilton, the 80-year-old grandfather of Paris Hilton, bequeathed the money to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a charity founded by his father in 1944.
"We are all exceedingly proud and grateful for this extraordinary commitment," Hilton's son, Steven M. Hilton, president and chief executive of the foundation, said in a statement.
"Working to alleviate human suffering around the globe, regardless of race, religion or geography, is the mandate of the foundation set by my grandfather ... and now reinforced by my father."
The funds will partly come from the sale of the Hilton Hotels Corp. to The Blackstone Group. The money will go into a trust but eventually will find its way to the foundation. Hilton, the chairman of the foundation, pledged an immediate $1.2 billion donation to the charity, with an estimated $1.1 billion to follow after his death.
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