ABN Endgame, Record Legal Award

A group led by Royal Bank of Scotland emerged on top in the months-long battle for ABN Amro. The Recording Industry Association of America, representing six record labels, won a $220,000 verdict in its first music-sharing lawsuit to go to trial.

NEWS AT A GLANCE

ABN sale nears finish line

A group led by Royal Bank of Scotland emerged on top in the months-long battle for ABN Amro. If ABN accept the $101 billion offer, it will be the biggest banking merger in history. Rival bidder Barclays conceded defeat this morning, and is requesting a break fee of about $280 million. (Reuters) Royal Bank’s partners are Spain’s Banco Santander and Dutch-Belgium bank Fortis. (MarketWatch) The recent credit market upheaval helped sink Barclays’ mostly stock bid, but it could also make ABN less valuable. “ABN Amro may not turn out to be the prize that both parties thought six months ago,” said Panmure Gordon analyst Sandy Chen. (Bloomberg)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Labels win downloading suit

AP in Yahoo! Finance

The New York Times

Los Angeles Times

Microsoft bids for your health records

Los Angeles Times

The Seattle Times

Meeting the new neighbors

RainbowVision—a year-old, majority-gay retirement community on the outskirts of Santa Fe, N.M.—is facing a problem common to condos in this real estate slump: about half of the 120 units are unoccupied. But along with the usual concerns this prompts, some of the 80 percent of current residents who are gay or lesbian are leery of being overrun by straight retirees. As straight couples and singles trickle in, however, wary residents are finding that these newcomers can be good neighbors. “It’s kind of like the opposite direction,” said gay resident Roger Bergstrom, 77. “When you get to know them, you love them.” (Los Angeles Times, free registration required)

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.