Lam Research, KLA-Tencor end merger, cite antitrust views + MORE Oct 6th

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Lam Research Corp. and KLA-Tencor are scrapping their merger agreement due to antitrust regulators’ opposition to the deal that would have combined the two makers of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors.
Lam Research of Fremont, California, had offered about $10.6 billion in cash, stock or a combination of the two, for KLA-Tencor, based in Milpitas, California. The combination announced last October would have created a giant that would have served roughly 42 per cent of the wafer fabrication equipment market.
Shareholders of both companies approved the deal in February.
As recently as August, the companies said they were still in talks with the Justice Department and regulators in South Korea, Japan and China.
Lam and KLA-Tencor said Wednesday that no breakup fees will be paid by either company.
Lam Research said that it remains committed to delivering more value to shareholders. It will offer investors an update on its strategy next month.
Separately, KLA-Tencor said that it’s raising its quarterly dividend by 4 per cent, or 2 cents, to 54 cents, starting with the November payment…

In the buildup to the regulatory review of trailer fees in Canada, the mutual fund industry is trying to wage an ill-advised battle of misinformation. And one of the key tactics in this battle is to dispute facts and studies, including one I co-authored, that have proven beyond a doubt the detrimental effect of these fees.
At the risk of making an analogy to the cigarette industry and early denial of the harm caused by cigarettes, I hope we stop blowing smoke and make use of the information and data provided by the mutual fund industry that clearly show trailer fees harm Canadian investors.
For investors who have not been following these developments, the Canadian Securities Administrators are calling for suggestions on how to value the price of advice when trailers, an embedded fee that compensates advisors directly for sales, are done away with. In a recent letter to the Ontario Securities Association, the Investment Funds Industry of Canada (IFIC) revisited its argument that studies have failed to prove harm…

CALGARY – A former real-estate investment executive who pleaded guilty to his part in a multimillion-dollar fraud will not be serving time behind bars.
Varun Aurora has been sentenced to two years less a day, to be served in the community.
Aurora, who is 33, was involved with Concrete Equities, which gave false information to investors looking to buy resort property in Mexico.
Provincial Judge Joanne Durant attached a number of conditions to his sentence, including one that Aurora complete 240 hours of community service.
He is not to leave his home for the first six months, with some exceptions that include work, medical emergencies and shopping for necessities.
Nor is Aurora — who must hand over his passport — to leave Alberta without written permission from his conditional sentence supervisor or the court.
Aurora has already agreed to pay $1 million in restitution.
Concrete Equities, which went into receivership in 2009, raised money from Canadian investors to buy undeveloped beach properties called the El Golfo de Santa Clara project in Senora, Mexico…

CTV NewsRCMP to offer settlement to hundreds of female Mounties who alleged abuseCTV NewsHundreds of female Mounties who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and bullying while employed by the RCMP are expected to receive financial compensation from the federal government based the severity of their cases, CTV News has …RCMP set to announce major sexual-harassment settlementThe Globe and MailAnnouncement expected in RCMP sexual harassment lawsuit ThursdayGlobalnews.caRCMP to settle in workplace harassment class-action cases, apologize to victims: sourcesNational PostCKNW News Talk 980all 7 news articles »

The Obama FCC reduces investment and jobs in broadband internet.