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$CHK Gets More Money

Chesapeake Energy confirms increase in term loan to $4.0 bln (14.65 -0.87)

Co announced it has increased the size of a previously announced unsecured term loan from Goldman Sachs Bank USA and affiliates of Jefferies Group, Inc. from $3.0 billion to $4.0 billion based on strong investor demand. The loan was syndicated to a large group of institutional investors and priced at 97% of par. The net proceeds of the loan to Chesapeake, after customary fees and syndication costs, of approximately $3.8 billion will be used to repay borrowings under the company’s existing corporate revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. The loan carries an initial variable annual interest rate through December 31, 2012 of LIBOR plus 7.0%, which is currently 8.5% given the 1.5% LIBOR floor in the loan agreement. The loan, which ranks pari passu with Chesapeake’s outstanding senior notes, matures on December 2, 2017 and may be repaid at any time in 2012 without penalty at par value. Chesapeake expects to use a portion of the proceeds from planned asset sales to repay the loan in full before the end of 2012. Giving effect to the increase in the size of the loan, the company currently has more than $4.7 billion of liquidity including unrestricted cash on hand and available borrowing capacity under its revolving bank credit facilities.

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FLASH: BUFFETT BUYS $GM

Berkshire Hathaway discloses new 10 mln share position in 13F filing, worth ~$256 mln

Related: DaVita: Berkshire Hathaway discloses 6.0 mln share position in Q1 13F filing, up from ~2.7 mln in Q4

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SAD FACE: SCOTT THOMPSON WILL LEAVE YAHOO! WITHOUT COMPENSATION

Yahoo! announces that Scott Thompson will not receive compensation pay, in an 8-K (15.50 +0.31)
On May 13, 2012, Yahoo! Inc. (“Yahoo!”) entered into a settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with Third Point LLC (“Third Point”), Daniel S. Loeb, Michael J. Wolf, Harry J. Wilson and Jeffrey A. Zucker and certain other affiliates of Third Point (collectively, the “Third Point Group”) to settle the proxy contest pertaining to the election of directors to Yahoo!’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) at Yahoo!’s 2012 annual meeting of stockholders (the “2012 Annual Meeting”). The Settlement Agreement provides, among other things: Yahoo! has agreed to nominate Daniel S. Loeb, Michael J. Wolf and Harry J. Wilson for election to the Board at the 2012 Annual Meeting and, effective May 16, 2012, to appoint Messrs. Loeb, Wolf and Harry J. Wilson to the Board.

Yahoo! has agreed that, so long as Messrs. Loeb, Wolf and Harry J. Wilson (or their successor designated by the Third Point Group) serve on the Board, they shall have the opportunity to serve on the respective committees set forth below next to their names, subject to their fulfillment of any independence or other requirements under applicable law and the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Global Select Market for service on such committee: Further, the members of the Third Point Group have agreed to observe normal and customary standstill provisions during the period beginning on the date of the Settlement Agreement until the date that is the later of the conclusion of Yahoo!’s 2013 annual meeting of stockholders and such time as none of the Third Point Nominees are members of the Board (the “Standstill Period”); provided, that the Standstill Period shall nonetheless terminate if the Board determines not to nominate any of the Third Point Nominees for election as directors at an annual meeting of stockholders following the 2012 Annual Meeting and, in such a circumstance, the Board has agreed to provide the Third Point Group with a 10-day window to comply with Yahoo!’s advance notice requirements for director nominations and to cause such annual meeting of stockholders not to be held prior to 90 days following the time the Third Point Nominees are notified they have not been so nominated.

Yahoo! and Mr. Thompson agreed to terminate all other agreements between them, including Mr. Thompson’s offer letter, all outstanding but not fully vested equity awards and Yahoo!’s other plans and arrangements for the benefit of employees, with no severance compensation. However, in accordance with the terms of his offer letter, Mr. Thompson retained the make-whole cash bonus previously paid to him under his offer letter and the make-whole restricted stock units that had been granted to him pursuant to his offer letter and that had already vested.

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Whole Foods Will Sell Produce Grown Locally In Detroit

This morning’s groundbreaking of the Whole Foods grocery in Detroit’s Midtown district represented more than turning a few shovels of dirt. It also marked an opportunity to forge closer ties between a major corporation and the community it hopes to serve, Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb told community and civic leaders this morning.

Meeting with a Whole Foods community advisory panel prior to the 9:45 a.m. groundbreaking, Robb said Whole Foods hopes to nurture local food suppliers whose products will appear on Whole Foods shelves, as well as take a role in educating the community on healthy eating.

“We’re really excited to be here,” Robb said. “I promise you we’re going to be here with humility. We’re going to need your help.”

The groundbreaking, featuring Mayor Dave Bing, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and other leaders, drew more than 200 well-wishers and capped a nearly two-and-a-half-year process in which Whole Foods examined whether it should open one of its upscale groceries in a distressed urban market like Detroit. The decision marks Whole Foods’ first venture into such a market after already operating more than 300 stores in three nations, including some in Detroit’s suburbs.

Several other cities, including Chicago, have now asked Whole Foods to open stores in their communities following the Detroit example, Robb said. But he said he was happy that Detroit was first.

“The richness that we discovered here was very encouraging,” Robb said. “That’s special for me.”

Read the rest here:

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Ally Financial’s, AKA GMAC’s, Mortgage Unit ResCap Files For Bankruptcy

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ally Financial’s ResCap mortgage unit filed for a prepackaged bankruptcy protection Monday, a move that the taxpayer-owned bank says will allow it to take another step to repay Treasury.

The ResCap unit, which operates under the GMAC Mortgage brand, was once one of the nation’s leading subprime lenders. Problems with those home loans for riskier borrowers and the sharp drop in the company’s core auto finance business forced Treasury to give it a $15.8 billion bailout in 2009, as part of its efforts to rescue the troubled auto industry and housing market.

The company, which started as the finance unit of automaker General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) under the GMAC name, changed its name to Ally following the bailout. Besides continuing its auto finance business, it now operates an online commercial bank.

Ally also said it is looking at a possible sale or other strategic alternatives for its international business.

The company said that it expects GMAC to continue to make and service mortgage loans while the bankruptcy process is completed. The portfolio of home loans it holds, now valued at less than half its original value, will be auctioned off as part of the bankruptcy process.

GMAC said it will make a so-called “stalking horse” bid of $1.6 billion for those loans, but they are expected to draw a higher bid from investors.

Read here:

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Yahoo CEO Scott Thompason Gone After Lying On Resume

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is out after it was found he padded his resume with an embellished college degree, ending his term at the company after just four months.

Yahoo confirmed Thompson “has left the company” in a statement posted late Sunday, after two news reports. Tech blog AllThingsD was the first to report the news, and the New York Times followed up with its own article.

Yahoo media chief Ross Levinsohn will be named interim CEO, the company said. Levinsohn had earlier been rumored as a successor to Carol Bartz, who was fired from Yahoo by phone in September. Instead, Thompson took the CEO role in January.

Thompson’s resume scandal ignited just over a week ago, when activist shareholder group Third Point alleged that Thompson lied about details of his college degree.

The saga took an even more dramatic twist Monday morning, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Thompson has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. His decision to step down from Yahoo was “in part influenced” by the recent diagnosis, the newspaper said.

Read the rest here:

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Best Buy Chairman And Founder Fired For Aiding Fired CEO; $BBY

“Former CEO of Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) Brian Dunn has an inappropriate relationship with a female employee and lost his job. The market expected that. The bomb shell about the incident surrounding Dunn was that Chairman and founder Richard Schulze knew about the relationship and did not tell the board audit committee. ”

Full article

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FLASH: Matt Zames Replaces Ina Drew at $JPM

Ina, once regarded as best in the business, has been ousted post CIO blow up.

Zames has long been discussed as possible heir to Dimon.

Here is an open letter, written by Zames, to Geithner in 2011–regarding the debt ceiling.

Open Letter

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Notes From This Morning’s $CHK Conference Call

Chesapeake Energy on conference call says it market reaction to 10-Q issue was ‘so extreme’ so they wanted to get loan done on Friday afternoon and host conference call this morning

Chesapeake Energy on conference call says it does not know exactly how much it has drawn on its $4 bln revolver before it received the $3 bln loan, but says it was probably ‘north of $3 bln’

Chesapeake Energy on conference call says it ‘would not be surprised’ if Carl Icahn would become a large shareholder

Chesapeake Energy on conference call says it will cut 80% of third party land brokers

Chesapeake Energy on conference call says Eagle Ford Production deal will be delayed or cancelled; Was going to generate $1 bln

Chesapeake Energy on conference call says it still expects to sell assets in 2013 and be cash flow positive in 2014; says remaining assets will worth between $50-60 bln; says asset values will be ‘significantly higher when gas prices improve’

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