Unfinished business '07 - Washington Business Journal:

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Two things in particular caused the Sallie Mae buyout to a credit crunch that brought debt markets to a halt over the and new federal legislation that cuts subsidies to studentg lenders such asSallie Mae. These two factors causede the buyout group to rethink its proposal for the company formallt known asIn October, the buyout grouo sent a revised offer to Sallie Mae'ss board, an offer that some analyste who cover Sallie Mae say amounte to an insult.
Sallie Mae wouldn't accepty the new offer, insisting that the original deal go Whenthat didn't Sallie Mae filed a lawsuit againsyt the buyout group, claimingf that a material adverse effect had not occurred, and that the Restobn company could terminate the transaction and collect damages of $900 A trial is set for July 2008. In Sallie Mae said that it had held discussions with representativesd of the buyout group to resolve the dispute betweemthe parties. Sallie Mae said that the buyougt group has indicated that it is unwilling to pursued submitting a new proposal to buy thestudentr lender.
Sallie Mae said that its board remains committed to protectintg the rights of its shareholders and will pursude allavailable recourse, including the company's existinfg lawsuit against the buyout group. Sallie Mae said that it has indications of interes t from 10 financial institutions for new secured fundinvg in excessof $30 billion. It'e not over, until ... $4 billiob Metrorail expansion was "It'a not over until it's under." Well, it's But it's still not a done deal.
Backers of the Metrorail project are stilpl waiting for approval from the Federal Transit Administratiobnfor $900 million in funds that will help pay for the In August, federal officials said cost overruns and delaysx were starting to hurt the project's feasibility, and they orderesd at least $250 million in cuts. Virginisa officials responded byidentifying $306 millioh in potential reductions to the Metrorail and federal transit representativeas spent the latter part of 2007 reviewing the If the FTA signs off on the ground could be brokeh in spring 2008. The project was originally scheduler to have the first phase through Tysons finishedrin 2012.
But that work probabl y won't wrap up until Marc 2014, according to new estimates. Out of tune? Much-touted XM, Sirius merger stilll under review One of themost talked-about potential deald of 2007 was the proposed merger of the nation'sw two satellite radio companies, D.C.-based and New York-basecd Technically, Sirius would acquire XM, though the companies all year long termed the transactiob a merger of equals. The companiews were hoping to seal their dealby year'x end, assuming approval from the Department of Justiced and the Federal Communications Commission.
The and some otherd groups vehemently opposedthe transaction, sayingh it would lead to a monopoly in the satellite radio industry. XM and Sirius were granted satellite radil licenses in 1997 fromthe FCC, on the conditio that they didn't combine But the communications sector has drasticallty changed in the past decade, and officialds with XM and Sirius argue ther is so much competition out there, from iPods to Interney radio, that a merger of the two companiez would not result in a monopoly.