IN BRIEF
NV Energy to raise rates on Wednesday
NV Energy, formerly known as Nevada Power Co., will increase single-family residential rates by 2.3 percent or $3 more a month starting Wednesday.
The change is being made to because of changes in the cost of fuel used in power generation and wholesale power purchases.
The typical residential customer, using 1,250 kilowatt hours monthly on average, will pay $131.76 monthly when the rate increase goes into effect.
BRUSSELS, Belgium
InBev shareholders to vote on brewery deal
InBev SA shareholders will vote today on whether to approve the company's takeover of U.S. brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Cos. -- a deal that would create the world's largest brewer.
InBev is also asking its shareholders to back a capital increase and the issuing of new shares to raise $10 billion for part of the deal, which was reached in July.
Leuven-based InBev said it needed an extra margin to cover any significant currency fluctuations until the company's board decides how many new shares to issue and at what price.
The deal -- worth $52 billion -- would bring together the makers of Budweiser, Michelob, Bud Light, Stella Artois and Beck's and create the world's largest brewer, as well as the third-largest consumer product company.
The new company's name would be Anheuser-Busch InBev.
The deal must be approved by three-quarters of InBev's shareholders, who will also be asked to back the appointment of Anheuser-Busch chief executive August Busch IV as a director in the new company and changing control of Anheuser-Busch's existing $45 billion senior credit facility and the equity bridge financing of $9.8 billion.
NEW YORK
New package to offer TV recordings on PC
TiVo Inc. and Nero AG of Germany were set to announce today that they will be launching a package that turns a Windows PC into a TV recorder, just like a TiVo set-top box.
The kit will cost $199 when it goes on sale Oct. 15, and includes a remote and a TV tuner that plugs into the PC. The interface on the computer screen looks just like the one on a TV equipped with a TiVo box.
It's not the first software that allows TV recording on the PC. That's been possible for years on computers equipped with TV tuner. But it will be the first time that both the TiVo interface and functions have been replicated on a PC.
The Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC will go on sale initially in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, but it could open up some markets where TiVo does not yet sell its set-top boxes.
For people who already have a tuner-equipped PC, Nero -- a private company mainly known for CD- and DVD-burning software -- will sell the TV recording software separately, for $99. Either way, buyers will get a one-year subscription to TiVo's program guide updates. Renewal will cost $99 per year.
Like TiVo's existing TiVo Desktop software, LiquidTV will allow users to transfer shows recorded on other TiVo devices in the home to the PC's hard drive, and bring shows out of the home, either on a laptop's drive or on an iPod or PlayStation Portable. LiquidTV also allows users to burn shows onto DVDs if the computer has a DVD burner.
