Unisys offers better rate in exchange

Unisys Corp., a Blue Bell computer-services company, canceled an unsuccessful April attempt to exchange existing debt for new notes and a small amount of cash and made a new, sweetened proposal to creditors holding $1.06 billion of notes. After negotiations with an ad-hoc group of bondholders that hold 40 percent of the notes in aggregate, the financially troubled Unisys boosted the interest rate by one-eighth of a percentage point, to 12.75 percent, on new notes due in 2014 in exchange for notes due next year. The original interest rate on those notes is 6.875 percent. It also doubled the amount of cash to $200 that it would give per $1,000 of those notes tendered. For three other classes of notes, due in 2012, 2015, and 2016, Unisys offered new notes due 2015 with a 14.25 percent interest rate and various amounts of common stock. Unisys shares closed down 9 cents, or 4.81 percent, at $1.78.

Corzine to intervene in sports betting suit

Gov. Corzine filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to have a federal law banning sports betting in New Jersey declared unconstitutional. He said the 1992 law "economically disadvantages" New Jersey while allowing "select states . . . to collect revenues from regulated sports betting." The law allows sports betting only in Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon. Corzine said it also blocks voters and elected officials from determining which gambling activities should be authorized.

6 Illinois banks, 1 Texas bank fail

Six Illinois banks were shuttered yesterday, as well as one in Dallas. Regulators shut down John Warner Bank of Clinton, Ill.; First State Bank of Winchester in Winchester, Ill.; Rock River Bank of Oregon, Ill.; Elizabeth State Bank in Elizabeth, Ill.; First National Bank of Danville, of Danville, Ill.; Founders Bank, of Worth, Ill.; and, in Dallas, Millennium State Bank of Texas Inc., bringing to 52 the number of U.S. bank failures this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the banks.

FDIC seeks stronger rules

Private-equity firms seeking to buy failed banks would face strict capitalization and disclosure requirements under government rules that some regulators already warn may go too far. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is seeking to expand the number of potential buyers for the growing number of banks it has closed during the financial crisis and set requirements to ensure the banks will not fail again. One proposal would require investors to maintain a healthy amount of cash in the banks they acquire. Investors also would have to own the banks for at least three years and face limits on their ability to lend to owners' affiliates.

GM waits for judge's ruling

The judge in the General Motors Corp. bankruptcy case adjourned a three-day hearing without indicating when he would rule on the company's plan to sell its good assets to a new company. U.S. Judge Robert Gerber asked GM's attorneys to submit a proposed order that would be entered if the sale were to be approved. They said they would do so by tonight or tomorrow. Gerber is expected to rule some time after that. A lawyer for GM warned the court that the only alternative to GM's plan would be a liquidation of the company's assets that would have "horrific" consequences for everyone involved.

Feds seize Madoff penthouse

The U.S. Marshals Service took possession of disgraced financier Bernard L. Madoff's $7 million Manhattan penthouse, forcing his wife to move elsewhere. Proceeds from a sale of the property and its contents could be used to help reimburse those who lost billions of dollars investing with Madoff before he confessed to running a Ponzi scheme. U.S. Marshal Joseph Guccione said the marshals arrived at the property at noon with a court order permitting them to take custody of the apartment and to make anyone living there move out. Guccione said Madoff's wife, Ruth, had been advised in advance of the marshals' plans and was leaving the residence and surrendering all personal property. Typically, the marshals service changes all locks and secures a property when it seizes a location. Bernard Madoff, 71, was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison.

Mortgage rates down slightly

Rates for 30-year home loans inched downward this week, but still remain above record lows posted during the spring, mortgage company Freddie Mac said. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.32 this week, below last week's average of 5.42 percent. Last year at this time, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.35 percent, Freddie Mac said. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages rose slightly to 4.94 percent from 4.93 percent.

J&J pays $1B for Elan stake

Johnson & Johnson will take an 18.4 percent stake in Irish drug developer Elan Corp. with a $1 billion investment. Johnson & Johnson also is buying Elan's stake in its Alzheimer's disease treatment partnership with Wyeth, and rolling it into a new firm that will be 49.9 percent owned by Elan. Johnson & Johnson, which has operations in the Philadelphia area, plans to commit as much as $500 million for development of bapineuzumab, a drug that is intended to slow the progression of the disease. The Alzheimer's division has four drug candi- dates in clinical or preclinical testing.

FDA approves heart drug

Sanofi-Aventis said its drug Multaq, which treats irregular heart rhythms, received marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which turned it down three years ago.