Newspaper wrap-up: Santander nears agreement to acquire Alliance & Leicester

MAJOR PAPERS:

The Wall Street Journal reported that worries are deepening among regulators, executives and consumers about the U.S. banking industry following the federal government's seizure of IndyMac Bancorp Inc (NYSE: IMB).
According to a person familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reported that Banco Santander SA (NYSE: STD) is nearing an agreement to buy Alliance & Leicester for around $2.38B.

OTHER PAPERS:

Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) chairman Roy Bostock called Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) proposal "ludicrous". Bostock said that "while this type of erratic and unpredictable behavior is consistent with what we have come to expect from Microsoft, we will not be bludgeoned into a transaction that is not in the best interests of our stockholders." Yahoo reaffirmed that it is open to a sale of the company for $33 a share, the New York Times reported.

WEB SITES:

CNet reported that the price of the Xbox 360 Pro model with a 20GB hard drive was cut by Microsoft to $299 from $349. The company also introduced introduced a 60GB model to go on sale in the U.S. and Canada in August for $349.

Tags: acquisition, Alliance Leicester, AllianceLeicester, Banco Santander, BancoSantander, IMB, IndyMac, IndyMac Bank, IndymacBank, Microsoft, MSFT, Roy Bostock, RoyBostock, Santander, STD, Xbox 360, Xbox360, Yahoo, YHOO