Business last week

JPMorgan Chase increased its recent offer for Bear Stearns to $10 a share from $2 to win the support of Bear's many unhappy investors. JPMorgan, which stepped in to rescue its rival during a run on its assets amid bankruptcy rumours, was praised by some for raising the price to keep a deal afloat. Others questioned the arrangement and the Federal Reserve's part in it. The central bank is backing $29 billion of Bear's illiquid assets, which critics argue amounts to bailing out a company that took reckless risks. See article

Britain's Financial Services Authority recommended improvements to its oversight of the banking industry after the collapse of Northern Rock, a mortgage lender stricken by the credit crisis and later nationalised. The FSA admitted to failures in supervising the bank; it promised to recruit extra staff and work more closely with financial institutions. But its mea culpa didn't go far enough for critics of the debacle, who want a review of the Bank of England's role. See article

Two private-equity firms trying to buy Clear Channel, America's biggest radio-station network, filed lawsuits to force Wall Street banks to supply the funding they had arranged for the $19.5 billion deal. It is one of the biggest recent buy-outs to face collapse because of credit woes.

Citigroup agreed to pay $1.66 billion to Enron's creditors, settling the last of the “mega claims” brought against 11 banks and brokerages for their alleged involvement in the energy trader's collapse.

If at first you don't succeed

Motorola said it would split its mobile-phone business from its networking division and that the two would trade as separate companies. Motorola's handsets, such as the RAZR, have lost market share to more sophisticated devices and been a drag on earnings. Carl Icahn, a veteran investor who pushed Motorola to spin off the division, recently reignited his battle to nominate directors to the board.

The long-awaited sale of Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors was announced; the Indian company is paying around $2.3 billion for the luxury-car brands. Ford acquired Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover in 2000, but is now restructuring its business around its more basic models. See article

Not this time

Vale, a Brazilian mining company, abandoned its plan to combine with Xstrata, its Swiss rival, after talks failed to produce a deal that would have created a mining giant. BHP Billiton is persevering with its offer for Rio Tinto.

BP's joint venture in Russia ran into more bother from the authorities. TNK-BP acknowledged it was having trouble renewing visas for 148 mostly British and American employees. In addition, the interior ministry said it was investigating alleged tax evasion at a former subsidiary of the company. A low-level worker at TNK-BP was also recently charged with industrial espionage. Last year, TNK-BP responded to threats to its licence to operate in a gas field by agreeing to sell its stake in the project to Gazprom, the state gas company. See article

The state government of São Paulo cancelled an auction that would have privatised CESP, an energy group that provides 10% of Brazil's electricity, when the potential buyers backed away over regulatory concerns. But São Paulo's governor also speculated that the bidders would have had trouble raising the 6.6 billion reais ($3.8 billion) price in the credit markets.

Sunbelt blues

House prices in 20 American metropolitan areas fell by 10.7% in January compared with a year earlier, according to an index from Standard & Poor's and Case-Shiller; annual growth rates were at a record low in 16 of the 20, most notably in the south-west. A despondent housing market did receive some good news. Existing-home sales rose in February at an annual rate for the first time in seven months, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The proposed merger between XM and Sirius, announced in February 2007, was approved by the Justice Department. This combination of the only two satellite-radio networks in America (with their stable of talk-radio stars) is opposed by other broadcasters. However, the Justice Department reckoned the deal would not create a monopoly because of competition from the internet.

Starbucks said it would appeal against a ruling ordering it to repay $105m in tips, including interest, to its baristas in California. An employee had complained about the company's policy of sharing the tip jar with shift managers, which, a judge decided, was contrary to state law. The coffee chain maintains that supervisors “deserve their fair share” of the gratuities; the baristas claim their tips are subsidising managers' wages.