19/02/2013 World Business Report

headlines from BBC World News. It's type for the latest financial news

with World Business -- time for the latest financial news with World

Business Report. Does not compute - growing anger from Dell's

shareholders who say the PC-maker's buyout deal doesn't add up. Change

corporate Italy's behaviour, not its laws - advice from a former PM

to a future successor in an Hello and welcome. You're with

World Business Report. Also to come - Amazon making bad headlines in

Europe again. We look at why it's had to sever its ties with a German

security company. First, some years ago Michael Dell offered Apple's

founder, Steve Jobs, some advice - shut down the company and give the

money back to shareholders. At the time Apple was in trouble and its

share prices had plummeted. Now the tables have turned. Mr Dell is

offering to give money back to shareholders and turn itback into a

private company. So today's earnings report could be its last.

But not everyone is convinced by the offer. This is what a personal

computer looks like 25 years ago when Dell first got into the

business. Since then, much has changed. Tablets and mobile devices

have become more sophisticated and more popular. Take a look at the

Dell stock. You can see it's really been on decline over the last year.

That's because there's just not as much demand for a personal computer.

Shareholders aren't exactly happy with the proposed deal either,

saying it doesn't reflect the actual value of the company.

they vote down the deal, we go back to the status quo. They have turned

down, they have not approved the merger agreement. You need the

approval to go forward with the transaction. By taking the company

private, founder and CEO Michael Dell wants to change it from being

primarily a computer-making business to a full-service IT

company, or possibly something more. Ultimately, I don't think he would

be taking the company private because his name is on the computer

and on the door. I think he has a real plan and that's why. He's

opportunistic too. At this point he's happy the stock is created and

he'll be glad to take it off shareholders' hands at a decent

price. The vote on the buyout isn't going to happen for another several

months, leaving some to wonder whether shareholders are making

noise now as a way to get more money out of the Dell. Bureaucracy,

corruption and tax evasion are the biggest ocisticles to investing in

Italy - that's the view of Romano Prodi. He should know. Italy's

former PM says the country needs a change in behaviour, rather than

more changes to the law. Mr Prodi told our Europe business

correspondent that he hoped a new government would herald a new

progressive culture in business. Romano Prodi has direct and bitter-

sweet experience of trying to rebuild Italy's economy. His

government ended after two years in 2008. Now days before the polls, he

says the priority is to step up the fight against red tape and

criminality. President Prodi, you've been following the campaign

very closely and the prospects for the new government. What reforms

would you say are most important for them to pursue when they're in

office? To have foreign investments fighting against criminality. There

are so many choices. So when I look at business, I think, "Why invest

in Italy with this problem?" The second is tax evasion. You never

know how to behave. But the most important is bureaucracy. Giving

permission for building in this progress. But the Monti government

lost momentum towards the end. People worried the impetus for the

reforms has slowed down without a real economic crisis and vested

interest will head the reforms off. The Monti government was backed by

three parties that held a completely different platform. We

need a clear majority, not an emergency government. One complaint

is that politicians are too busy trying to save the old Italy and

its old companies and old professional interests and don't do

enough to help a new wave of business people? One third are

still without modern structure. So the politicians are obliged to

reflect this in society. The former Italian PM there. Amazon sacked a

security firm at the centre of a row over alleged threats and

intimidation of its staff. The German Government has launched an

investigation into claims of heavy- handed tactics rb discrimination

and mis-- tactics, discrimination and mistreatment. Hensel hired

thousands of staff from all over Europe to help with the Christmas

rush. Boeing has reported to be working on a temporary solution to

get its Dreamliner jets flying again. 50 planes were grounded by

safety officials after a battery fire forced a plane to make an

emergency landing. According to the Seattle Times, the company has come

up with a plan to encase the batteries with a special steel box.

The latest cyber attack to hit corporate America has left a bitter

taste in the mouth of Burger King. The Twitter account hacked. The

profile picture was replaced with McDonald's. Football is a

multimillion-dollar global industry and where there's honest money to

be made, there are people who will try and cheat the system. In Europe,

the outcome of hundreds of matches may have been fixed. Officials are

investigating the matter. They could look to China for lessons on

how to tackle the problem. It's just completed a 3-year

investigation into match-fixing there. Dozens of officials and

players have been jailed. Let's speak to our correspondent now.

John, tell us more about what's been going on in China? It's a

long-running investigation this one. Last year we saw dozens of players,

officials, referees, even jailed for their part in the match-fixing

and bribery. Some prison sentences handed down in excess of 10 years.

What we have today is Chinese football, now the judicial part of

the investigation is over, handing out its own punishments. 33

individuals given life bans from soccer. 12 clubs facing sanction,

including the biggest club in this city, having its 2003 league title

stripped from it. Pretty punitive action. As you say, for a long time

as a result of this investigation, China was seen as typifying the

dirtiest end of the business of football around the world, if you

like. As a result of what we've been hearing in Europe in recent

weeks, perhaps some will be thinking now they can learn

something from China in terms of the way it's been cleaning out the

stables here. What impact has had it on the game there? Are the

stables cleaned out? It's very difficult to say. You can't doubt

this has been a pretty big investigation. Nobody, no matter

how senior, have been left untouched. Two former heads of the

Chinese Football Association are now in prison. China's most famous

referee is in prison. This has been an investigation that has certainly,

in terms of the punishments handed out, been pretty severe. There is a

huge amount of money in Chinese football. I think a lot of people

say the real reform, the grass- roots type of reform, getting

youngsters into the game and building facilities - not a lot of

that is happening. It's been a pretty thorough investigation,

leading to some very serious criminal sanctions. It may well be

football associations around the world will be looking to China as

an example. Very interesting. Thank you very much. Let's now talk you

through the financial markets. The big winner today in Tokyo is

Bridgestone Tyres. Its shares were up around 9% today. They reported a

67% jump in net profits. They forecast higher -- forecasted

higher earnings. In Australia, they had quite good news. Demand for raw