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Byline: -- Staff and Wire Services

Pfizer names Kindler as CEO 

NEW YORK -- Pfizer Inc. said Friday that it has named Vice Chairman Jeffrey B. Kindler as chief executive officer to replace Hank McKinnell, 63, who will remain chairman of the board of the world's largest drug company until his retirement in February 2007.

Kindler, 51, also was elected to the drugmaker's board. He joined Pfizer in 2002 as senior vice president and general counsel, and became vice chairman in 2005.

Before joining Pfizer, Kindler served as chairman and CEO of Boston Market Corp., owned by McDonald's Corp., and president of Partner Brands, also owned by McDonald's.

He was executive vice president, corporate relations and general counsel of McDonald's from 1997 to 2001, and from 1996 to 1997 served as that company's senior vice president and general counsel.

``The board and I see the pharmaceutical industry changing rapidly. Pfizer is changing as well and aggressively transforming its business model to build the next-generation Pfizer,'' said McKinnell. ``With these initiatives well under way, it is time to transition to new leadership to accelerate the company's transformation.''

Wal-Mart backing out of Germany

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is ending its loss-generating business in Germany just two months after leaving South Korea in what analysts welcomed as a move to focus resources on expanding in more profitable international markets like China and Latin America.

Wal-Mart said Friday that it plans to sell its 85 stores in Germany to rival Metro AG, ending a nearly decade-long effort by the world's largest retailer to crack the market in Europe's biggest economy.

Terms were not disclosed, but the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said it expects to incur a loss before taxes of about $1 billion related to the deal in its second quarter.

The total cost of the German experiment is not known because Wal-Mart does not report individual financial results for each of its international markets. Wal-Mart has said over the years that its German operations were not profitable.

Nickel miner gives up bidding

TORONTO -- Canadian nickel miner Inco Ltd. said Friday that it is dropping out of the bidding war for rival Falconbridge Ltd., opening the door for Anglo-Swiss mining company Xstrata PLC to move ahead with its hostile takeover of Falconbridge.

Inco said its $17.3 billion bid for Falconbridge failed because not enough shares were tendered by midnight Thursday, and it has instructed depositary CIBC Mellon Trust Co. to return all shares that were tendered. The company didn't say how many shares were tendered, but the minimum tender condition for its stock-and-cash bid was 50.01 percent.

Falconbridge said its board will meet to review the latest developments and Investment Canada's approval of the takeover by Xstrata. The company said it would later provide its shareholders with a formal recommendation.

WorldCom exec's conviction stands

NEW YORK -- A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of former WorldCom Inc. Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers on charges related to a multibillion-dollar accounting fraud.

The ruling by the three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could clear the way for Ebbers to begin serving a 25-year prison sentence for his actions as head of the telecommunications company.

Convicted in 2005, Ebbers had argued on appeal that he had been denied a fair trial and that his lengthy prison sentence was unreasonable.

Writing for the court, Judge Ralph K. Winter acknowledged that 25 years is a long sentence for a white-collar crime, ``longer than the sentences routinely imposed by many states for violent crimes, including murder.''

But he added that Ebbers' actions to hide WorldCom's financial problems were substantial, and had cost investors dearly.

FDIC moratorium put on new banks

WASHINGTON -- Bank regulators have halted for six months any new approvals of the sort of industrial banks that Wal-Mart, Home Depot and 12 other companies are seeking to own.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. imposed the moratorium on approving the industrial loan corporations, or ILCs. Nearly 100 members of Congress from both parties recently asked the FDIC to give lawmakers a chance to consider legislation that would block commercial companies from owning the corporations.

The FDIC directors voted informally, without convening a meeting, over the course of this week. It was the first major action taken by the agency under its new chairwoman, Sheila Bair. The FDIC will not make any final decisions on applications for the banks or for changes in control of existing banks and will not accept new applications for six months, the agency said Friday in a news release.

The moratorium, which extends until Jan. 31, will give the regulators time to decide whether changes in law or regulation are needed, the agency said.