Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: Hulu weighs sale options after approach: source

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(Reuters) – Online video site Hulu has been approached by a potential buyer and is weighing whether to sell itself, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Hulu is best known for offering free online access to popular TV shows from its strategic owners but last July launched a paid subscription service as a way to expand its offerings to include TV shows from other programing partners like Viacom.

The approach presents another decision point for the jointly owned company, which has shown an unclear strategy and last year spent six months planning an initial public offering before dropping the plan. 

The development has encouraged the Hulu board to engage with the banking community to help handle the approach from the “serious” buyer and other potential offers, the person said.

Hulu is jointly owned by News Corp, Walt Disney Co, NBC Universal and private equity firm Providence Equity Partners.

The acquisition approach has not been made by any of the current equity holders, the person said. The buyer is expected to be either a strategic buyer or private equity. No decision has been made about whether the board is prepared to sell the company or not.

Though Hulu has been immensely popular with users, its owners have come under increasing pressure from their cable and satellite distribution partners reluctant to pay premium dollars to carry content that is being offered for free on the Web.

Added to that has been the unwillingness of many program makers to put their shows up on a free site with an advertising model that is yet to prove itself with premium video.

Hulu’s stiffest competition online is from Netflix, which now has more than 20 million paying subscribers in the United States.

Last year, Hulu had been planning to raise 0 million to 0 million in a public offering that would have valued the company at about billion. But the company backed out of the plan in favor of a focus on new subscription models.

A Hulu representative was not immediately available.

Brightbridge is manager of — or principal advisor to — private equity funds covering Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Islamic countries that span the globe from North Africa through the Middle East and into Asia. These funds represent aggregate capital commitments of nearly .0 billion and several are the largest of their kind in their particular region.

Brightbridge is manager of — or principal advisor to — private equity funds covering Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Islamic countries that span the globe from North Africa through the Middle East and into Asia. These funds represent aggregate capital commitments of nearly .0 billion and several are the largest of their kind in their particular region.

Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines : Spain approves labor reforms to boost sick economy, create jobs, regain investor confidence

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MADRID — Spain’s new conservative government approved sweeping labor market reforms Friday as part of a drive to revive a sick economy and solve Europe’s worst unemployment nightmare — a jobless rate of nearly 23 percent. The plan is designed to encourage companies to hire more people by cutting government-mandated severance packages and offering tax breaks for taking on young people. But the fast-track approval of the measures generated violent clashes between riot police and protesters who say they will be stripped of cherished worker benefits. More than 500 held a peaceful rally in Madrid’s central Puerta de Sol plaza late Friday, but it turned violent after some tried to march toward parliament and were blocked by police. Scuffles broke out, with officers using batons on demonstrators. At least eight protesters were detained and several officers sustained minor injuries, Spanish media reported. Before the mayhem, protester Cristina Fernandez waved a placard saying “Every cut mutilates my rights” and said the labor reforms won’t achieve the government’s goals. “To reduce unemployment, you need to create jobs, not simplify firing,” said Fernandez, a 52-year-old business consultant. Spain is eager to restore investor confidence, satisfy the European Union and other international institutions by seeking major structural reforms in order to cut its deficit and ward off fears that it could follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in seeking a bailout. Under the new package of measures, Spanish companies facing hard times will be able to pull out of collective bargaining agreements and have greater flexibility to adjust an employee’s schedules, workplace tasks and wages depending on how the economy and the company are doing. The country’s severance packages — long seen as among the most generous of many countries — will also be cut from 45 days of severance pay per year worked to 33 days. A clause will also be introduced that will cut the amount of time companies can have their workers on temporary contracts with few benefits. Nearly a third of the work force in Spain is on temporary contracts, a huge percentage that makes the country’s jobless rate so volatile. As of Jan. 1 2013, workers must be moved on to permanent contracts after 24 months. Following Socialist reform of 2010 companies could run temporary contracts indefinitely. Small companies with 50 workers or fewer who hire people receiving jobless benefits will get 50 percent of that person’s unemployment benefit while the employee will continue to receive 25 percent of the payments along with their wage. This way the person gets a job and the government saves on a quarter of the dole payments. Meanwhile, self-employed people wishing to set up a business will receive tax breaks of €3,000 ($3,986) for the first person they hire if that person is under 30. Spain’s unemployment rate for people under 25 is almost a staggering 48 percent. The government said it will also oblige unemployed people to carry out social work or take part in job training programs, a measure officials say will help cut back on Spain’s huge underground economy.