Business & Finance

Setting the stage for a lengthy takeover fight, the board of TRW Inc. unanimously rejected a $6 billion hostile bid from Northrop Grumman Corp., saying the offer "grossly undervalues" its satellite, missile, and auto-parts businesses. Northrop Grumman, for its part, indicated it would take the proposal directly to shareholders of Cleveland-based TRW and file a challenge to Ohio's antitakeover laws, which are among the strictest in the US. Los Angeles-based Northrop has indicated it would sell off TRW's automotive division if a deal goes through. In such a scenario, what remains could boost its position as the country's third-largest defense contractor - behind Lockheed Martin and Boeing - as the Pentagon prepares to spend billions on new orders.

With the goal of becoming one of the world's top three financial services companies over the next decade, Credit Suisse has decided to turn fund management into one of its core businesses, the Financial Times reported. The Zurich, Switzerland-based bank currently has about $270 billion in assets under management, contributing less than 20 percent of the company's annual profit. But the plan comes at a time when some rival banks are pulling out of the fund-management business.