Global business

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts unveiled its long-awaited plan to turn itself into a public company. Rather than selling shares, the famed private-equity firm will base its listing on the New York Stock Exchange on the acquisition of its European affiliate, KKR Private Equity Investors. Estimates of KKR's market value now range between $16 billion and $19 billion, a lot lower than when the firm first discussed going public last year. Even that may be optimistic.

Merrill Lynch took more steps to repair its balance sheet by selling $30.6 billion in distressed mortgage-related assets (at a huge discount) and raising $8.6 billion in capital through a share offering.

Russian stock markets took fright when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attacked the tax record and export practices of Mechel, a mining company. Observers noted similarities with the tactics that sank Yukos, an oil company that underwent a lengthy campaign of state harassment. Separately, the boss of BP urged foreign investors to tread carefully in Russia. His warning came after the chief executive of TNK-BP, the British oil firm's Russian joint venture, left Moscow over a dispute with Russian shareholders.

In a move that is extraordinary for corporate Germany, Siemens said it would sue 11 former members of its board for allegedly breaching their supervisory responsibilities in a bribery scandal. One of the 11 is Klaus Kleinfeld, a former chief executive, who is now the boss of Alcoa, the world's leading producer of aluminium.

Both the chairman and chief executive of Alcatel-Lucent resigned as it reported its sixth consecutive quarterly net loss. The merger in 2006 of France's Alcatel and America's Lucent formed one of the world's biggest suppliers of telecom infrastructure. Its market value has fallen by half because of difficulties integrating the company.

Sirius completed its merger with XM, 17 months after the combination of satellite-radio networks was proposed. The deal was delayed amid scrutiny from antitrust regulators.

Nintendo's quarterly profit rose by a third from a year earlier, boosted by sales of its Wii video game console, which soared by just over 50 percent. The firm also sold 3.4 million "Wii Fit" games, a wildly popular interactive exercise game.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has been dogged by accusations of corruption involving an U.S. benefactor, said he would step down in two months. The leading candidates to take over are his foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, and his transport minister, Shaul Mofaz. In any event, opinion polls show that a general election, due next year, could bring back Binyamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud Party.

China, which had promised improvements in human rights when it was awarded the Olympics, rejected claims from Amnesty International that its record had worsened. Meanwhile, Olympic officials admitted that journalists covering the Games would not have unrestricted Internet access.