Three brief items

1. Trident Microsystems

Trident, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is a designer and marketer of integrated circuits and associated software. It recently concluded a deal with a Dutch company, NXP Semiconductors, buying NXP's television systems and set-top box business lines.

Pursuant to this deal, NXP is receiving "newly issued shares of Trident common stock equal to 60% of the total shares outstanding post-closing, including approximately 6.7 million shares that NXP will purchase at a price of $4.50 per share, resulting in cash proceeds to Trident of $30 million."

The deal resolves a proxy contest that had been brewing. The disaffected stockholders, led by Spencer Capital Management LLC, had been complaining of Trident's poor performance. Now they seem to concede that Trident is trying a new direction, and they are giving that new tack a chance, withdrawing their intent to nominate a slare of directors.

"They also serve who only stand and threaten."

2. Prepackaged bankruptcy for CIT.

CIT, the bank holding company (NYSE: CIT) the survived a near-death experience in July, has seen its stock price return to ... a little above a dollar.

It continues to work to reduce its $30bn debt load by at least $5.7bn through a debt exchange, and is also soliciting votes for a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which it will use if too few bondholders agree to the debt exchange.

Now Carl Icahn has stepped in, contending that the company's plans are unfair to bondholders, and he has a better idea. It isn't yet clear (to me at any rate) just what his angle on this is. I'm guessing he isn't helping those bondholders out of a charitable impulse.

3. Cerberus consolidates the gun and ammo industry

Cerberus, the hedge fund and private equity fund group that took something of a beating in the automotive industry, is now working on a new business plan.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Cerberus has been in the market for small guns-and-ammo operations see here. It has bought seven of them over three years, and now it has consolidated them into one, and plans to take that one public.

In the first half of 2008, Cerberus owned gun operations lost $6.1 million. In the first half of this year, they made $23 million. That sounds like a nice turnaround.

Financial/political crisis in Belgium

The highest court in Belgium ruled Thursday, December 18, that the country's prime minister had exerted improper pressure on the judiciary in connection with the planned state-led break-up of the Fortis financial group.

Fortis is a Benelux fianncial powerhouse that came into being in 1990 when a large Dutch insurer (AMEV), and a Dutch retail banking group (VSB) both merged with a Belgian insurance company, AG.

It has made many strategic acquisitions since, and entered investment banking in 1996 with the purchase of MeesPierson NV.

That, and the rest of an acquisition binge lasting into 2007, left Fortis with a balance sheet heavy with debt. Then in June of this year the honchos at Fortis noticed that an international credit crunch was underway, and decided that their balance sheet needed some cleansing. They issued 200 million new shares of stock at a price of 10 euros each, and they cancelled this year's dividend, saving 1.5 billion euros.

The share price headed south -- because the new shares diluted the value of the old, and/or because the dividend cancellation diminished the whole.

By late September, a run-on-the-bank was underway. On Friday, September 26, 20 billion euros were withdrawn from Fortis accounts.

The company was partially nationalized by the three Benelux countries acting in concert the following Monday. Since they don't want to stay in the banking business. these governments appear desirous of selling Fortis to a French firm, BNP Paribas.

The courts of Belgium in particular have thrown a monkeywrench into the works, holding that the private investors have to have a say on the future of their company -- so the government(s) have to comply with normal procedures in terms of holding a shareholders' meeting before concluding the sale.

Those are the judicial proceedings with which the country's executive branch allegedly interfered, leading to a scandal and round of resignations last week.

Meanwhile, I understand that BNP Paribas is bow saying that time is/was of the essence of its deal to buy Fortis. Since this is all taking too much time, BNP may be pulling out, rendering the issue of a shareholder meeting rather moot.

So turns the world. Use it or lose it.