Evening Update: Microsoft, America Online, Cendant, More

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M&A Offerings/stock actions Miscellany

The Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to ignore Microsoft's (MSFT) request that the court review Mister Softee's appeal of Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's antitrust ruling against the company. Justice would prefer that the case go directly to the Supreme Court.

Microsoft warned in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing after Friday's close that further unfavorable rulings could have a "material adverse effect" on its stock. Jackson ruled June 7 that Microsoft should be split into two companies, one focusing on the Windows operating system and the other devoted to applications and Web ventures.

Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

Food manufacturer Ralcorp Holdings (RAH) inked a definitive pact to buy Red Wing, a private-label maker of shelf-stable products, from Tomkins of the U.K. for $132.5 million.

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Offerings and stock actions

Cendant (CD) postponed the planned IPO of a tracking stock for its real estate and home services Web site, Move.com (MOV). Cendant filed for the IPO Feb. 14 and shareholders approved it in March.

Edison Schools (EDSN) filed for an offering of 5 million shares, half by the company and half by shareholders. Among the selling shareholders are Chief Education Officer John Chubb, offering 50,000 of the 174,095 shares he currently holds, and Chief Development Officer Manuel Rivera, offering 50,000 of his 121,842 shares.

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Miscellany

America Online (AOL) said vandals broke into its AOL service and gained access to an undisclosed number of member accounts. The attackers targeted AOL customer service representatives with emails containing a "Trojan horse" attachment which, when opened, created a connection to the sender's computer and allowed access to some AOL accounts.

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