SYDNEY, July 25--AsiaNet/InfoQuest NEW FUNDS... SYDNEY: AXA Rosenberg Group LLC, the specialist globalequity investment management firm within the AXA InvestmentManagers group, have announced the launch of the AXA RosenbergAustralian Long/Short Equity Fund and the AXA RosenbergAustralian Equitised Long/Short Fund. Both funds, which areonly available to institutional (wholesale) investors, aredomiciled in Australia. http://www.axarosenberg.com CHINA PRESENCE... RICHMOND: Specialty chemicals maker Albemarle Corporationhas entered into a letter of intent to acquire land in Chinafor the construction of a technology centre, a repackagingfacility for polyolefin co-catalysts, and future productioncentres for various polymer additives. http://www.albemarle.com http://www.albemarle.com/mainfrm.htm DFM SEMINAR... SAN JOSE: Aprio Technologies, the technology leader fordesign-for-manufacturing (DFM) solutions in the electronicdesign automation (EDA) industry and SC Hightech, exclusivedistributor of Aprio products in Japan, will hold a DFM seminaron July 28 from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the KKR Hotel inTokyo. http://www.aprio.com BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES... NEW YORK: Bloomberg, the leading global provider of data,news and analytics, has unveiled its lineup of live events andselected interviews available on Bloomberg Television,Bloomberg Radio, and to users of the Bloomberg Professionalservice for the week ahead, July 25 through July 29. http://www.bloomberg.com NEW WATCH... TOKYO: Oscar winning actress and Omega ambassador NicoleKidman signs a box holding the new Omega Quadrella during theofficial launch of the new Omega watch Quadrella in Tokyo,Friday, 21 January 2005. Prestige Swiss watch manufacturerOmega is pleased to announce that Oscar-winning actress NicoleKidman has agreed to extend the scope of her partnership withthe brand. www.photopress.ch PEPSICO BOARD... PURCHASE: PepsiCo has announced the election of two newindependent directors -- Victor J. Dzau, M.D., and Dina Dublon-- to its board of directors, following a board meeting. Theirappointments are effective immediately. PepsiCo also announcedthat its board had regretfully accepted the resignation ofSolomon D. Trujillo, who recently was named CEO of Australia'sTelstra Corporation. http://www.pepsico.com REPATRIATION PLAN... PURCHASE: PepsiCo has announced that its Board of Directorsapproved the following actions: - The repatriation of up to$7.5 billion of undistributed international earnings under theprovisions of the American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA). - Pension plan cash contributions of up to $800 million, tobe made in the fourth quarter. - A regular quarterly dividend of 26 cents per share onPepsiCo common stock. http://www.pepsico.com GLOBAL OFFERING... HONG KONG: International law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Woodrepresented The Export-Import Bank of China in its recentglobal offering of US$1 billion of 10-year bonds under Rule144A and Regulation S. http://www.sidley.com FANNIE MAE... WASHINGTON, D.C.: Fannie Mae will redeem the principalamount of MTN securities issues amounting to a total of US$25million on August 1, 2005 at a redemption price equal to 100per cent of the principal amount redeemed plus accruedinterest.Fannie Mae will also redeem the principal amount ofFINS securities issues amounting to a total of US$17.593million on August 3, 2005 at a redemption price equal to 100per cent of the principal amount redeemed plus accruedinterest http://www.fanniemae.com VOLKSWAGEN PAYMENT... WOLFSBURG: Volkswagen AG is to pay just under two millionEuro to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The company is thusassuming responsibility for the damage caused by the suspectedillegal dealings of the former Head of Human Resources atSkoda, Helmut Schuster. www.volkswagen-media-services.com VOIP DEPLOYMENT... SYDNEY: Integrated Research has announced that PROGNOSISwill monitor and manage 40,000 new VoIP phones for AirbusIndustries as a direct result of Airbus awarding a five-yearcontract to France Telecom and its UK subsidiary Equant, toimplement a Cisco Systems IP Communications solution. www.ir.com (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwide clients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.)