Comcast Scores Court Victory

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Ford India Ads Lead to Firings

A top Ford Motor Co. executive formally apologized Wednesday while the auto maker's Indian advertising agency unit fired an undisclosed number of workers following a series of controversial proposed advertisements to promote Ford's Figo subcompact car.

"It was totally inappropriate, it is not acceptable and swift action has been taken," Ford global marketing chief Jim Farley said at the start of his keynote speech at the New York International Auto Show. He apologized for the ads and said the company is updating its review process.

Mr. Farley's apology come amid the growing controversy in India over proposed ads that depicted ...

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Pinnacle Foods IPO to Test Investor Appetite

NEW YORK–Thursday's initial public offering for frozen foods purveyor Pinnacle Foods Inc. is setting up to be a test of how much investors are willing to pay for a company that offers a hefty dividend but comes saddled with debt and limited prospects for growth.

The maker of Van de Kamp's fish sticks and Lender's frozen bagels is slated to set a price for its IPO late Wednesday, a deal that is likely to be the year's third-largest IPO. Shares are expected to fetch between $18 and $20 per share and could raise as much as $580 million.

Pinnacle, which is backed by Blackstone Group LP, is the latest in a string of deals brought to market this year by sponsors including private-equity shops or venture capital firms. Blackstone bought Parsippany, N.J.-based Pinnacle for $2.16 billion in 2007. It added Birds Eye Foods Inc. in 2009 with a $1.3 billion deal.

Pinnacle said in its prospectus that it's targeting an 18-cent quarterly dividend, which would imply a 3.8% annual yield based on the midpoint offer price. That compares with a 2.2% dividend yield on stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. With interest rates at rock bottom, high-dividend paying stocks have been commanding a premium from investors.

"I would be surprised if it doesn't price at the top end of the price range or above that," said Josef Schuster, founder of IPOX Schuster LLC, an IPO research-and-investment firm based in Chicago. "It's a stable business and has good brand value. I think investors are also looking at it for the dividend yield," he said.

Mr. Schuster's fund, the $67 million First Trust U.S. IPO Index exchange-traded fund, doesn't participate in first-day IPO trading, but said he is looking hard at adding shares in the coming weeks.

Another potential positive for the deal is that investors have been taking a shine to IPOs brought to market by financial sponsors such as Blackstone. Thirteen such deals have generated an average first-day gain of 20%, compared with a 14% first-day pop for all initial offerings, according to Ipreo, a market intelligence firm.

On the potential negative side of the ledger, Pinnacle's brands–which also include Vlasic pickles and Celeste pizza–are widely known, but its sales have mostly been flat. The company booked $2.5 billion in sales in the 2012, up 0.4% from the year earlier.

Then there's the debt: As of the end of last year, its total debt stood at $2.1 billion, or about five times 2012's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

But leverage hasn't been much problem for recent IPOs. With the Federal Reserve expected to keep interest rates low, investors have relegated concerns about debt loads to the back burner.

For example, Realogy Holdings Corp., a real-estate services firm that owns and franchises brokerages including Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, had net leverage of more than seven times its forward Ebita when it went public in October. That deal, which was backed by private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC, fetched a price at the high end of its prospective range and shares are up more than 80% since their IPO.

In Realogy's case, investors jumped at the chance to play an IPO tied to a broader recovery in the housing market, observers say. Stocks like plywood maker Boise Cascade Co. and Tri Pointe Homes LLC have seen strong stock gains after their IPOs this year.

Analysts also note the consumer-staples sector generally tends to be more supportive of debt loads because sales, even if uninspiring, are usually relatively stable.

"The food industry is an example of an industry with relatively low operating risk. So food companies, whether it's Heinz, or Pinnacle Foods, can support higher debt ratios than companies in more cyclical industries," said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida who tracks IPOs.

Pinnacle will list Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PF and would carry a market value of $2.2 billion at the high point of the prospective price range.

Write to Chris Dieterich at chris.dieterich@dowjones.com or Matt Jarzemsky at matt.jarzemsky@dowjones.com

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Rail Capacity, Spending Soar

EPPING, N.D.—On a recent subzero day at a rail station here on the plains, a giant tank train stretches like a black belt across the horizon—as far as the eye can see. Soon it will be filled to the brim with light, sweet crude oil and headed to a refinery on Puget Sound. Another mile-long train will pull in right behind it, and another after that.

Increasingly, scenes like this are being played throughout the country. "Hot Trains" dedicated to high-priority customers like United Parcel Service Inc. roar across the country to deliver everything from microwaves to tennis shoes and ...

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The Fight for New York's Skies

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VW Winds Down U.S. Minivan Sales

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Zuckerberg Starting Political Group

Mark Zuckerberg is adding a new title to his roster: political organizer.

The 28-year-old Facebook Inc. chief executive is in the process of co-organizing a political advocacy group made up of top technology leaders that would push federal legislative reform on issues ranging from immigration to education, said people familiar with the development.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is co-organizing a political advocacy group that aims to raise around $50 million and push federal legislative reform on issues ranging from immigration to education. WSJ's Evelyn Rusli reports. (Photo: AP)

Mr. Zuckerberg is working on launching the group along with close friend Joe Green, who was one of the CEO's Harvard University roommates, these people said. The group is expected to be formally announced in the next few weeks, they added.

The group, which so far doesn't have a name, is aiming to raise roughly $50 million and has already secured commitments in the tens of millions of dollars from Mr. Zuckerberg and more than a dozen other tech executives including LinkedIn Corp. founder Reid Hoffman, said these people.

The group plans to register as a 501(c)(4), a distinction reserved for social welfare groups that are not organized for profit, said a person familiar with the discussions.

Mr. Zuckerberg has told confidantes that the new group will initially be focused on comprehensive immigration reform and making the pathway to U.S. citizenship less complicated for all immigrants, said people familiar with the CEO's thinking. The group also plans to focus on issues including education reform and funding for scientific research.

Reuters Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

The new group has also enlisted several consultants well versed in Beltway politics. Rob Jesmer, the former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is especially active on a day-to-day basis, said one person with knowledge of the matter.

Joe Lockhart, Facebook's former vice president of global communications and a former press secretary under president Bill Clinton's administration, and Jon Lerner, a Republican strategist are also involved, another person familiar with the matter said.

The San Francisco Chronicle and Politico earlier reported on the potential formation of the group.

Mr. Zuckerberg's involvement is another step into the political arena for the billionaire CEO.

In February, Mr. Zuckerberg hosted a fundraiser at his home in Palo Alto, Calif., for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican. Mr. Zuckerberg has also met President Barack Obama several times, including hosting a town hall for the Democratic president at Facebook's headquarters in 2011. The CEO contributed $10,000 to Facebook's political action committee in the last election cycle and previously made a $100 million donation to Newark, N.J., public schools.

Some Facebook co-founders and executives have also expressed an interest in politics.

The social network's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, a former chief of staff of the Treasury Department, has hosted events in Silicon Valley for President Obama and former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

After Facebook Inc.'s calamitous IPO, investors are now looking less at the Internet and more at real estate to put their money in, MarketWatch's David Weidner reports. (Photo: AP)

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who is now publisher of The New Republic, previously assisted in President Obama's election efforts and has emerged as a high-profile backer of gay rights.

Many Silicon Valley executives including Mr. Zuckerberg and Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt have become more active in local and federal politics of late. Immigration has been a particularly popular issue among the digerati, with tech executives lobbying lawmakers to ease restrictions on visas to entrepreneurs and professionals. Many have endorsed the Startup Act 2.0 bill, which proposes creating a new visa for foreign-born entrepreneurs who manage to raise $100,000 and hire American workers.

Write to Evelyn M. Rusli at Evelyn.Rusli @wsj.com

A version of this article appeared March 27, 2013, on page B1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Zuckerberg Gets Political.

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