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BHP Billiton said on Thursday it has received antitrust clearance from U.S. regulators to proceed with its $39 billion bid for Canada’s Potash Corp, clearing its first regulatory hurdle in the process.
Last month, the Anglo-Australian miner launched its hostile offer to take over the world’s largest fertilizer company. Potash Corp has flatly rejected the bid as “grossly inadequate” and filed a lawsuit against BHP in an attempt to stymie it. Get the full story »
Potash Corp. said Wednesday it filed a lawsuit against BHP Billiton that seeks to block the mining giant’s $39 billion hostile bid for the Canadian fertilizer producer.
The lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court alleges that BHP misrepresented and failed to inform investors about material facts, and it accuses BHP of engaging in fraudulent, deceptive and manipulative behavior related to its offer. Get the full story »
China’s Sinochem Corp. has hired banks to advise it how to foil BHP Billiton’s $39 billion bid for Potash Corp., two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The state-owned chemicals group had hired Deutsche Bank and Citigroup for the purpose, the sources said after BHP extended its offer for Potash, the world’s largest fertilizer group, by a month to November 18 to provide Canada’s competition regulator with more information. Get the full story »
BHP Billiton’s $39 billion battle to take control of Canada’s Potash Corp. is expected to drag on into next year after it failed to win immediate backing from Canadian authorities.
The Anglo-Australian miner, which wants to use the world’s largest fertiliser-maker as its entry into the global food industry, also said it had no plan to change its $130-a-share offer and shrugged off talk of a China-backed rival bid emerging. Get the full story »
Drug and medical product giant Abbott Laboratories said this morning it would cut about 3,000 jobs worldwide. But there will be no reductions in Lake County, home to the company’s sprawling Abbott Park headquarters.
The cuts, which amount to about 3 percent of its global workforce, come in the wake of its acquisition earlier this year of Solvay SA’s drug business. Abbott has 93,000 employees worldwide, including 13,000 in Illinois that are largely at its campus just east of the Tri-State Tollway. Get the full story »
Clorox Co., maker of household cleaning products and other consumer goods, said it struck a deal to sell its auto-care brands to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for $780 million in cash. Get the full story »
Shares of the new United Continental Holdings Inc. will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “UAL,” the two airlines that will become one said Monday.
BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers visited the home city of Potash Corp. on Monday but failed to win the support of the provincial premier for its $39 billion offer to take over the world’s largest fertilizer supplier.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said he still has concerns about BHP’s proposal after meeting with Kloppers, who sought to bolster the chances that Canada would approve the bid by winning the province’s support. Get the full story »
Canada’s prime minister says concerns surrounding a possible foreign takeover of Canada’s Potash of Saskatchewan will be examined and says foreign takeovers are not automatically approved. Get the full story »
The $4.9 billion sale of human resources specialist Hewitt Associates to Aon was approved by the shareholders of both companies Monday.
The buyout is still subject to regulatory approval. Get the full story »
United CEO Glenn Tilton, left, and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley at a press conference on the United-Continental merger on May 4, 2010. (José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago-based United Airlines shareholders on Friday overwhelmingly voted to approve a deal to combine with Continental to form the world’s biggest airline.
Meanwhile in Houston, Continental shareholders also gave the merger a thumbs up.
Shareholders of United parent UAL Corp. met in Elk Grove Township on Friday morning to vote on the $3 billion stock swap. The companies expect the deal to close in the next two weeks. Get the full story »
U.S. health care company Johnson & Johnson, looking to catapult itself into the global vaccine market, is in talks to pay $2.3 billion to buy Dutch biotech Crucell. Get the full story »
Motorola Inc. said Thursday it has acquired a company that develops location-based software for smartphone devices.
Terms of the deal with Aloqa GmbH, which has offices in Munich, Germany and Palo Alto, Calif., were not disclosed. Aloqa makes a mobile phone application that delivers content to a device based on where its owner is located. A person might receive discounts on local businesses or information about nearby events, Motorola said. Get the full story »
Kraft executives laid out a strategy to deliver more growth and higher returns following its Cadbury acquisition, at the company’s annual investor conference in New York Wednesday.
In a presentation some analysts described as short on specifics, chief executive officer Irene Rosenfeld and key members of the executive team described a strategy of focusing on so-called “power brands” and regional brands in each area of the world, and a system for sharing best practices throughout the world. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Business | BankFinancial is buying the parent of Downers Grove National for $2 million in cash without FDIC help. That is the first such unassisted transaction to take place in the Chicago area since the recession began.
