A group of lenders has withdrawn its plan for reorganizing newspaper owner Tribune Co, leaving two proposals for ending the company’s two-year stay in bankruptcy, according to court documents.
The group known as the Bridge Lenders agreed to withdraw its plan and support Tribune’s proposal, which is based on a settlement among lenders JPMorgan Chase & Co and hedge funds Oak Tree Capital Management and Angelo, Gordon & Co. Get the full story »
People pass the Borders Book and Music store at the corner of Pearson and Michigan Avenue in January of 2011. The store is closing. (Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune)
Borders Group Inc. might file for bankruptcy protection as soon as next week, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The second-biggest U.S. bookstore chain by sales will likely close at least 150 stores, one of the sources said.
Several private-equity groups are considering making a junior loan to the company based in Ann Arbor, Mich., one of the people told Bloomberg. Get the full story »
Apple Inc has blocked rival Sony Corp’s electronic book application from the iPhone because it would have circumvented Apple’s system for buying content.
The scrap is the latest in Apple’s long history of tense relations with media companies. They have clashed for years over pricing and how music, movies and books are sold on Apple’s mobile devices, the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Get the full story »
U.S. auto sales jumped about 18 percent in January, led by gains for General Motors Co. and Chrysler.
The stronger U.S. auto sales results pointed to a recovery in American consumer demand and a return of easier lending terms by banks, auto executives and analysts said, despite the threat of higher oil prices. Get the full story »
William Farrow, 55, remembers trying to scrape together enough money to attend graduate school.
A product of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, Farrow had graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island in 1977, but got nowhere in obtaining a student loan from a couple of banks. But when he visited a branch of Northern Trust Corp., the Chicago-based bank lent him $1,500. The son of two teachers was on his way to a master’s in management from Northwestern University in 1979. Get the full story »
The number of households forced to spend more than half of their monthly income on rent and possibly also live in severely substandard conditions rose by more than 20 percent between 2007 and 2009, the federal government said Tuesday.
Almost 7.1 million low-income households were defined as having “worst case housing needs” as a result of joblessness, rising rents and a general lack of affordable rental housing. Get the full story »
The Volt has won nearly every major award offered and stirred up tons of interest, but one criticism persists: It’s too expensive.
The next-generation Volt will almost certainly cost less than the $41,000 list, GM spokesman Rob Peterson said. And the changes that make it cheaper should make it better, too. Get the full story »
Impatient over the slow pace of its sales recovery, Gap Inc. said the head of Gap North America will step down, as the apparel brand tries to reinvigorate its merchandise and flagging stock price.
Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America since 2007, is leaving Feb. 4, and will be replaced by an insider to be named soon, Gap said Tuesday. Get the full story »
Boeing Co. said Tuesday that it would submit a “final” bid for a $35 billion contract to supply the U.S. military with 179 aerial refueling tankers, as it tries to beat European rival Airbus.
A Boeing spokesman said the firm and Air Force officials discussed the company’s proposal Monday and revisions would follow. Get the full story »
By Bob Goldsborough | Elite Street | Former Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon has tried to sell his three-bedroom townhome in Northbrook since August. Now, he has become motivated, cutting the 2,465-square-foot townhome’s asking price on Jan. 10 to $610,000 from $800,000 .
Gordon, 27, played for the Bulls from 2004 until 2009, when he signed a five-year, $55 million deal with the Detroit Pistons. Get the full story »
New York Portfolio Clearing, a start-up clearinghouse co-owned by NYSE Euronext, won regulatory approval to clear derivatives, paving the way for competition with futures exchange giant CME Group Inc.
NYPC, jointly owned by the Big Board’s parent and the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp, will clear interest rate futures offered by NYSE Euronext’s U.S. futures exchange, NYSE Liffe, a statement from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said. Get the full story »
From Bloomberg News | BP expects to fetch at least $4.4 billion from selling half of its crude refining capacity in the U.S. and some retail assets as it raises cash to pay for last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The company plans to focus on refining and marketing networks in the country based around its Whiting, Indiana, and Cherry Point, Washington, refineries.
Ally Financial Inc, the auto and mortgage lender majority-owned by the U.S. government, posted its fourth consecutive quarterly profit as it prepares for an initial public offering this year. Get the full story »
Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based food industry consultant, has formed a joint venture with a Brazilian marketing company to advise companies interested in the Latin American market.
The venture with Gouvea de Souza, based in Sao Paulo, also will consult with Latin American food and beverage companies seeking to enter the U.S. market, the two companies said. Get the full story »
Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks will offer customers who don’t like Starbucks Via Ready Brew the option of replacing it with a 12-ounce bag of ground coffee.
Via, launched in 2009, was the first major entry into the U.S. instant coffee market in years. Though the coffee packets generated $135 million in sales in their first year, Starbucks is appealing to a wider audience with an offer: Try it. And if you don’t like it, we’ll replace it with regular coffee.
Starbucks announced the promotion Tuesday morning. It will run through August. In order to score free java, customers unhappy with their Via purchase can print out a form online and mail it in with their original receipt and UPC code. Requests must be postmarked by August 31. Get the full story »
