Groupon’s executives held a series of meetings with bankers Thursday in Chicago to discuss a potential initial public offering for the coupon website, CNBC’s Kate Kelly reported Thursday evening. Groupon, Kelly said, is serious about an IPO, but the process could take months, possibly into this spring. The offering could be worth $1 billion to $1.5 billion, she said, but the company hasn’t offered any details of the potential size of the deal. Get the full story »
CME prepays $420 million loan, saves $3 million
Derivatives exchange operator CME Group Inc. said Thursday it has paid off a $420 million loan to complete the refinancing of a three-year debt agreement.
The original credit and term loan agreement, due to mature in August, was replaced with a $1 billion revolving credit agreement with an expiration of January 2014. Get the full story »
Jan. 13 at 5:01 p.m.
Filed under: Cell phones, Chicago executives, Consumer electronics, Personnel moves, Technology, Work culture Motorola Mobility names Nike executive to board
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., the newly independent cell phone and set-top box business of the former Motorola Inc., appointed Nike Inc. executive Jeanne P. Jackson to its board Thursday. Get the full story »
Electric company moving HQ to Bolingbrook
An international electrical engineering company that powers high-profile destinations like the Kennedy Space Center and Harvard University is moving its headquarters to Bolingbrook.
G & W Electric Company has outgrown its facility in Blue Island, and should be fully operational in Bolingbrook by 2012, said Mayor Roger Claar today during the Bolingbrook Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Village luncheon.
Oil off on U.S. data, but OPEC eyed as $100 in sight
Oil slipped Thursday as markets weighed disappointing U.S. jobless claims data and the prospect OPEC would raise output should prices break above $100 a barrel for an extended period. Get the full story »
Gov. Quinn signs income tax increase
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn today signed a major income tax increase the Legislature passed earlier this week.
Conrad Black to be resentenced in June for fraud
Conrad Black, the wealthy Canadian native who was chairman of a Chicago-based newspaper empire, will be resentenced in June on two counts that survived an appellate court’s review of his 2007 fraud conviction, a federal judge decided today.
NiSource to pay $600M to settle EPA violations
A NiSource Inc. utility unit finalized a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agreeing to invest $600 million in environmental, conservation initiatives, and clean energy programs in northern Indiana.
The settlement is the 17th reached by the EPA and the Department of Justice as part of a national initiative to control emissions from coal-fired power plants under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements. In addition to the investment, NiSource will pay a $3.5 million civil penalty. Get the full story »
Student who hacked into Palin e-mail enters prison
David Kernell, 23, the former University of Tennessee student convicted of hacking into Sarah Palin’s e-mail account, has begun his term in a dormitory-like, unfenced federal prison, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman said on Thursday. Get the full story »
Research targets Ambien’s effects on elderly
The popular sleep drug Ambien can leave even the healthiest older people groggy and prone to stumbling, falling and confusion when they wake up, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
The drug, sold by Sanofi-Aventis under the brand name Ambien and known generically as zolpidem, appears to act broadly in the brain and has a numbing effect for at least half an hour after waking, the researchers reported in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. Get the full story »
First Bank to boost capital, cut bad loans
Crain’s Chicago Business | First Bank & Trust of Illinois has entered into a consent agreement with state and federal regulators to boost its capital standards and shed bad debt.
Chick-fil-A follows biscuit success with spicy nuggets
Cox News Service | Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A says diners reserved nearly 1 million free spicy breakfast biscuits on getspicychicken.com, starting on Dec. 27. Some stores ended the promotion on Jan. 1, while others continued it until Jan. 8.
The biscuit went on sale on Monday. Get the full story »
Ind. electric car plant adding jobs after 3 months
A manufacturer of fully electric vehicles has increased production sooner than expected and will add 70 more jobs this year, welcome news in a region battered by layoffs at recreational vehicle plants.
Think North America, with 27 workers currently, will add the new jobs in hopes of producing 2,500 cars this year at its Elkhart operations in a former RV plant, WNDU-TV reported Thursday. The company began production in October. Get the full story »
Bernanke sees growth picking up, but not jobs
The U.S. economy should grow around 3 percent to 4 percent this year, a healthier clip than in 2010 but not enough to bring down unemployment as much as policymakers would like, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.
“We see the economy strengthening. It has looked better in the last few months. We think a 3 to 4 percent-type of growth number for 2011 seems reasonable,” Bernanke said at an event sponsored by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Get the full story »
