Chicago private equity firm Water Street Healthcare Partners this morning said it has purchased a subsidiary of developer of oral health products for an undisclosed sum.
Water Street said its purchase of OraPharma Inc. from New Jersey health and drug product giant Johnson & Johnson will “expand its group of companies specializing in life sciences, medical devices, distribution and health care services.” Get the full story »
Walgreen Co.’s December sales rose 7.5 percent to $6.81 billion, the biggest U.S. drugstore chain said on Wednesday. The performance was helped by Duane Reade, which made up 2.5 percentage points of the total sales increase. Walgreen purchased Duane Reade for $623 million in April 2010. Get the full story »
The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun examining whether disclosure rules for privately held firms need to be rewritten as a result of recent deals allowing investors to buy shares in Internet companies such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., according to people familiar with the situation. Get the full story »
Kraft Foods Inc. has sued India’s Britannia Industries Ltd. in an Indian court over trademark and copyright violations of its Oreo cookies brand, the Economic Times reported Wednesday. Get the full story »
The Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois has announced its top scams for 2010, based on frequent calls and complaints.
The most common scams included fraudulent job opportunities, where consumers were asked to pay upfront for materials or training — then heard nothing more. Get the full story »
Discovery Communications expects Oprah Winfrey’s cable channel to achieve profitability in its first year.
Discovery and Winfrey flipped the switch on OWN, short for the Oprah Winfrey Network, on New Year’s Day. The new channel enjoyed heavy sampling among viewers over the weekend, although executives have cautioned that they expect a bumpy ratings ride in the beginning. Get the full story »
Reports: ISM service sector index for December, 9 a.m.
Santa Monica-based FamilyFinds.com has acquired Mamaloot, a Chicago-based online deal site. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Get the full story »
From News & Tech | Sun-Times Media announced on Tuesday the creation of a new business operation called STM Digital, which will have responsibility for all Sun-Times Media online, mobile and other digital content publication and advertising businesses.
The stock price of several grocers fell in trading Tuesday following a downgrade by a BMO Capital Markets analyst.
Analyst Karen Short lowered her price target for Jewel-Osco parent Supervalu Inc. to $11 from $13 and lowered earnings estimates, citing the company’s inability to drive traffic in its stores. Shares of Supervalu dropped 62 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $8.99 in afternoon dealings. Get the full story »
U.S. banking regulators have authorized lawsuits against 109 bank officials so far as they seek to recover at least $2.5 billion in losses connected to recent bank failures.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Tuesday the suits target bank directors and officers for “either gross or simple negligence.” It is seeking to recoup money for its deposit insurance fund, which backs customer accounts. Get the full story »
Continental Airlines, now part of United Continental Holdings Inc., and a union representing thousands of flight attendants reached a tentative labor agreement Tuesday.
The two previously had reached an agreement in late September, a day before United Air Lines’s parent UAL Corp. merged with Continental to vault them over Delta Air Lines Inc. as the world’s biggest airline. Get the full story »
Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions began trading separately on Tuesday, the final step in Motorola’s two-and-half-year process in becoming two independent companies.
Motorola’s longtime ticker symbol, MOT, was retired on Tuesday as Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. began trading under its new name, Motorola Solutions, with the ticker MSI. Motorola Mobility, which was spun off as a new company, trades under the ticker MMI.
Shares of Motorola Mobility, which includes the smartphone and TV set-top business, closed 9.5 percent higher at $33.12. Shares of Motorola Solutions Inc , which targets businesses with products like barcode scanners, closed up $2.46, or 7.6 percent, at $39.77.
