Tomy Co. plans to buy major U.S. toymaker RC2 Corp. for an estimated 50 billion yen ($604 million) to offset dwindling domestic demand, Japanese newspaper The Nikkei reported early Friday.
Tomy, which will make an announcement as soon as Friday, is likely to mount a tender offer for RC2. If successful, it will be one of the largest overseas acquisitions by a Japanese toymaker. Get the full story »
Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo SAB, the second largest bakery company in the world by revenue, may issue debt in the U.S. or Mexico to help finance its $959 million acquisition of Sara Lee Corp.’s fresh bakery assets in North America.
According to Armando Giner, director of investor relations at Bimbo, market conditions are favorable at the moment and the company is analyzing the possibility of issuing debt in both countries, as well as using bank financing. Get the full story »
An Amazon employee loading boxes, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Scott Sady, file)
Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Thursday to require online merchants with a physical presence in Illinois to collect and remit sales tax.
The controversial law, called the Main Street Fairness Act, means online retailers — including giant Amazon.com Inc. and Overstock.com Inc. — must collect sales taxes on purchases made by Illinois residents as long as the retailer has a physical presence in the state. The law is effective immediately. Get the full story »
Clearwire Corp. CEO Bill Morrow has resigned, two other top executives are leaving and the finance chief is moving to an operational role in a massive management shakeup at the wireless service provider.
Morrow will be replaced on an interim basis by Chairman John Stanton, according to the company, which is seeking billions in funding to expand its high-speed wireless network. Get the full story »
PNC Bank, the Chicago area’s fourth-biggest bank, is stepping up its profile in downtown Chicago.
The Pittsburgh-based bank, which now occupies about 80,000 square feet at One North Franklin, has signed a new lease that will increase its presence at the Tishman Speyer property to 116,000-square-feet over the next two years, with a term extension until 2022. Get the full story »
Majestic Star Casino LLC on Thursday won confirmation of its Chapter 11 reorganization plan after striking deals to end a long-running dispute with the city of Gary and broker peace with tax authorities.
Judge Kevin Gross signed off on the restructuring scheme for Majestic Star at a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Del., clearing the way for some of the casinos controlled by Detroit mogul Don Barden to move ahead without him. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil division, beset by an unstemmed tide of consumer product recalls, said Thursday that it had finalized a consent decree that would put three of its manufacturing facilities under supervision of U.S. health authorities.
McNeil said in a statement it had finalized the terms of a consent decree with the Food and Drug Administration for its facilities in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, and Fort Washington and Lancaster, Pa. Get the full story »
From The Huffington Post | A months-long investigation into abusive mortgage practices by the Federal Reserve found no wrongful foreclosures, members of the Fed’s Consumer Advisory Council said Thursday.
Columbia College Chicago is partnering with YouTube to launch a program that will train “aspiring content creators” how to produce and market their digital work.
San Bruno, Calif.-based YouTube, which is a subsidiary of Google Inc., is also working with the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. The YouTube Creator Institute, as the program is called, is accepting applications through March 25 for its inaugural classes at each of the two partner schools. In Chicago, the program will accept 10 students and run between June 1 and July 22. Get the full story »
Brent and U.S. crude oil futures pared losses on Thursday, beset by deeper geopolitical concerns on witness reports that police fired upon protesters in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province. Get the full story »
Everyone, it seems, has a price and Cumulus Media finally found Citadel Broadcasting’s.
Cumulus said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Citadel, parent of Chicago’s WLS-AM and FM, in a cash-and-stock transaction that values Citadel at between $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion.
Boeing Co. said Thursday it took 58 new orders for commercial planes in the week that ended March 9, but reduced the number of 787 orders by eight.
The company on its website said it took orders for four 767s from the U.S. Air Force. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd ordered 10 777s. American International Group’s International Lease Finance Corp ordered 33 737s. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expanding a program that lets shoppers pick out items online and pick them up in its stores across the United States as it tries to bring people to its stores more often following several quarters of disappointing sales. Get the full story »
British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc has agreed to pay $68.5 million to resolve allegations by U.S. state regulators that its marketing of the multibillion-dollar antipsychotic drug Seroquel was deceptive.
The accord with 37 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., is the largest multistate, consumer protection-based pharmaceutical settlement on record, said Paula Dow, attorney general of New Jersey, which is among the settling states. Get the full story »
