Sam Zell in February of 2008. (Charles Osgood/Tribune)
An attorney for billionaire developer Sam Zell, who engineered a buyout that left Tribune Co. saddled with debt, says proposals to reorganize the media company’s finances aren’t fair to his client.
Attorney David Bradford says the proposals do not adequately protect Zell from lawsuits that threaten to injure his reputation and waste Tribune’s assets. Get the full story »
From Bloomberg News | Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, offered remedies to European Union regulators examining its plan to buy MWM Holding GmbH.
Suppliers to Apple have begun production of white iPhones after a delay of almost 10 months, pointing to a launch date of within a month, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Get the full story »
Boeing says that Fiji airline Air Pacific has canceled orders for eight 787s, a jetliner whose debut has been delayed by about three years. Get the full story »
Exchange operator CME Group Inc. intends to set up an office in Ukraine by the end of the year, the country’s agriculture minister said Thursday, in a move he hopes will help to boost the country’s status as a world agricultural power. Get the full story »
A boarded-up house in foreclosure, left, in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood on Chicago's North Side, July 13, 2010. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)
Foreclosure activity in Illinois was on the rise again last month, after a slowdown earlier this year caused by investigations into lenders’ foreclosure processes.
During March, lenders filed notices of default and started foreclosure proceedings against 7,428 homes in Illinois while scheduling court-supervised auctions against 1,919 properties and repossessing another 2,706 homes that became bank-owned. The overall number of properties caught up in the foreclosure process last month, 12,053, was a decline of 15 percent from March 2010 but up 25 percent since February. Get the full story »
Overnight staffing will be beefed up at 26 airports nationwide, federal air-safety officials said, in response to a spate of air-traffic controllers falling asleep on duty. In the latest incident, the pilot of an airborne ambulance landed in Nevada on Wednesday without help from a dozing controller. Get the full story »
Steve Bruski, 22, of Albany Park fills up his car at a Mobil Station at the corner of Fullerton Ave. and Seminary Ave. in Chicago, March 7, 2011. (Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune)
Gas prices across Illinois and Indiana continued to climb in April from continuing unrest in the Middle East and the annual switchover to a more expensive summer blend of gasoline, according to AAA Chicago. It marked the first time the monthly average has been above $4 a gallon since July 2008.
Monthly average prices in Illinois and northern Indiana reached $4.02 and $3.90 respectively, AAA said this morning in its Fuel Gauge Report. In Illinois, regular unleaded gasoline has increased 39 cents during the past month and per-gallon prices are $1.02 higher than last year. Get the full story »
Coffee cups at the McDonald's restaurant at Fullerton & Central in Chicago. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)
Fickle coffee drinkers are most loyal to a purveyor better known for burgers, a new study found. Coffee customers of McDonald’s Corp., said they were more loyal to the home of the Big Mac than those who frequent Starbucks Corp. and Dunkin’ Donuts in a study by market research firm CustomersDNA LLC.
The as-yet unpublished study involved 15,000 fast-food customers who were asked about their coffee and breakfast-buying habits, only 29 percent of McDonald’s customers said they go to a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee or breakfast in a given month. Get the full story »
Google’s stock is exactly where it was in September 2007, and it has fallen 9 percent since Eric Schmidt announced in January that he’d be stepping down as CEO. The problem, investors say, is that for every reason to believe in Google, there seems to be a counterbalancing reason for concern. Get the full story »
T-Mobile announced on Wednesday a new “Even More” unlimited 4G data plan that will throttle down a user’s Web speeds after they use more than 2GB per month. Get the full story »
Drugstore.com rejected a pair of lower offers from Walgreen Co. during a yearlong courtship before accepting a third proposal worth about $429 million, the Bellevue, Wash.-based Internet retailer disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday.
Drugstore.com agreed March 23 to be bought by Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, for $3.80 a share in cash, a 111 percent premium over the stock’s closing price a week earlier. The planned purchase, which is subject to approval by drugstore.com shareholders, is expected to be final by the end of June. Get the full story »
Reports: Jobless claims for week ended April 9, 7:30 a.m.; Producer price index for March, 7:30 a.m.; Mortgage rates for week ended April 14, 9 a.m.
Earnings: Google Inc., Hasbro Inc., J.B. Hunt Transportation Services, Roche, SuperValu Inc.
It has been a busy day for a couple of Chicago private equity firms.
Chicago-based buyout firm Waud Capital has closed its third fund, receiving $463 million in commitments from new and existing investors. Its initial goal was $350 million. Get the full story »
Arcos Dorados Holdings, a large South American franchisee of U.S. fast-food chain McDonald’s sold more shares than originally planned at a price above the proposed range in an IPO on Wednesday, a source familiar with the deal said. Get the full story »
