LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The underlying picture for manufacturing is certainly one of weakness. Soft U.S.
final demand, a need to adjust inventories, weakening exports - all of that adds up to a weak manufacturing sector.”
Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. in New York. Article, 1D
News Corp. renaming media firm
NEW YORK - News Corp. said Monday that its new publishing company will keep the News Corp. name, while its separate media and entertainment company will be renamed Fox Group.
The conglomerate announced plans this summer to split into two public companies, one for its newspaper and book publishing business and the other for its fast-growing movie and TV operations. Rupert Murdoch will serve as chairman of the new News Corp. and chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Group.
The new News Corp. will house newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post as well as Dow Jones Newswires. Fox Group, meanwhile, will include 20th Century Fox film and television studios and the Fox TV channels among other properties.
The company named Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Robert Thomson as chief executive officer of the new News Corp. He’s set to begin his work Jan. 1. Chase Carey will serve as president and chief operating officer of Fox Group. James Murdoch will stay on as deputy chief operating officer of Fox Group.
As part of the changes, News Corp. said it will cease publication of The Daily, its iPad news application, on Dec. 15.
- The Associated Press
ADM raises bid for GrainCorp
NEW YORK - Agribusiness conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland Co. is increasing its buyout offer for GrainCorp by almost 4 percent and disclosed it has already added to its stake in the Australian grain handler.
Under the revised bid disclosed Monday, it would cost ADM about $2.33 billion to buy the rest of the Australian company.
ADM said that it owns 19.9 percent of GrainCorp Ltd., up from 14.9 percent when it made its first acquisition bid in October.
Decatur, Ill.-based ADM has said that it wants to invest in overseas suppliers. Australia is a major exporter of many commodities, from minerals such as iron ore to agricultural goods such as wheat.
ADM is now offering GrainCorp stockholders $12.73 per share. It previously offered $12.13 per share.
GrainCorp currently has 228.2 million outstanding shares, according to FactSet.
ADM said that GrainCorp shareholders will keep the dividend of 37 cents that the company announced in November.
The revised bid is subject to GrainCorp giving it access to its books and a recommendation from GrainCorp’s board, ADM said.
Shares of ADM rose 9 cents, or 0.0 percent, to $26.79 in Monday trading. ADM shares have traded in a 52-week range of $24.38 to $33.98.
- The Associated Press
U.K. aims at corporate tax dodgers
LONDON - The British government said Monday it would spend more money catching tax avoiders, after a lawmakers’ committee accused major multinational companies including Starbucks, Google and Amazon of “immorally” dodging taxation.
The companies insisted they operated within the law, although Starbucks announced it is reviewing its British tax practices in a bid to restore public trust.
Treasury chief George Osborne said the government was earmarking an extra $124 million and hiring 100 new tax investigators to clamp down on “offshore evasion and avoidance by wealthy individuals and by multinationals.” He said the investment would bring in an extra $3.22 billion a year.
His announcement came after Parliament’s public accounts committee said the government should “get a grip” on multinationals that exploit tax laws to move profits generated in Britain to offshore domains.
“Global companies with huge operations in the U.K., generating significant amounts of income, are getting away with paying little or no corporation tax here,” said Labor legislator Margaret Hodge, who heads the all-party committee. “This is outrageous and an insult to British businesses and individuals who pay their fair share.”
- The Associated Press
Saputo to buy Morningstar Foods
MONTREAL - Canadian cheese maker Saputo Inc. is bolstering its position in the United States by pursuing the largest acquisition in its history, a $1.45 billion deal to buy Morningstar Foods.
Montreal-based Saputo said Monday it is expanding its U.S. operations by adding dairy and nondairy products to its current operations as a cheese manufacturer, distributor and exporter. The move effectively replicates the breadth of its operations in Canada, creating a U.S. division of comparable size.
“This is only going to solidify our position as the No. 2 provider of dairy in North America,” CEO Lino Saputo Jr. said.
Morningstar has about 2,000 employees and 10 manufacturing plants in the United States.
After the acquisition, Saputo will have about 12,000 employees and 57 manufacturing plants in five countries.
Morningstar is a subsidiary of Dallas-based Dean Foods, which said that it expects to receive $887 million from the sale after taxes and expenses. It said the money would be used to reduce Dean’s debt. Morningstar makes a variety of dairy and nondairy products such as creams, ice cream mixes, sour cream and cottage cheese. Saputo said it will benefit from Morningstar’s national manufacturing and distribution footprint.
Saputo said there are no consolidation plans since Morningstar’s operations are very different from its own in the U.S.
- The Associated Press
U.S. sales layoffs in works at Pfizer
NEW YORK - Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. is starting another round of layoffs, targeting U.S. sales representatives who promote Pfizer primary care medicines to doctors.
The New York-based Viagra maker isn’t giving details on how many sales people it employs, how many will leave or when that will happen. Individual salespeople haven’t been notified whether they’ll be furloughed.
A Pfizer spokesman confirms changes are coming but says details about the sales force are proprietary.
In a statement, the world’s biggest drugmaker says it continually evaluates how to be more efficient and best allocate money and staff to serve customers.
Generic competition to popular drugs such as Pfizer’s cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor means they’re not promoted anymore. But representatives are needed to promote a big anticlotting drug awaiting approval and current big sellers such as pain treatment Lyrica.
Business, Pages 24 on 12/04/2012