U.K. regulators say they expect to publish their final ruling Thursday on the proposed purchase of Walmart Inc.'s Asda by rival grocery chain Sainsbury's. A preliminary report in February expressed concerns that the $9.4 billion deal would raise prices and reduce merchandise quality and choices for shoppers.
The Competition and Markets Authority announced its intention in a filing Tuesday, according to its website. By law, the agency has until April 30 to release a ruling.
A Walmart spokesman said in an email Tuesday that the retailer won't comment on the matter until it sees the final report.
The preliminary report stated that the companies would likely have to sell a "significant" number of stores to get the deal approved. The merger would create the U.K.'s largest supermarket chain, overtaking current market leader Tesco. Asda recently replaced Sainsbury's in the No. 2 spot.
In response to the report, both Asda and Sainsbury's said they would sell stores, cut prices and make other concessions to win approval of the deal. Walmart would keep a 42 percent stake in the merged company.
-- Serenah McKay
Firm, 2 ex-execs accused in opioid case
Federal prosecutors unveiled the first criminal charges against pharmaceutical executives, accusing the former chief executive officer and the head of compliance at a major U.S. drug distributor of a narcotics conspiracy.
Laurence F. Doud III, who spent 25 years as chief executive officer of Rochester Drug Cooperative, and William Pietruszewski orchestrated a scheme to distribute high volumes of oxycodone, fentanyl and other highly addictive opioids to pharmacies knowing the drugs would be sold to people who had no medical need for them, prosecutors said. Doud, 75, and other executives pressed ahead with the sales to increase revenue and boost their salaries, the U.S. said.
"Why did they do it? The answer is greed," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a news conference Tuesday in New York.
Pietruszewski pleaded guilty on April 19 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, according to court records. The company, which bills itself as the nation's seventh-largest drug distributor, is criminally charged in a narcotics conspiracy. However, in an agreement with prosecutors, it will pay a $20 million penalty and prosecutors will dismiss the case after five years if the company stays out of trouble.
-- Bloomberg News
Walgreens sets 21 as tobacco-sales age
Walgreens has decided to raise its minimum age for tobacco sales several weeks after a top federal official chastised the drugstore chain for violating laws restricting access to cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said Tuesday that it will require customers to be at least 21 years old to buy tobacco in any of its more than 9,500 stores nationwide. The policy starts Sept. 1.
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said in March that Walgreens was a top violator of tobacco sales laws among pharmacies that sell those products. Rival CVS Health Corp. stopped several years ago.
Laws restricting tobacco sales vary nationally.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week that he plans to introduce legislation to raise the minimum age to 21 nationally. The Kentucky Republican called the legislation a top priority.
-- The Associated Press
Sinclair to buy 21 Fox sports networks
Sinclair Broadcast Group is reportedly poised to buy a group of 21 Fox regional sports networks from Disney in a deal to be announced perhaps as early as this week.
Sinclair, the Hunt Valley, Md.-based broadcaster, has emerged as the front-runner in the auction for the sports networks, according to a Fox Business report.
Disney is selling the networks as part of its $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment business. To secure U.S. antitrust approval of that deal, which closed in March, Disney agreed to sell the sports networks within 90 days because of its ownership of ESPN. (Fox is keeping Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports and the Fox TV network.)
Sinclair, which operates the nation's largest array of local television stations, including Little Rock's KATV, has carved out a niche in sports programming with its ownership of professional wrestling's Ring of Honor, 2016 acquisition of the Tennis Channel and involvement in the Stadium sports streaming partnership. In January, it announced plans to launch a regional sports network with the Chicago Cubs.
-- Tribune News Service
Video of smoking car stirs Tesla inquiry
Tesla is investigating video footage that appears to show smoke billowing from a Tesla Model S just moments before it exploded in a Shanghai car park.
The blast was captured in a widely shared video on Chinese media, prompting the carmaker to launch its own inquiry. "We immediately sent a team on-site, and we're supporting local authorities to establish the facts," the company said in a statement.
Sunday's occurrence is the latest involving a Tesla catching fire. In June, a Model S burst into flames while driving in Los Angeles. The driver's wife posted a video of the car with fire and smoke coming from underneath it, CNN reported.
Tesla, which has more than 500,000 vehicles on the road, maintains that its cars are 10 times less likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered ones.
-- The Washington Post
Two men accused in trade-secrets theft
ALBANY, N.Y. -- A former General Electric engineer and his business partner in China were indicted Tuesday on allegations that they stole the company's trade secrets from a New York plant for the Chinese government in what federal prosecutors called "a textbook example" of industrial espionage.
The Justice Department announced that Xiaoqing Zheng, 56, of Niskayuna, N.Y., and Zhaoxi Zhang, 47, of Liaoning Province, China, were charged with economic espionage and conspiracy for stealing GE's turbine technologies for China.
Zheng was working for Boston-based GE's power division in Schenectady when he was arrested at his home last summer. FBI agents raided his suburban home and removed computers, cash and other items. Zhang, the business partner, wasn't charged at the time.
Prosecutors allege that Zheng stole computer files dealing with GE's gas and steam turbines and sent them to Zhang, who's in China.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 04/24/2019