LOS ANGELES -- Nestle is being sued over claims that its Fancy Feast cat food contains fish from a Thai supplier that uses slave labor.
The complaint against the Swiss food giant follows one last week accusing Costco Wholesale Corp. of selling farmed shrimp from Thailand, where slave labor and human trafficking in the fishing industry are allegedly widespread.
The four consumers who filed the Nestle case in Los Angeles federal court seek to represent all California buyers of Fancy Feast who wouldn't have bought the product had they known that the fish was allegedly harvested using forced labor.
"By hiding this from public view, Nestle has effectively tricked millions of consumers into supporting and encouraging slave labor on floating prisons," Steve Berman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
Nestle said in an emailed statement that forced labor "has no place in our supply chain."
The company declined to comment on the lawsuit specifically, but said it's working with nongovernmental organization Verite to "to identify where and why forced labor and human rights abuses may be taking place" in Thailand and southeast Asia.
GE said to drop Dallas as relocation site
NEW YORK -- General Electric Co. dropped the Dallas area as a site for a possible headquarters move because of concern that Texas' political climate is unfavorable to the company's business, people familiar with the matter said.
GE told Dallas business leaders in recent days it would look elsewhere for alternatives to its Connecticut home, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details aren't public. They said GE cited some Texas lawmakers' opposition to the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an important source of financing for some overseas sales.
The bank argument adds a new dimension to GE's evaluation of office options outside Fairfield, where it has been based since the 1970s. Rising taxes make Connecticut a tough place for growth, according to GE, one of the biggest U.S. exporters and a maker of products ranging from light bulbs to locomotives. GE has also looked at Atlanta, among other locations, the people said.
Sources: Wells Fargo, GE close to deal
Wells Fargo & Co. has emerged as the front-runner to buy General Electric Co.'s railcar-financing unit, people with knowledge of the matter said.
An agreement to acquire the business, which has more than $4 billion in assets, could be announced by Labor Day, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. A deal hasn't been finalized, the people said. The process remains competitive, one of the people said. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. also is pursuing the business, the people said.
GE is selling the business as it sells off about $200 billion in lending assets in a retreat from financial services. By unloading the bulk of the GE Capital arm, the company wants to shed its too-big-to-fail label while focusing on industrial operations making products spanning jet engines, medical scanners and oilfield equipment.
The Chicago-based rail-equipment unit, GE Capital Rail Services, leases freight and tank cars and offers loans and maintenance services. GE has weighed selling it at least twice since 2008, and ended an auction in 2011 after concluding that the lessor was faring well as freight shipments recovered.
A spokesman for Fairfield, Conn.-based GE declined to comment, as did representatives for Wells Fargo and Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui.
Chinese company buys Ironman brand
One of the world's best-known sports brands and symbols of endurance competition, Tampa-based Ironman, now belongs to a Chinese firm. Dalian Wanda Group of China bought Ironman's parent company, World Triathlon Corp., this week from Providence Equity Corp. for about $900 million in equity and debt.
The buyer, owned by China's richest billionaire, said Ironman will keep its headquarters in Tampa's Rocky Point area.
Little more than a quarter-century ago, the young operator of long-distance races was in the Pinellas County offices of ophthalmologist James Gills. He bought the Ironman brand in 1989 for $3 million from Valerie Silk, the former race director of the annual Ironman world championship in Hawaii.
Rhode Island-based Providence Equity, whose dozens of corporate holdings include Hulu and AutoTrader, bought World Triathlon Corp. in 2008 for an undisclosed sum. Ironman was then relocated to Tampa and transformed from a licenser of the Ironman brand to an owner and operator of races. It greatly expanded the number of races it owns and operates to more than 200 and grew its workforce to 250 from 10.
The classic Ironman race features a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run, though it is now known as the Ironman 140.6.
-- The New York Times
Absolut vodka's market value discounted
Absolut vodka's U.S. debut in 1979 excited U.S. drinkers and even inspired Andy Warhol's artwork. Almost four decades on, America's tastes have changed.
The market value of Absolut, one of the world's largest vodka brands, was written down by $454 million on Thursday by Paris-based distiller Pernod Ricard SA.
The vodka, which was acquired by Pernod in 2008, is losing market share in the U.S., its largest profit pool, to pricier vodka options such as Ketel One and Ciroc. So-called craft spirits including Tito's Handmade Vodka are also making inroads as consumers shun big brands that no longer seem relevant.
"Ten years ago, you could start to see the brand was looking tired," said Trevor Stirling, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. "It's no longer as cool as it used to be."
Pernod Ricard has grown in the U.S. through sales of popular brands such as The Glenlivet single malt and Jameson Irish whiskey. Yet Absolut still represents about 40 percent of its profit in the country. The vodka also accounts for about 10 percent of Pernod's total profit and 16 percent of revenue, according to estimates from Nomura and Bernstein.
Vodka is the largest category within spirits, both in terms of bottles sold and dollars generated, according to researcher Euromonitor.
Business on 08/29/2015