Israel’s Teva buys Allergan generic drug company for $40.5B
Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Monday it is purchasing Dublin-based Allergan PLC’s generic pharmaceuticals business for $40.5 billion, in what Israeli analysts called the largest-ever acquisition by an Israeli company.
Statements from both companies say the deal will see Allergan receive $33.75 billion in cash and shares of Teva valued Monday at $6.75 billion. In light of the acquisition, Teva said it was withdrawing its $40 billion-plus takeover offer for pharmaceuticals company Mylan N.V.
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Software turns smartphones into tools for medical research
Jody Kearns doesn’t like to spend time obsessing about her Parkinson’s disease. The 56-year-old dietitian from Syracuse, New York, had to give up bicycling because the disorder affected her balance. But she still works, drives and tries to live a normal life.
Yet since she enrolled in a clinical study that uses her iPhone to gather information about her condition, Kearns has been diligently taking a series of tests three times a day. She taps the phone’s screen in a certain pattern, records a spoken phrase and walks a short distance while the phone’s motion sensors measure her gait.
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Fiat Chrysler settlement with gov’t could prove costly
Fiat Chrysler could be required to lay out hundreds of millions of dollars to get potentially defective Ram pickups and older Jeeps off the road under a deal with safety regulators to settle claims that the automaker mishandled nearly two dozen recalls.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is requiring the company to offer to buy back certain Ram pickup trucks and Dodge and Chrysler SUVs with defective steering parts that can cause drivers to lose control. More than 579,000 vehicles were initially recalled in 2013, but the company would only be required to buy back a third of those because many of the pickups have already been repaired.
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Problems pile up for Greek boat-builders as taxes bite
At its height eight years ago, George Kranitis’ family-owned shipyard in Patra, Greece’s third-largest city, employed some 35 people and sold around 340 boats annually.
But after years of biting recession, Kranitis has had to fire almost everyone at the 10,000 sq. foot (3,050 sq. meters) yard.
And if that wasn’t enough, things just got a whole lot more taxing – literally.
In order to get its third financial bailout in five years, Greece’s government has had to introduce a series of economic reforms and austerity measures – just to get discussions started.
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Orders for US durable goods jump 3.4 percent in June
Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods posted a sizable gain in June, but the advance was fueled by higher demand for commercial aircraft. Outside of this volatile category, a key category that represents business investment rose by a far more modest amount.
Orders for durable goods jumped 3.4 percent in June from May, when orders had fallen 2.1 percent, the Commerce Department reported Monday. The gain was the best result since March. However, the jump was driven by aircraft orders booked by Boeing at the Paris air show.
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Burger King’s sales get another boost from Chicken Fries
Burger King got a boost from the return of its ”Chicken Fries.”
Parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc. said Monday sales rose 7.9 percent at Burger King locations in the U.S. and Canada during the second quarter. After taking Chicken Fries off the menu in 2012, Burger King had said last year it was bringing back the long, deep-fried piece of chicken as a limited-time offer in response to customer demands.
The campaign was so successful the company brought them back this year.
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Republic stock plunges on possible flight disruptions
Republic Airways warned that its operation of regional flights for the nation’s biggest airlines could be disrupted by a pilot shortage and labor standoff. Its shares fell 56 percent in trading Monday.
Republic disclosed late Friday that it had cut flying by 4 percent in early summer and was talking with American, United, Delta and US Airways about reducing its flying more through the first half of next year.
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McGraw Hill Financial buying SNL Financial for about $2.23B
McGraw Hill Financial, owner of ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, is buying SNL Financial for about $2.23 billion.
Privately held SNL Financial, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, is a provider of financial news, data and analysis.
McGraw Hill Financial President and CEO Douglas Peterson said in a written statement that the transaction will help in developing new services and will allow the company to expand into adjacent markets.
The acquisition’s cost will be somewhat offset by tax benefits of about $550 million.
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Madonna: It’s just the beginning for streaming service Tidal
Madonna, who co-owns Tidal with Jay Z, Beyonce and others, says it’s just the beginning for the streaming service that’s had some troubles since its launch in March.
Tidal, which offers a basic subscription for $10 and a high-quality audio one for $20, hasn’t made a splash like its announcement did a few months ago, when Rihanna, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Nicki Minaj, Jack White and others stood onstage in solidarity along with Madonna, Beyonce and Jay Z.
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China accepts group’s case against ConocoPhillips, CNOOC
A Chinese court says it has accepted a case brought by a social organization against oil giants ConocoPhillips China and China National Offshore Oil Corp. over oil spills in northern China in 2011.
It is the first case brought by a social organization over maritime pollution since China changed its law to allow registered non-government organizations who have been dealing with environmental issues for at least five years to sue heavy polluters.
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Officials hope 1st US offshore wind farm will boost industry
Construction has begun off Rhode Island’s coast on the nation’s first offshore wind farm, a milestone that federal and state officials say will help the fledgling U.S. industry surge ahead.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said Monday that lenders, regulators and stakeholders can now see a path forward.
Deepwater Wind is building a five-turbine wind farm off Block Island, Rhode Island, which it expects to power 17,000 homes as early as next year. It began attaching the first of the steel foundations to the ocean floor Sunday. The first one touching the seabed is known in the industry as the ”first steel in the water.”
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US appeals court rejects apartheid cases against Ford, IBM
Victims of apartheid in South Africa cannot sue IBM Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in New York because they cannot show that the companies’ alleged offending behavior occurred in the United States, a federal appeals court said Monday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against lawsuits brought 13 years ago against the Armonk, New York-based IBM and Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford.
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Survey shows unexpected upturn in German business confidence
Business confidence in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has risen unexpectedly this month as worries over Greece have subsided, a closely watched survey showed Monday.
The Ifo think tank’s monthly confidence index increased to 108 points for July from 107.5 in June. Economists had expected a slight decline to 107.2, which would have been a third consecutive drop.
Ifo said that managers’ assessment of their current situation and their outlook for the next six months both improved, defying expectations that they would slip. The institute’s president, Hans-Werner Sinn, said in a statement that ”the recent easing of the Greece situation contributed to stronger sentiment in the German economy.”
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The Dow Jones industrial average lost 127.94 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,440.59. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 12.01 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,067.64. The Nasdaq composite declined 48.85 points, or 1 percent, to 5,039.78.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 75 cents to close at $47.39 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.15 to close at $53.47 in London. Wholesale gasoline fell 0.8 cent to close at $1.820 a gallon. Heating oil fell 3.4 cents to close at $1.596 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1.3 cents to close at $2.789 per 1,000 cubic feet.
