ChicagoBusiness.com Breaking News

Tribune Co.'s cashflow will be higher than projected: memo

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:23:00 EST

(Reuters) — Tribune Co.'s cashflow this year will be nearly $400 million, nearly double what the bankrupt newspaper publisher and broadcaster projected, according to a company memo sent on Friday. Tribune also asked a bankruptcy court to extend until the end of March 2010 a period in which it ...

CF says advisory firm backs its slate for Terra

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:05:00 EST

(AP) — CF Industries Holdings Inc. said Friday that the RiskMetrics proxy advisory firm supports its nominees for the board of Terra Industries, which is fighting a CF takeover attempt. Terra's stock jumped. A day earlier, fertilizer maker Terra said two independent proxy companies — ...

CNA completes $350M note offering

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:15:00 EST

(AP) — Commercial insurer CNA Financial Corp. said Friday it completed an offering of $350 million of 7.35 percent 10-year senior notes. The company used a portion of the proceeds to redeem $250 million of its 2008 senior preferred stock held by Loews Corp., which holds a 90 percent stake in ...

American Metro Bank rapped by regulators to raise capital, bolster exec ranks

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:58:00 EST

(Crain’s) — State and federal banking regulators have hit American Metro Bank, a small Asian-American-owned bank in Uptown, with an order demanding that it beef up management and raise capital. American Metro Bank, launched in 1997, has $100 million in assets and four locations, including ...

Blagojevich seeks new trial date; feds want separate trial for Cellini

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

(AP) — Prosecutors asked a federal judge Friday to drop millionaire power broker William Cellini from Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial, while the former governor asked that the trial scheduled or June be postponed for months. U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel is likely to grant the motion, ...

Metra to hike some fares, surcharges

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST

(AP) — Fare increases on some Metra train trips will begin Feb. 1. Metra officials on Friday voted to approve price increases on one-way tickets and weekend passes. The changes include a 6 percent increase in one-way fares and weekend rides would increase from $5 to $7. Surcharges for ...

Boeing, Navistar land military contracts worth $59M

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:03:00 EST

(AP) — Navistar International Corp. and a unit of Boeing Co. both received multi-million contracts to provide work for the U.S. military. Chicago-based Boeing’s McDonnell Douglas inked a $10.8 million contract from the Navy to provide services for the F/A-18 aircraft for seven foreign ...

Playboy sale talk widens with $300M price tag

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:13:00 EST

(Reuters) — Playboy Enterprises Inc. is in talks with Jim Griffiths, a former entertainment president at Playboy, and private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, to sell itself for about $300 million, a source familiar with the matter said Friday. Playboy declined to comment. Golden Gate Capital, ...

Downers Grove lands corporate HQ

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:09:00 EST

(AP) — A manufacturer of industrial products is moving its headquarters to Illinois. Dover Corp. announced the move to Downers Grove in suburban Chicago will bring 100 jobs. Read more: Company relocating HQ from Park Avenue to Downers Grove The company will consolidate four "segment" ...

Chicago 2016's Ryan to continue on sports track

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:32:00 EST

(AP) — Patrick G. Ryan will continue his efforts to expand Olympic sports in Chicago, even after the city lost its bid for the 2016 Games. Ryan was named chairman of the board Thursday of World Sport Chicago, the bid's legacy organization. The group is dedicated to increasing participation in ...

Solo Cup Q3 loss triples on sales slump

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Solo Cup Co. on Thursday reported a third-quarter loss that was more than three times the amount it lost in the same period last year. The Highland Park-based paper product company lost $27.9 million in the three months ended Sept. 27. It lost $8 million in third-quarter ...

Boeing says structural flaw fixed on 1st 787

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:12:00 EST

(AP) — Boeing Co. says it has finished fixing structural flaws in the first of its long-delayed 787 jetliners. The Chicago-based airplane maker says the work on the plane's side-of-body section is "a significant step" toward the first flight of the aircraft, which has been delayed several ...

LaHood pledges to heal airline economics in dereg review

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:04:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Vowing to “make a difference,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced plans Thursday for a new federal advisory panel to come up with cures for the airline industry’s chronic economic woes. There was little consensus, however, among aviation industry insiders ...

CTA OKs budget with no fare hikes — but cuts, layoffs loom

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:48:00 EST

(AP) — Chicago commuters can breathe a sigh of relief. The Chicago Transit Authority has passed a 2010 budget that doesn't include fare increases. The agency created a stir last month when it proposed raising the basic subway fare 33 percent, from $2.25 to $3.00. That would have given the ...

Neighborhood Housing Services chief Gottschall retires after 35 years

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:29:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Bruce Gottschall, who helped start what has become the city’s largest housing counseling agency, is stepping down as its executive director after 35 years. Mr. Gottschall began Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago in 1975. He will retire on Dec. 15. “It feels like ...

Evanston firm nabs $2.5M geothermal grant

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:59:00 EST

(Crain’s) — An Evanston-based geothermal energy firm operating in “stealth mode” for the last few years has won a $2.45-million Department of Energy grant to demonstrate its high-tech underground heat pumps. Indie Energy Systems Co. LLC, founded by former software entrepreneur Daniel ...

McDonald's to spend $2.4B to improve, open new restaurants in 2010

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:04:00 EST

(Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. plans to spend $2.4 billion on capital improvements in 2010 as it continues to revamp restaurants and expand in emerging markets, the world's largest restaurant company said on Thursday. Half of the spending will be on new restaurants and the other half will be ...

State finds way to pay for capital plan

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:17:00 EST

(Crain’s) — A bill approved by the General Assembly will allow Illinois to proceed with the sale of bonds for the state’s new $31-billion capital construction plan, despite continuing concerns about the plan’s new revenue sources created to pay off the debt. A work-around enacted during ...

Playboy stock leaps on sale talks

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:12:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Playboy Enterprises Inc. shares surged Thursday after a report that it is in talks to sell itself to New York clothing-brand owner Iconix Brand Group Inc. Playboy shares rose 44% to close at $4.07 Thursday. At one point the stock touched $4.75, a jump of nearly 70%. Iconix, ...

Abbott buys $190M pain drug

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:55:00 EST

(AP) — Abbott Laboratories said Thursday it is buying a potential chronic pain drug from PanGenetics BV for as much as $190 million. Abbott said the drug is in early-stage clinical testing as a treatment for pain cause by arthritis. If that trial is successful, Abbott may test it against ...