The deal has been under scrutiny from federal regulators due to antitrust concerns, and Ecolab said that it continues to have “productive discussions” with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Banking + Finance
A study performed by IBM compares Minnesota’s efficiency in the areas of human resources, finance, payroll, and procurement to the performance of leading private- and public-sector organizations.
Businessman Maury Rosenberg, who won a $6.1 million jury award, claims that U.S. Bank is using involuntary bankruptcy as a collection tool, which is illegal; the bank, meanwhile, claims it hasn’t done anything wrong and is appropriately pursuing a litigious businessman who owes money.
Making age-appropriate arrangements.
Following the sale, Supervalu will have annual sales of about $17 billion; meanwhile, the buyer, an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, will become the company’s largest shareholder, with 21.2 percent of outstanding common shares.
The company’s earnings climbed nearly 2 percent while sales increased 8 percent during the third quarter, driven largely by sales in recently acquired businesses.
Jason Michael Meyer admitted to diverting investors’ funds for his personal use through a fraud scheme that resulted in more than $11 million in losses.
The deal will add roughly $57 billion in assets under administration and 1,100 trust and agency contracts to U.S. Bank’s corporate trust division.
The company benefited from higher same-store sales and significantly narrowed its year-over-year loss.
MakeMusic struck a deal to be acquired by venture capital firm LaunchEquity Partners, which has been pursuing a buyout since last summer and already owns nearly a third of the company.
Locally-owned Franklin Bank, Park Midway Bank, and University Bank will merge and be rebranded as Sunrise Banks; meanwhile, San Francisco-based Bank of the West recently closed four Minnesota branches.
After two analysts upgraded Best Buy’s stock last month, two more have followed suit in March—and like the others, they credit the company’s new leadership team for what appear to be signs of a turnaround.
How a central banker’s views evolved and moved him from being a dissenter to a leading advocate of the Federal Reserve’s policy of keeping interest rates low.
The company said it is the first major bank in the country to offer such a tool to its customers; the feature eliminates the need to manually fill in certain fields when paying a bill with a mobile device.
The bed maker said that it has experienced “below-plan” sales since February 1, news that prompted shares of its stock to slide about 17 percent Monday.
A Star Tribune report, citing unnamed sources, indicated that founder Richard Schulze appears to be backing off a bid to acquire the company but is trying to regain his former position as chairman of the board.
Stream Global Services said that its purchase of U.K.-based LBM Holdings Limited, a lead generation and call center company, will enhance its own sales services; meanwhile, Stream is in the midst of hiring 350 call center employees in Eagan.
In addition, sales have been “softer than expected” so far in February, but the company believes its foray into Canada, policy of matching online competitors’ prices, and new designer lines will help business this year.