Shares of U.S. Bancorp and TCF Financial Corporation—the state’s largest bank-holding companies—climbed about 17 percent last year.
Banking + Finance
U.S. Bancorp said that its portion of the $8.5 billion settlement includes $80 million in cash and about $128 million in mortgage assistance services; Wells Fargo, meanwhile, will pay $766 million in cash.
Bloomington-based Acuo Technologies, whose technology is used to manage digital medical images, will become part of Lexmark’s Perceptive Software business unit.
Annual sales for Skippy, the second-largest U.S. peanut butter brand, are expected to total about $370 million in 2013, with $100 million coming from outside of the United States.
Nexsan Corporation is expected to help Imation capture a larger share of small and medium-sized business customers and boost its growth among enterprises with widely distributed operations.
A Jefferies & Company analyst said Target struggled in its online execution, experienced soft December sales and poor results for a joint initiative with Neiman Marcus, saw more price competition, and increased its markdowns during the holidays.
High praise for a North African–influenced sibling of a South Minneapolis favorite.
Strong international sales helped fuel a 22 percent jump in second-quarter profits; the company’s Yoki Alimentos business in Brazil, which it bought earlier this year, contributed.
Heartland Advisors, Inc., which said it owns about 9 percent of Analysts International, is urging the company to pursue a merger or sale.
At least one securities analyst believes Caribou could fetch a higher purchase price, while another said that the $16-per-share offer accounts for the chain’s growth potential as well as its recent “choppy” financial performance.
Tokyo-based Sumitomo Chemical now owns a 76 percent stake in local insect control business MGK.
The Joh. A. Benckiser Group, a German holding company that recently purchased a majority stake in California-based Peet’s Coffee & Tea, has agreed to pay $16 per share in cash to acquire Caribou Coffee.
The health care insurer, which pushed out its former chief executive in July, has appointed Michael Guyette as its next leader.
Best Buy’s stock, which had jumped Thursday on speculation that Richard Schulze was poised to make a takeover bid, returned Friday to where it had been trading previously, following news that Schulze’s deadline has been pushed back to February.
Appert’s President Joe Omann said that Sysco plans to retain the company’s 300 workers, and being acquired by an industry leader will likely lead to additional growth in Minnesota.
Korn/Ferry International said it will pay between $80 million and $95 million to acquire Minneapolis-based PDI Ninth House, a provider of talent management and leadership development solutions.
Company founder Richard Schulze reportedly faces a Sunday deadline, and his offer is expected to be at least $5 billion to $6 billion.
The hacker group that claimed to have disrupted several national banks’ websites in September appears to have launched a second round of attacks, and Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp is once again a victim.