Company news

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS 3M Co., Maplewood, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in the A-One branded consumer and office label business and related operations. Terms were not disclosed. A-One is an office and consumer label brand in Asia.

NEW BUSINESS Schwan's Consumer Brands named Bolin Marketing, Minneapolis, to help shape and then execute the company's social media efforts. The social media work will be managed by Bolin Digital, the interactive group within Bolin, and will focus on the Schwan's pizza and dessert brands Red Baron, Freschetta, Tony's, Edwards Desserts and Mrs. Smith's Pies.

HickoryTech Corp., Mankato, has been awarded a three-year contract to provide Internet, data, VoIP and video conferencing services to 69 schools and libraries within a distance-learning network spanning a 12-county region in south central Minnesota. SOCRATES (South Central Regional Area Telecommunications Systems), a program of the South Central Service Cooperative in North Mankato, provides learning institutions in south central Minnesota with data and video connectivity that allows for innovative instruction techniques and educational experiences.

DEBT AND EQUITIES TCF Financial Corp., Wayzata, has commenced an underwritten registered public offering of $150 million of its common stock. TCF intends to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 15 percent of the amount sold to cover overallotments, if any. Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan are acting as joint book-running managers. RBC Capital Markets and Stifel Nicolaus will serve as co-managers.

PERSONNEL Linda Zarda Cook, former executive director of Royal Dutch Shell PLC in Den Haag, Netherlands, has been elected to the board of directors of Wayzata-based Cargill Inc.