Hertz lands longtime target Dollar ThriftyHertz Global Holdings Inc. said Monday it had struck a long-sought deal, acquiring Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. for $2.3 billion as the rental car industry continued to consolidate. Hertz and rival Avis Budget Group Inc., the second- and third-largest industry players behind leader Enterprise Rent-A-Car, have been jockeying to buy Dollar Thrifty, the No. 4 company. The combined company would have about 10,000 locations around the world and allows Hertz to move into the mid-tier rental car market with both the Dollar and Thrifty brands. The deal requires anti-trust clearance from the FTC.
Apples seeks ban of eight Samsung productsApple Inc. on Monday gave a federal judge a list of eight Samsung Electronics Co. products it wants pulled from shelves and banned from the U.S. market. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh asked for the list after a jury in San Jose, Calif., last week slammed Samsung with a $1.05 billion verdict, finding that the South Korean technology giant had "willfully" copied Apple's iPhone and iPad in creating and marketing the products. Samsung plans an appeal. The products Apple wants banished from the United States are all smartphones: Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S2 AT&T, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S2 T-Mobile, Galaxy S2 Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge and Galaxy Prevail. The judge has scheduled a Sept. 20 hearing.
M&T Bank to buy Hudson City BancorpM&T Bank Corp., based in Buffalo, N.Y., agreed to buy Hudson City Bancorp for about $3.7 billion in the banking industry's biggest takeover this year. Under terms of the agreement, each Hudson City shareholder will receive 0.08403 of an M&T share in the form of either M&T stock or cash, the companies said Monday in a statement. The deal values Hudson City about 12 percent higher than the company's closing price on the Nasdaq stock market on Aug. 24. M&T will gain 135 branches, including 97 in New Jersey, becoming the fourth-largest lender in the state by deposits. M&T will add $25 billion in deposits and $28 billion in loans, according to the statement. The acquisition, which includes branches in New York and Connecticut, is the biggest takeover of a U.S. bank announced in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Navistar CEO exits; interim leader namedNavistar International Corp. said Monday that its CEO, Daniel Ustian, 62, has stepped down and named an interim replacement. Ustian had been with the Lisle, Ill.-based heavy truck and engine company for 37 years. He became CEO in 2003 and chairman in 2004, the company said. Navistar named Lewis Campbell, the former chairman, president and CEO of Textron Inc., as its executive chairman and interim CEO. Navistar has struggled this year amid uncertainty about whether its Class 8 engine, which is used in the largest commercial trucks, will get Environmental Protection Agency approval.
IBM buys Kenexa for $1.3 billionIBM is buying human resources management company Kenexa Corp. for about $1.3 billion, adding to its stable of cloud-based software. Kenexa's HR software is designed to help companies recruit workers and manage employees with the help of networking tools similar to the ones that connect people on Facebook and LinkedIn. The acquisition of the Wayne, Pa., company helps make IBM more competitive with database maker Oracle Corp. and German business software maker SAP AG, said Rick Sherlund of Nomura Equity Research.
Gas rises to 4-month high as Isaac approachesGas prices rose to their highest level in nearly four months as U.S. Gulf Coast refineries shut down with the approach of Tropical Storm Isaac, and a fire in Venezuela closed the country's largest refinery. Gasoline prices for September delivery advanced 7.68 cents to $3.1548 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since April 30. Isaac has shut down about 78 percent of U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.
AOL to return $1.1 billion to shareholdersAOL announced a $600 million accelerated stock buyback agreement and a special cash dividend of $5.15 a share, the final steps in returning about $1.1 billion to shareholders. The Internet company will purchase $600 million worth of common stock under an agreement with Barclays, according to a statement Monday. The one-time dividend will be payable Dec. 14, New York-based AOL said. This month AOL, owner of the Huffington Post and TechCrunch websites, rose to its highest value since it was spun out of Time Warner in 2009, after an increase in advertising revenue and a one-time gain on a patent sale helped the company return to a profit in the second quarter.
CAW says workers ready to strike if neededThe Canadian Auto Workers union said Monday that its members have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike, if necessary, in contract talks with Chrysler, General Motors and Ford. In the past several days, union members voted 99 percent in favor of strike authorization at Chrysler, 98 percent in favor at General Motors, and 97 percent in favor at Ford. CAW President Ken Lewenza has said the union deserves a fair share of the profits of the automakers after helping the companies as they struggled to rebound from bankruptcies and painful reorganizations in the past several years. But executives from all three automakers have said that the cost of labor in Canada is among the highest in the world and are demanding further concessions from the union.
