The New York Times Co. reached a deal with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to raise about $250 million, the latest in a series of moves by the newspaper publisher to shore up its troubled finances. Under terms reached late Monday after a meeting of the Times Co. board, Slim will get an annual interest payment of about 14 percent on his investment in $250 million of unsecured notes, plus detachable warrants for about 16 million shares. The warrants expire in 2015. In a statement, Times Co. Chief Executive Janet Robinson said the infusion will refinance existing debt including a $400 million credit facility that expires in May. Slim, according to the Wall Street Journal, has a fortune estimated at $60 billion.
General Mills recalls peanut butter snack bars General Mills Inc. voluntarily recalled two varieties of snack bar because peanut butter in them came from Peanut Corp. of America and might be contaminated with salmonella. The Golden Valley-based company said in a news release Monday that it was recalling Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie snack bars and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp snack bars. The company said no illnesses have been reported and added that the recall did not affect any other products it makes. Meanwhile, Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg Co. said Monday that federal authorities have confirmed that salmonella was found in a single package of its peanut butter crackers: Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter.
