Business news in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“They put a threat on the table and today they executed it. We demand they restart the expansion work.”

Jorge Quijano, Panama Canal Authority CEO Article, 1D

Bank of America settlement put on hold

Bank of America Corp.’s $8.5 billion settlement with mortgage-bond investors will be delayed almost two weeks after American International Group Inc. and other objectors asked a judge for a hearing to address loan modifications excluded from the accord.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick in Manhattan last Friday approved most of the bank’s 2011 deal to end claims by investors in more than 500 mortgage-security trusts that the loans backing the bonds didn’t meet promised quality.

Kapnick refused to include claims Bank of America was required to repurchase modified loans, saying the trustee, Bank of New York Mellon Corp., failed to properly evaluate them.

The objectors Tuesday asked Justice Saliann Scarpulla, who took the case when Kapnick moved to an appeals court, to delay the entry of the ruling, set for this Friday.

They argued the modified-loan claims are a “significant piece” of the settlement and that the ruling leaves open questions as to how much of the settlement funds will go to the trusts, which trusts are covered by the accord and how the funds will be divided.

Entry of a final judgment in the case “could leave the trust beneficiaries with no choice but to commence new, duplicative actions in order to protect their rights,” Mark Zauderer, an attorney for the objectors, said in a court filing. “The entry of final judgment should be stayed so that all issues relating to the enforcement or effectuation of the settlement may be litigated in this action.”

Anheuser-Busch to buy brewer Blue Point

NEW YORK - Anheuser-Busch InBev’s U.S. arm is buying craft brewer Blue Point Brewing Co.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Blue Point makes more than 40 craft beers, including Toasted Lager, Hoptical Illusion, Blueberry Ale and seasonal brands, among others. Founded in 1998, it’s the 34th-largest craft brewery in the U.S.

Anheuser-Busch said Wednesday that the deal will provide additional resources to Blue Point’s operations, allowing it to meet growing consumer demand for its brands.

Anheuser-Busch said it plans to invest in Blue Point to help grow its operational capabilities over the next few years.

Blue Point will continue to be based in Patchogue, N.Y.

The deal is expected to close early in the second quarter.

BNSF to invest $5 billion in its railroad

OMAHA, Neb. - BNSF Railway Co. plans to invest $5 billion in its railroad this year, including $900 million to expand capacity in the Northern Plains, where crude-oil shipments are surging.

The railroad said Tuesday that its 2014 spending plan is roughly $1 billion higher than last year’s, a response to significant volume growth.

Some projects should help alleviate congestion near the booming Bakken oil field in North Dakota and Montana.

Last week, the National Association of Railroad Passengers complained to officials that the growth in oil shipments was disrupting Amtrak passenger service.

In addition to expanding capacity, BNSF plans to spend $2.3 billion maintaining its network and $1.6 billion on locomotives and equipment.

BNSF is based in Fort Worth but it is owned by Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

  • The Associated Press

Boeing said in line for $3.9 billion order

Boeing Co. is poised to win an order for 38 of its 737 Max jets, valued around $3.9 billion, from SpiceJet Ltd., the Indian budget airline controlled by billionaire Kalanithi Maran, people familiar with the plan said.

The deal consists of 30 new orders and swapping an existing purchase of eight 737 NG jets for the upgraded Max model, said the people, who asked not to be identified as discussions are private.

The transaction may be announced as early as next week at the Singapore Air Show, two people said.

A 737 sale will keep SpiceJet as a Boeing customer after the airline said last year that it was considering switching to Airbus Group NV planes.

The fleets of India’s low-fare airlines already are tilted toward Airbus, whose jets are used by IndiGo, the country’s biggest domestic carrier by market share, and Go Airlines (India) Ltd.

Doug Alder, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing, declined to comment. S.L. Narayanan, chief financial officer at SpiceJet parent Sun Group, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Max is an upgraded version of the single-aisle 737, the world’s most widely flown jetliner, and will feature new, more efficient engines.

It’s offered in two versions, the Max 8 and Max 9, which retail for $103.7 million and $109.9 million, respectively. Buyers typically get a discount from list prices.

  • Bloomberg News

Asset sale likely, Atlanta Fed chief says

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said he expects the central bank will shrink its $4.1 trillion balance sheet “as the economy gets stronger and stronger.”

One way would be to sell some assets, and “I am reasonably confident this can be done in an orderly fashion,” Lockhart said Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala.

The Fed last month trimmed its monthly bond purchases to $65 billion from $75 billion and has been unwinding the unprecedented stimulus that former Chairman Ben Bernanke put in place to help the economy recover from the worst recession since the 1930s.

Janet Yellen was sworn in as his successor this week.

Answering audience questions after a speech to the Rotary Club of Birmingham, Lockhart said he thinks “the public feels more confident about 2014, even with the mixed data we take in every day. I think there is good reason for that.”

  • Bloomberg News

Business, Pages 26 on 02/06/2014

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