Business news in brief

Simmons Foods CEO fills trade group slot

Todd Simmons, chief executive officer of Siloam Springs-based Simmons Foods, will serve as the 2014-15 vice chairman of the National Chicken Council.

Simmons was promoted to chief executive and vice chairman of Simmons in 2013 after serving as the chief operating officer of the poultry and pet food divisions. He also serves on the board of the Pet Food Institute and is a member of the Arkansas Executive Forum.

Jerry Lane, president of Georgia-based Claxton Poultry, was installed as chairman.

The National Chicken Council is a trade organization that represents the U.S. poultry industry.

-- Brian Fanney

Gas prices hit 4-year low at less than $3

For the first time in almost four years, U.S. drivers are paying less than $3 a gallon at the pump.

U.S. retail gasoline prices were expected to average less than $3 Friday, AAA said in a statement. The Heathrow, Fla.-based motoring group will post the price on its website today . That's down from this year's peak of $3.696 in April and the first time the average has dipped below $3 since December 2010.

Sliding prices are seen saving the typical consumer $500 a year and are coming just in time to boost spending during the holiday shopping season, according to analysts including IHS Inc. The bonus at the pumps represents the biggest benefit to consumers to date from a record boom in domestic oil production that has contributed to a global crude glut and helped bring down international prices.

"We're in a new era of lower gasoline prices," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said by telephone from Chicago. "I just worry about American drivers. When they pull up to the gas pumps and see $2.99 gasoline, they might have a heart attack. They're going to think they're in a time warp."

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil tumbled $14.21 a barrel in the three months that ended Sept. 30, the biggest quarterly decline since 2012, and on Oct. 27 slipped below $80 to the lowest level in 28 months. North Sea Brent crude, the global benchmark, slid $17.69 a barrel in the same quarter to $94.67 and traded at $85.15 Friday

-- Bloomberg News

Cooper Tire loses $112M breakup-fee bid

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. lost a bid for a $112 million breakup fee after a judge sided with India-based rival Apollo Tyres Ltd., which claimed a failure to honor terms of a buyout agreement doomed the $2.5 billion sale of the U.S. tiremaker.

Labor strife in the U.S. and opposition to the purchase by Cooper's Chinese joint-venture partner caused the Findlay, Ohio-based tire company to run afoul of the sale contract and left it unable to close the deal, Apollo lawyers argued in July. On Friday, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Sam Glasscock III ruled that Cooper didn't satisfy the closing conditions of the deal.

The company's ownership of Chinese affiliate Chengshan Cooper Tires, which seized control of its facility after the merger announcement and wouldn't release financial records, was "a major obstacle" to consummating the buyout terms, Glasscock wrote.

"Cooper failed to comply" with wording to ensure its subsidiaries operate "in the ordinary course of business," and that failure "is sufficient" to justify rejection of the breakup fee, Glasscock wrote.

Anne Roman, a spokesman for Cooper, and Meghan Gavigan, a spokesman for Apollo, didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comments on the ruling.

The case is Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Apollo (Mauritius) Holdings Pvt, CA8980, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).

-- Bloomberg News

Suit: Surgical gowns not impermeable

LOS ANGELES -- A lawsuit filed Wednesday against Kimberly-Clark Corp. alleges the company falsely claimed its surgical gowns protected against Ebola and other infectious diseases.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that the multinational company knew for at least a year that its Microcool Breathable High Performance Surgical Gown had failed industry tests of impermeability to blood and microbes, but it continued to claim the product provided the highest level of protection against diseases including Ebola.

Many of the gowns tested had "catastrophic" failures, according to the lawsuit, which called Kimberly-Clark's actions "utterly reprehensible."

"We are aware of individuals that have contracted various diseases while wearing the gown, but we are not at liberty to disclose what those are at the present time," said Michael Avenatti, the lead attorney in the case.

Kimberly-Clark said in a statement that it does not comment regarding ongoing litigation but the company stands behind the safety and efficacy of its products.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, alleges fraud, false advertising, negligent misrepresentation and unfair business practices. It was filed by Hrayr Shahinian, a Los Angeles surgeon specializing in skull base and brain tumor operations who said he had used the gowns and thus was potentially exposed to harm.

Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark, which also makes consumer products such as Kleenex and Huggies, has more than half the worldwide market for surgical gowns that meet the highest level of resistance to transfers of bodily fluids, according to the lawsuit.

-- The Associated Press

Microsoft sells wearable fitness gadget

NEW YORK -- Microsoft released a $199 fitness band that also checks a user's email and can even pay for coffee as the software company seeks to challenge Apple and others in the still-infant market for wearable devices.

The Microsoft Band will work with the company's new Microsoft Health system for consolidating health and fitness data from various gadgets and mobile apps. Unlike rival health systems, Microsoft Health will work with competing phones, not just those running Windows.

Thursday's release of the Microsoft Band comes months before the much-anticipated debut of Apple Watch. Microsoft's gadget, however, appears more focused on fitness tracking and isn't meant to be an all-purpose smartwatch.

The Band will offer previews of incoming emails and alerts on calendar events, along with weather and other information requested through the company's Cortana virtual assistant. Cortana requires a Windows phone nearby, but other features work with iPhones and Android phones, too.

The Band will also have 10 tracking sensors, more than the typical fitness gadget, to monitor such things as heart rate, UV light, sleep and distance traveled. In a partnership with Starbucks, the Band will be able to create barcodes to make retail purchases through stored gift cards.

The Band will serve as a showcase for Microsoft Health, which follows the launch of Apple's HealthKit in September and Google Fit earlier this week.

Microsoft is selling the Band through its physical and online stores.

-- The Associated Press

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