Railroad owner said to be exploring sale
Genesee & Wyoming Inc., an owner and operator of railroads, including several short-line railroads in Arkansas, is exploring strategic options including the sale of all or part of itself, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The company is working with a financial adviser and has begun early-stage talks with potential suitors, including Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and other infrastructure-investment firms, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Shares of the company, which had climbed 8.5 percent this year through Friday, surged 9 percent to $87.53 in New York trading.
A Genesee & Wyoming representative didn't respond to requests for comment, while a Brookfield representative declined to comment.
The Darien, Conn.-based company, which has 120 railroads and 8,000 employees across North America, Australia, Europe and the U.K., has a market value of about $4.9 billion.
Infrastructure-focused funds have raised a collective $172 billion in so-called dry powder as of Dec. 31, according to data analyst Preqin, and they're increasingly turning to public companies as targets. Blackstone Infrastructure Partners struck a deal for Tallgrass Energy LP in January. That fund and others, including Digital Colony, have also examined offers for Zayo Group Holdings Inc.
-- Bloomberg News
Google OK'd exec's $45M exit package
SAN FRANCISCO -- Alphabet's board of directors agreed to pay a former top Google executive as much as $45 million when he resigned from the company in 2016 after being accused of groping a subordinate.
The previously unknown sum was part of the separation agreement for Amit Singhal, a senior vice president who ran Google's search operations until February 2016. The amount was revealed Monday in a shareholder lawsuit accusing the board of directors of Alphabet, the parent of Google, of shirking their responsibilities by agreeing to pay executives accused of misconduct instead of firing them for cause.
The suit was part of the fallout over how Google has handled sexual-harassment cases. The New York Times reported in October that Google had paid several high-ranking executives who were credibly accused of sexual harassment large sums in separation agreements, even though the men could have been fired for cause. In one case, Google handed a $90 million exit package to Andy Rubin, who used to head its Android division, after he was accused of sexual misconduct.
The lawsuit said Google had agreed to pay Singhal $15 million a year for two years and then between $5 million and $15 million in the third year as long as he was not employed by a competitor. He agreed to take a job at Uber about a year after his departure.
Singhal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
-- The New York Times
Levi Strauss plans to raise $587M in IPO
SAN FRANCISCO -- Levi Strauss plans to raise up to $587 million in an initial public offering of company shares.
The San Francisco company said Monday that it's offering approximately 9.5 million shares, while selling stockholders are offering about 27.2 million shares.
The stock is expected to be priced between $14 and $16 each.
The underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy an additional 5.5 million shares from the company at the IPO price, minus underwriting discounts and commissions.
The shares are expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the "LEVI" symbol.
Levi Strauss & Co. made its first pair of jeans in 1873. The company did go public before, on 1971, but was taken private again in a 1985 leveraged buyout.
-- The Associated Press
Louisiana crawfish season starts slow
CROWLEY, La. -- Louisiana leads the world in crawfish production, but cold weather, a shortage of workers to process them and other factors have contributed to a slow start to the 2019 season for the freshwater crustacean.
Despite expensive prices for crawfish, the demand is high in the first full week of Lent in heavily Catholic south Louisiana, The Acadiana Advocate reported.
A cold snap during Mardi Gras last week could deliver another hit to the season this week. The Lenten period that started the day after the Carnival celebrations concluded means even more demand as observing Christians seek seafood while abstaining from other meat. Crawfish prices are as high as $9 a pound in some restaurants.
The state's annual yield of crawfish is more than 100 million pounds, according to Louisiana State University's Agricultural Center. Most are harvested between December and June, but March, April and May are peak months.
-- The Associated Press
UAW increases strike pay for workers
The United Auto Workers is increasing strike pay for members, a move that analyst said could give workers more incentive to stay on picket lines if there's a walkout during potentially contentious negotiations with Detroit Three carmakers this year.
At the union's bargaining convention starting Monday in Detroit, UAW President Gary Jones said strike pay will increase to $250 a week through the end of this year, from $200 a week previously. The union will start paying out to $275 a week starting in January.
The compensation would cushion the financial blow to UAW members if they decide to walk off the job, and serves as a warning shot to automakers that union workers are prepared for tough negotiations. General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are scheduled to negotiate new four-year labor deals beginning this summer.
The union last went on strike in 2007, when workers briefly walked out on both GM and what was then DaimlerChrysler.
-- Bloomberg News
Pot firm Harvest to buy rival for $850M
Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. is acquiring closely held Verano Holdings LLC for about $850 million in the largest U.S. marijuana dispensary deal.
The combined company will have licenses to operate up to 200 facilities in 16 states and territories, including 123 retail dispensaries, making it one of the largest multistate operators in the U.S., the companies said Monday. It's expected to have over 70 dispensaries, 13 cultivation facilities and 13 manufacturing facilities in operation by the end of 2019.
The deal "will give us a leadership position in one of the largest cannabis markets in the world," Harvest Executive Chairman Jason Vedadi said in a statement.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 03/12/2019