GREELEY – UAP Holding Corp. announced Monday that its subsidiary, UAP Distribution Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement with Boettcher Enterprises to acquire parts of the latter’s retail distribution business, including property, locations, equipment and storage tanks.
Boettcher Enterprises is a retailer of agricultural supplies with several locations in Kansas and Nebraska.
ST. GEORGE, Utah
SkyWest latest to feel strain of DIA closures
SkyWest Inc. is the latest airline to announce that it took a hit from the December snowstorms that led to thousands of canceled flights at Denver International Airport.
St. George, Utah-based SkyWest, a regional carrier for United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, announced that its estimates for its financial performance were affected by the cancellation of about 2,850 flights during DIA’s nearly two-day closure in December and a subsequent snowstorm, among other factors.
INDIANAPOLIS
Eli Lilly to launch veterinary group
Eli Lilly & Co. said it will start a new group devoted to medicines for cats and dogs.
The group, which has been evolving over seven years, expects to introduce new products within a year, the Indianapolis-based company said Monday in a statement.
The company also announced a $250,000 endowment to the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine in West Lafayette, Ind.
DULLES, Va.
AOL to acquire Swedish ad company
AOL, Time Warner Inc.’s Internet unit, agreed to buy TradeDoubler AB, a Swedish Internet advertising company, for $900 million to expand in Europe. TradeDoubler’s board unanimously recommended the offer, and shareholders owning about 20 percent of the company have agreed to accept it, AOL said Monday.
HOUSTON
Report faults BP for safety failures
BP Plc, under pressure because of a refinery explosion that killed 15 workers, suffered from systemic safety failures, according to a report by a committee headed by former Secretary of State James Baker III.
The Baker panel found fault with the handling of safety issues by upper management at London-based BP, including top executives, according to a person who has seen the report and asked not to be named because it is not yet public.
BP spokesman Neil Chapman said he would have no comment on the report prior to its formal publication today.
HOUSTON
Tanox shareholders OK sale to Genentech
Shareholders of Tanox Inc. on Monday approved the tiny biotechnology company’s acquisition by drugmaker Genentech Inc., Tanox officials said.
Under the terms of the sale, Genentech will buy Houston- based Tanox for $919 million, or $20 per share. The share price is a premium of 47 percent over Tanox’s closing price on the last trading day before the deal was announced in early November.
LOUISVILLE, Ky.
Ventas to buy Canadian REIT
Ventas Inc., a real estate investment trust that owns health care facilities, agreed to buy Sunrise Senior Living Real Estate Investment Trust for $980 million to enter the senior housing market in Canada.
Ventas will pay about $12.82 per unit in cash for Toronto- based Sunrise, operator of 74 senior residences in Canada and the U.S., the company said Monday in a statement.
MINNEAPOLIS
Boston Scientific CFO defends Guidant deal
Boston Scientific’s chief financial officer, Lawrence Best, told analysts at a health care conference last week that he still thinks the purchase of Guidant was a good idea, according to website Red Herring.
“Best thing we ever did,” he said of the $27 billion deal, which Fortune magazine has dubbed the second-worst deal ever.
SEOUL, South Korea
Free-trade talks with U.S. to get a boost
South Korea and the U.S. on Monday vowed a major push this week in free trade talks that have yielded little progress and face a looming deadline.
The two sides started their sixth round of negotiations after five previous efforts since June left them far apart on issues ranging from anti-dumping provisions to trade in automobiles and pharmaceuticals.
