NATIONAL BRIEFING
Delta and Northwest investors approved the nearly $3 billion merger agreement. Some Northwest employees, including ramp worker Tim Nuffer, protested the deal outside the shareholder meeting in Atlanta.
(By Gregory Smith -- Associated Press)
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AIRLINES
Investors Clear Delta-NWA Deal
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines shareholders gave the go-ahead to a combination that would create the world's biggest carrier, deciding that in their volatile industry they like their chances better together than on their own.
The stock-swap deal announced April 14 still requires Justice Department approval. One other potential hurdle is a federal lawsuit seeking to block the deal that is set for trial Nov. 5 in San Francisco.
Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson, who will keep his position after the combination, would not discuss the lawsuit, but he indicated the carrier maintains its goal of completing the deal by the end of the year.
INSURANCE
Greenberg Reduces AIG Stake
Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group, sold 5 million shares of the troubled insurer for about $3.77 apiece, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale reduces his direct stake in the company to about 7.9 million shares.
Greenberg and companies he runs owned about 11 percent of AIG before the insurer averted collapse last week by agreeing to a federal takeover. Starr International, a firm run by Greenberg, sold 35 million AIG shares, Starr said in a an SEC filing. Starr still holds more than 192 million AIG shares.
Greenberg had said in a previous filing that he planned to sell shares "for liquidity" purposes.
AUTOMOTIVE
Delphi-GM Deal Cleared
A bankruptcy court judge approved an agreement between General Motors and Delphi that spells out what GM will give and get as its former parts subsidiary exits bankruptcy.
Under the new agreement, which was announced earlier this month, the automaker's financial support of Delphi amounts to $10.6 billion, up from $6 billion in an earlier plan. That includes the assumption of $3.4 billion in pension obligations for hourly workers and $1.2 billion in cash through the end of 2008, as well as legacy labor costs and costs related to attrition and employee transitions.
GM to Open New Engine Plant
General Motors said it will build a new factory in Flint, Mich., to make four-cylinder engines for its Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car and other models. Production at the new $370 million plant will begin in 2010, and both cars are slated to go on sale in the same year.
GM chief executive G. Richard Wagoner said during an event announcing the plant that the automaker should be able to put to good use its portion of a $25 billion government loan package for new technology.
Wagoner said many of the loan program's specifics still must be written by the U.S. Department of Energy, but that GM can live with the version the House approved Wednesday.
Chrysler to Cut White-Collar Jobs
Chrysler says it will fire about 250 salaried workers by the end of the month as the automaker tries to meet its goal of cutting 1,000 white-collar jobs. Chrysler said in a statement that most of the affected employees will learn their fate Friday.
The company has been offering buyouts and early retirement packages to employees to get them to leave voluntarily but says it has reached only three-quarters of its goal.
CONSUMER SAFETY
GAO Faults Food Oversight
The Food and Drug Administration's efforts to combat food-borne illness are hampered by infrequent inspections, inadequate staffing and the failure to implement a program devoted to the safety of fresh produce, according to congressional investigators.
The Government Accountability Office draft report obtained by The Associated Press also said that only 1 percent of produce imported into the U.S. is inspected, and that the practice of mixing produce from several sources makes it hard to trace contamination.
The findings are scheduled to be released today. The investigation was requested by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) after E. coli contamination in bagged spinach killed three people and sickened 200 others in 2006.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
