LOCAL
Schulman buys company
A. Schulman Inc. spent $52 million to buy a thermoplastics manufacturing business that will add to its Asia Pacific segment.
The $2.1 billion Fairlawn polymer company on Tuesday said it bought the Perrite Group, which has operations in Malaysia, the United Kingdom and France. The acquisition is expected to increase Asia Pacific revenue by about 35 percent and double the size of Schulman’s engineered plastic business in the region.
Perrite holds what Schulman said are leading positions in electronics, appliance and niche automotive target markets. Perrite had fiscal 2012 revenue of about $140 million and employs 220.
RPM acquires tile maker
Medina-based RPM International Inc. has acquired tile producer Expanko Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
Expanko in Exton, Pa., makes terrazzo tile under the FritzTile brand and cork and rubber floor tiles for the education, health-care, hospitality and sports and entertainment commercial markets.
Expanko has annual sales of more than $12 million and has a factory in Mesquite, Texas. Expanko will become a stand-alone business under RPM’s Performance Coatings Group.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple event is Tuesday
Apple Inc. said it will hold a Tuesday event, where the world’s largest technology company is projected to announce new iPhones. The event will be held at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., the company said. Apple is expected to announce new iPhones. The iPhone, introduced in 2007, is its top-selling product, accounting for half of its revenue last year. The company is facing increasing competition from rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co.
AUTO INDUSTRY
UAW looks at VW plant
A German newspaper reported that United Auto Workers union officials met last week with Volkswagen to discuss representing workers at VW’s Chattanooga, Tenn., plant. The Handelsblatt business daily said UAW President Bob King and five other officials were at VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, to meet with the employee relations chief.
The newspaper said they discussed a German-style works council. The UAW has been trying to organize the factory’s roughly 3,000 workers. VW spokesman Tony Cervone said VW is looking at ways to give workers a voice in plant operations.
GM brand to set record
General Motors expects 2013 sales of Chevrolet vehicles to reach 5 million for the first time in GM’s 100-year history, spurred in part by growth in the Middle East, said the global head of Chevrolet, Alan Batey.
WALL STREET
Dow rises 23 points
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.65 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,833.96 on Tuesday. Microsoft shares fell 4.6 percent after the Dow component and software giant agreed to pay $7.2 billion for Nokia Corp.’s main handset business. Nokia’s Stephen Elop will return to the U.S. firm as head of its wireless-devices business amid talk he could replace Microsoft’s retiring CEO Steve Ballmer. Shares of Nokia rallied 31 percent. Verizon fell 2.9 percent a day after the telecommunications company and Dow component agreed to buy Vodafone Group PLC’s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion. Up for a third session in four, the S&P 500 index climbed 6.80 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,639.77. CBS Corp. rallied 4.7 percent and Time Warner Cable Inc. gained 1.8 percent after the network and cable operator reached agreement ending a month-long blackout of CBS and other channels in major cities.
The Nasdaq composite added 22.74 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,612.61.
MEDIA
Cumulus radio deal set
In a deal that could heighten the competition in radio against Clear Channel Communications, long the industry’s dominant player, Cumulus Media has agreed to buy Dial Global, a syndicator of sports, talk and music programming to thousands of stations, for $260 million. The deal would let Cumulus beef up its syndication business with programs from the National Football League, the Olympics and NASCAR, as well as news and entertainment. And it represents talk shows like Loveline for advertising. Clear Channel’s Premiere Radio Networks division dominates the market with talk hosts including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Cumulus properties in Ohio are in Toledo, Youngstown and Cincinnati. If all the transactions are approved, Cumulus will be left with 460 stations in the United States, and Townsquare with 312. CBS Radio has 126 stations.
Compiled from staff and wire reports