LOCAL BUSINESS
TCP, Philips settle
TCP International Holdings Ltd. said it has entered into a patent license agreement with Philips for access to Philips’ LED luminaire and bulb technologies.
As part of the deal, the two companies have agreed to dismiss a patent infringement lawsuit that was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, TCP announced Monday in a news release.
TCP, a privately held company in Switzerland, is the parent company of Technical Consumer Products Inc. in Aurora. TCP produces LED lamps and fixtures, compact fluorescent lamps, energy efficient halogen lamps and other lighting products.
Nurse awards program
The Ohio Nurses Foundation, the charitable arm of the Ohio Nurses Association, said it is accepting nominations for Nurses Choice Awards.
Award categories are for work by individuals, organizations and media campaigns on nursing. Entry deadline is Feb. 22.
More information is available online at www.ohionursesfoundation.org.
Tax forum planned
A small-business tax workshop will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Hudson Library & Historical Society.
Attorney and business tax expert Patricia M. Ritzert of the Cleveland firm Climaco, Wilcox, Peca, Tarantino & Garofoli Co. LPA will discuss federal and Ohio taxes as they relate to small businesses. Specific IRS forms and regulations will be covered.
Ritzert has more than 30 years of legal experience and her specialties include business law and taxation.
To register, go online to www.hudsonlibrary.org and click on “Programs & Events/Registration” under the “Adult” tab, or call the library at 330-653-6658.
Columbia sets upgrade
Columbia Gas of Ohio is spending $1.2 million to upgrade natural gas pipelines in the Alliance area. More than 12,000 feet of steel natural gas lines will be replaced with plastic lines, the company said.
The project will take several months to complete.
Affected streets include Cornell Drive, Fairview Place, Fernwood, Parkway and Vincent boulevards, Lilly Lane, South Rockhill Avenue and West College Road.
Affected customers are invited to a public meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Rodman Public Library, 215 E. Broadway.
The project will require a short interruption of natural gas service. The company will contact customers before that happens and arrange re-light appointments.
Columbia Gas of Ohio, whose headquarters are in Columbus, has 1.4 million customers in 81 of Ohio’s 88 counties. It is one of seven energy distribution companies of NiSource Inc.
BEVERAGES
South Korea acquisition
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s biggest beermaker, agreed to pay $5.8 billion to buy back South Korea’s Oriental Brewery Co. Ltd. from KKR & Co. and Affinity Equity Partners Ltd.
AB InBev will fund the acquisition with internal resources, according to a statement from the companies. AB InBev will receive about $320 million in cash when the transaction is completed.
Leuven, Belgium-based AB InBev will regain a business it sold to KKR in 2009 for $1.8 billion in a bid to cut debt following InBev NV’s $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos. KKR subsequently sold 50 percent of the asset to Affinity. Oriental Brewery has become South Korea’s largest beermaker on the growth of its Cass brand, the statement said.
The deal values Oriental Brewery at about 11.6 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, compared with the average 10.1 times for 24 global brewery acquisitions over the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
TECHNOLOGY
Intel job cuts
Intel expects to shed about 5 percent of its workforce, or 5,000 jobs, in 2014 as it tries to change the company. An official who spoke anonymously said the cuts would probably be made through a mixture of attrition and layoffs.
Compiled from staff and wire reports