LOCAL BUSINESS
Signet completes deal
Signet Jewelers Ltd., the parent company of Sterling Jewelers Inc. of Akron, has completed its $57 million acquisition of Ultra Stores Inc. of Chicago.
Signet said in October that it would acquire the Ultra Stores chain, which has locations mostly in outlet malls. Sterling has said it is not taking on any debt as a result of the deal.
Sterling, Signet’s U.S. division, has not yet revealed whether Ultra’s operations will be moved to Sterling’s offices in Akron. Sterling already operates about 30 Kay Jewelers Outlet stores.
Sterling operates more than 1,300 stores nationwide, including Kay Jewelers and Jared, and employs more than 2,000 people in the Akron area. Signet calls itself the largest jewelry store operator in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Family finances
Financial strategies for those with special needs and their families will be the focus of a talk at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Hudson Library & Historical Society.
Scott Mougey and Ken Vinikoff of the Michael Carter Group will talk about various resources and answer questions. For information, call the library’s reference desk at 330-653-6658, ext. 1010, or email askus@hudson.lib.oh.us. The library is at 96 Library St. in the First & Main shopping complex.
Grants promote hiring
Ohio employers locating in vacant commercial properties are eligible to receive $500 grants for every new full-time position created in the facility.
The grants — for each new full-time job that lasts at least a year — are made through the new Ohio Vacant Facilities Fund, part of a state law enacted last spring.
Grant money can be used for acquisition, construction, enlargement, improvement or equipment at the site. The funds are reimbursed after the new workers have been employed for one year. New employees must not have been employed by the hiring company within 60 days of occupation of the facility.
Employers must hire at least 50 at the new site, or bring half of their current Ohio employees to the facility. Interested businesses should submit a pre-certification request form to the Ohio Development Services Agency’s Office of Redevelopment.
For more information, go online to http://development.ohio.gov/cs/cs_ovff.htm. Pre-certification requests will be accepted beginning Nov. 26.
The state has put $2 million into the fund, with the money coming from funds already budgeted for the Ohio Development Services Agency; the fund is authorized through August 2015.
SERVICE
Index shows growth
Service companies grew at a slightly slower pace in October than September because of a decline in new orders. But a measure of employment rose, indicating services firms hired more.
The Institute for Supply Management said its index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 54.2. That’s down from a six-month high of 55.1 in September. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.
The report measures growth in a broad range of businesses from retail and construction companies to health care and financial services firms. The industries covered employ about 90 percent of the work force.
AUTO INDUSTRY
GM gets credit boost
General Motors said it has received $11 billion in credit lines from 35 financial institutions in 14 countries, boosting its available cash and credit to more than $42 billion. The company wouldn’t say what it plans to do with the money, only that it’s a source of “backup liquidity” that may be used for “strategic initiatives.”
But analysts said it could be hoarding the cash to help pay for restructuring in its troubled European operations, buying an auto finance arm in Europe from Ally Financial, or to further fund its pension plans. GM also could buy back stock, specifically from the U.S. government. The U.S. Treasury Department owns 26.5 percent of the company, which it got in exchange for a $49.5 billion bailout about four years ago.
INVESTING
Netflix sets up defense
Netflix Inc., the world’s largest subscription video service, adopted a so-called poison pill to protect against a hostile takeover after billionaire investor Carl Icahn acquired an almost 10 percent stake in the company.
The move is designed to make a hostile takeover too expensive. Icahn said last week the video service is an attractive takeover target for larger companies, including Amazon.com Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., that have entered the market Netflix pioneered.
Compiled from staff and wire reports.