From the Detroit Free Press | Production is set to begin at the end of the year in Chicago on Ford Motor Co.’s redesigned Explorer that will be built on a car frame, instead of its existing truck frame. The redesign has been kept under wraps, but a photo showing the hood and a headlight hint at big changes.
Get the full story: freep.com.
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Ford Explorer to be built on car frame in Chicago
Boeing aims to raise price of EADS tanker bid
From Reuters | Congress is considering identical bills that could help Boeing Co. best Europe’s EADS for a potential $50 billion U.S. Air Force contract. The bills were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on Thursday.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
Order for six 787 Boeing aircraft is canceled
Dow Jones Newswires | Boeing Co. said Thursday that an unidentified customer had canceled an order for six of its new 787 aircraft, though it gained two orders for the larger 777.
The cancellation leaves the aerospace group with 850 orders from 57 customers for the aircraft, which is scheduled for delivery to launch customers All Nippon Airways Co. in the fourth quarter, some two-and-a-half years behind schedule. The number of customers remains the same as last week.
Federal Signal expects to net $71M from offering
Associated Press via Bloomberg | Federal Signal Corp., which makes fire trucks and safety gear, said Wednesday that it now expects a public stock offering will raise about $71 million since underwriters exercised in full their option for over allotments.
The total offering will be nearly 12.1 million shares at $6.25 per share.
The offering is expected to close Wednesday.
Get the full story: businessweek.com.
Solo Cup to close some manufacturing plants
From Plastics News | Lake Forest-based manufacturer Solo Cup plans to close some of its manufacturing facilities in the U.S. by the second quarter of 2012. Solo Cup didn’t specify which sites would close, but said the
project “to further optimize our manufacturing footprint” would cost
between $113 million and $133 million.
Get the full story: plasticsnews.com.
Grainger rebound continues with April sales gains
Dow Jones Newswires | W.W. Grainger Inc.’s daily sales rose 16
percent in April, with strong growth abroad and with the total figure
aided by currency fluctuations and acquisitions.
Excluding those items, its growth was 8 percent.
Navistar to supply trucks for J.B. Hunt
Dow Jones Newswires | Navistar International Corp. said Tuesday it received an order from
trucking company J.B. Hunt Transportation Services Inc. to supply more
than 5,000 heavy-duty commercial trucks through 2014.
The contract is the first time the Arkansas-based trucking company has
bought International brand trucks since 1997. Most of the trucks also
will be powered with Navistar’s new 13-liter engines, which the company
has been promoting as an alternative to the 15-liter engines from
Cummins Inc. Navistar’s MaxxForce engines for J.B. Hunt also will
feature the company’s controversial pollution-reduction system that has
been widely panned by Navistar competitors.
Bway Holding sells debt as credit market thaws
Bloomberg via San Francisco Chronicle | Bway Holding Co., the paint-container and aerosol-can maker being acquired by Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, is marketing debt as high-risk, high-yield debt prices rebound after plunging last week.
Get the full story: sfgate.com.
Boeing workers protest changes in benefits
Associated Press | Boeing workers who assemble the giant C-17 cargo jets in Long Beach, Calif., are on picket lines in a dispute over pension and medical benefits.
The walkout began at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, and picket lines are up at several Boeing locations in Long Beach. Boeing, which is based in Chicago, is Long Beach’s largest employer with some 1,700 workers.
Get the full story: Boeing workers protest changes in benefits.
Airbus to restrain A350 customization
From Bloomberg | Commercial aircraft producer Airbus SAS is putting stricter controls on how airlines can custom-design the cabins of its A350 widebody planes, after requests for different interiors for the A380 led to cost overruns and delays. The A350, which will challenge Chicago-based Boeing’s 777 and 787 models, is planned for 2013, with 530 orders from 33 customers.
Get the full story: bloomberg.com.
Federal Signal raises $175M in stock offer
Dow Jones Newswires | Federal Signal Corp. said it priced 10.5 million follow-on common shares at $6.25 each, raising a total of $61.7 million.
The Oak Brook-based manufacturer of communication platforms for government and industrial applications said it expects to use the proceeds from the sale to repay debt under a revolving credit facility related to the recent acquisitions of Sirit and VESystems. Federal Signal closed Thursday at $6.15, down 4.8 percent.
U.S. manufacturing sector grows at rapid clip
Associated Press | The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in nearly six
years in April, as factories continue to lead the economy’s rebound.
The Institute for Supply Management, a private trade group
of purchasing executives, said Monday that its manufacturing index rose to
60.4 last month from 59.6 in March. It’s the ninth straight month of
growth. A level above 50 indicates expansion.
Get the full story: U.S. manufacturing sector sees major rebound.
Ryerson to launch IPO this week
From the Wall Street Journal | Chicago-based metal processor and distributor Ryerson Holding Corp. plans an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange this week that could raise as much as $423 million based on the proposed price range.
Get the full story: wsj.com
Caterpillar to bring back 9,000 laid-off workers
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Peoria-based heavy-equipment producer Caterpillar expects to rehire 9,000 of the 19,000 workers who were laid off worldwide during the recession.
Get the full story: chicagobusiness.com.
