Boeing seeks immediate explanation

Boeing Co. on Tuesday said it wants the Air Force to immediately explain why it awarded a $35 billion aerial refueling tanker contract to rival European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and its partner, Northrop Grumman Corp.

Boeing, which has been supplying air-to-air refueling tankers to the Air Force for nearly 50 years and was widely expected to win the deal, will not decide whether to protest the decision until it is debriefed.

A March 12 debriefing is planned, an Air Force spokesman said. But many, including some within the Pentagon, want that date moved up.

By awarding the contract to Europe-based EADS and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, the Air Force has touched off a furor in Congress, provoking questions about why a foreign company would receive such a high-stakes deal.

The contract to build up to 179 tankers is the first of three Air Force awards worth as much $100 billion to replace its entire refueling tanker fleet over the next 30 years.

•National Beef Packing Co., the nation’s fourth-largest beef processor, said Tuesday it is being acquired by Brazilian giant JBS SA in a cash and stock deal worth $560 million.

The Kansas City-based company said JBS, the world’s largest beef processor, will pay National Beef members about $465 million in cash and $95 million in JBS shares. Under the deal, which still requires regulatory approval, JBS will assume an undisclosed amount of National Beef’s debt.

This is JBS’ second major U.S. purchase in the past year. In July, the company acquired Greeley, Colo.-based Swift Foods Co. for $225 million in cash.

National Beef has operations in Liberal, Kansas City and Dodge City, Kan.; Brawley, Calif.; Hummels Wharf, Pa.; and Moultrie, Ga. The company had $5.6 billion in sales last year and processed almost 4 million head of cattle.

JBS had $11.9 billion in revenue in 2007 with operations in Brazil, Argentina, the U.S. and Australia.

•Applied Materials Inc. snagged a $1.9 billion order to help build multiple solar panel factories, a major milestone in the expansion efforts of the world’s largest maker of equipment used in making computer chips, the company said Tuesday.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company disclosed the sales victory in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying only that its customer is a privately held company outside the United States. The $1.9 billion covers the cost of equipment to assemble solar panels and services to make sure they work properly.