In brief: Michaels crafts looks to raise $500 million by going public

LOS ANGELES – Arts-and-crafts chain Michaels Stores Inc. is hoping to raise $500 million in an initial public offering.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Michaels said it intended to use the money to help pay down $3.49 billion in debt and for working capital and other general corporate expenses.

The Irving, Texas-based chain operates more than 1,000 Michaels stores and 130 Aaron Brothers shops throughout the country.

Michaels was traded publicly until private equity firms Bain Capital and the Blackstone Group acquired the company and took it private in 2006.

Shares of Michaels are to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MIK.

Ford invests in Mexican plant

DETROIT – Ford will invest $1.3 billion in its Hermosillo, Mexico, plant and is creating 1,000 jobs to make the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans.

The automaker confirmed the plans Friday, a week before the new MKZ will make its global debut at the New York auto show.

• CEO pay: The pay package for Ford CEO Alan Mulally rose 11 percent last year to $29.5 million, or a little more than $5 for every vehicle sold.

Honda to recall CR-Vs, Pilots

LOS ANGELES – Honda Motor Co. said it will recall about 554,000 model-year 2002 to 2004 CR-V and model-year 2003 Pilot vehicles in the United States to inspect and replace components of the headlight wiring system.

The automaker said there is a potential failure with the wiring of the headlight switch. The fault could cause the low-beam headlights to fail, which might increase the risk of a crash.

Idaho’s Micron settles lawsuit

BOISE – Micron Technology Inc. has settled a lawsuit in which Oracle Corp. accused the Idaho memory chipmaker and other companies of artificially inflating prices for microchips.

The 2010 lawsuit claimed Micron and the other companies conspired to raise prices from 1998 through 2002, in violation of federal and state antitrust laws.

Micron makes semiconductor chips for computers, mobile devices, cameras and other devices. It makes products under the Lexar and Crucial brands. Details of the settlement were not announced.

Paper clips

• Trinidad’s state-owned petroleum company says it has discovered 48 million barrels of crude oil off the island’s southwest coast. Khalid Hassanali, Petrotrin’s president designate, said it is the company’s biggest discovery in a decade. He said the crude oil is a combination of light and heavy oil.

• The parent company of American Airlines told a bankruptcy court it lost $619 million last month as revenue declined from January and failed to offset costs including fuel and labor. Since filing for bankruptcy in late November, AMR Corp. has lost $1.76 billion including $663 million in expenses related to the Chapter 11 reorganization. That’s more than the $1.08 billion that the company lost in the first 11 months of last year.

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it shuttered Fidelity Bank, based in Dearborn, Mich. The bank, with 15 branches, had about $818.2 million in assets and $747.6 million in deposits as of Dec. 31. The Huntington National Bank of Columbus, Ohio, agreed to assume Fidelity Bank’s deposits and buy essentially all of its assets.