Business Briefs: Central Premix Prestress changes name to Oldcastle Precast

Central Premix Prestress Co. has changed its name to Oldcastle Precast Inc., the Spokane Valley company announced Monday.

Central Premix Prestress joined Oldcastle Precast in February and is changing its name to “more closely identify the company with the larger Oldcastle Precast organization,” according to a news release.

Central Pre-Mix, the Prestress division’s parent company, was purchased by Oldcastle Materials in 1997.

The Prestress division makes prestressed, precast concrete building products and bridges.

Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae settle

SAN FRANCISCO – Wells Fargo says it has made a $591 million deal with Fannie Mae to settle obligations related to loans that went bad after the housing bubble burst.

The deal announced Monday covers loans made through 2008. Wells Fargo & Co. says it resolves nearly all repurchase liabilities it has with Fannie Mae, the federal mortgage buyer.

After adjusting for other repurchases, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo will pay out $541 million, which it says it had already set aside. Wells Fargo agreed in September to pay $869 million to Freddie Mac to settle similar claims.

Netflix cuts poison pill plan

LOS GATOS, Calif. – Netflix says it’s ending a move meant to help ward off hostile takeovers almost two years early.

The online video company adopted the shareholder rights plan, also known as a poison pill, in November 2012 after activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a stake of almost 10 percent in the company. The poison pill was scheduled to expire in November 2015, but the company terminated it effective Monday.

According to FactSet, Icahn now owns a 4.5 percent stake in Netflix Inc.

Multiple sclerosis drug held up

PARIS – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notified drug maker Genzyme that its treatment for multiple sclerosis is not ready for approval for the American market.

The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, which is the parent of Genzyme, said in a statement Monday that the FDA said the companies had not submitted sufficient evidence to show the benefits of Lemtrada. The drug was approved by the European Medicines Agency for use in the EU earlier this year. It also has been approved in Canada and Australia. Sanofi said it “strongly disagrees” with the FDA decision, and it plans to appeal.

Sanofi wants to market Lemtrada as a treatment for relapsing multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the immune system attacks healthy nerves. It can cause pain, numbness, slurred speech, impaired vision, muscle weakness and neurological problems.

Cooper Tire bails on buyout

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is calling off its sale to India’s Apollo Tyres, unraveling a $2.2 billion deal announced just over six months ago.

Cooper said financing is no longer available and it continues to claim, as it has for months, that Apollo breached the terms of the agreement.

Apollo said after the announcement Monday, which it called disappointing, that it may pursue legal remedies.

Both companies agreed to the sale in June, but things deteriorated rapidly. Negotiations with the union representing Cooper employees became a sticking point.

Apollo sought a better price citing labor issues in China and weaker profit, which Cooper said was a stalling tactic. The Findlay, Ohio, company took its claim to a Delaware court, but a ruling last month found no breach of obligations on Apollo’s part.