Business in brief: HP sues ex-CEO over Oracle job
SAN FRANCISCO – Hewlett-Packard Co. is suing the chief executive it ousted last month, Mark Hurd, to stop him from taking a top job at rival Oracle Corp.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a California state court, came a day after Oracle hired Hurd as co-president to help lead the database software maker’s efforts to steal business from HP. HP claims that Hurd won’t be able to perform his job at Oracle without spilling HP’s trade secrets and violating a confidentiality agreement.
This type of complaint isn’t unusual in the technology world, nor is the confidentiality agreement that Hurd had signed as part of a severance package from HP that could top $40 million.
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS – Boeing Co. is consolidating its military aircraft business and cutting workers as the U.S. tightens defense spending and profit margins shrink.
Boeing’s military division makes the well-known Chinook transport helicopters, as well as the C-17 transport and the F/A-18 fighter-bomber.
The job cuts will start with 10 percent of the group’s executives. Boeing didn’t say how many more workers will lose jobs. It will consolidate six divisions of the business into four.
Boeing said in July that layoffs were likely because of expected government spending cuts. The Pentagon has been looking for savings in weapons spending, including pressing for better prices on the C-17 and the F-15E fighter.
Associated Press
Potash chief expects more offers for firm
TORONTO – The chief executive of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. said Tuesday he believes BHP Billiton Ltd. will not be the only bidder for the world’s largest fertilizer company.
Chief Executive Officer Bill Doyle said on a video posting on Potash Corp.’s website that a number of parties have expressed an interest in alternative transactions. He said they have approached some and others have initiated contact.
Doyle said while they continue to discuss those options, they believe that Potash is poised to achieve results as an independent standalone company that “far surpasses BHP’s inadequate offer.”
Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, launched a hostile $130-a-share takeover on Aug. 18 after Potash directors rejected its offer.
Associated Press
Briefcase
From wire reports
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Tuesday it will acquire biotechnology partner ZymoGenetics Inc. for $885 million in another move by a major drugmaker to boost its pipeline by snapping up a smaller developer. The New York drugmaker’s $9.75-per-share bid represents a 77 percent premium to ZymoGenetics’ closing price of $5.51.
• Car and truck sales in China – the world’s biggest auto market – rose 18 percent to 1.02 million in August from a year earlier, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
• A Delaware judge on Tuesday granted a request from a court-appointed independent examiner for more time to review claims and assets in Washington Mutual Inc.’s bankruptcy. A disclosure statement hearing, a critical step in Chapter 11 reorganization, is now tentatively set for Sept. 24.
• Burger King is introducing nine new breakfast items including blueberry biscuits and pancake platters and planning a major breakfast marketing blitz.