Daily Briefing

ADVERTISING

GM to pull out of Oscars, Emmys

General Motors Corp., pushing to speed up cost cuts, said Monday that it will halt its sponsorship of the movie industry’s Academy Awards and television’s Emmy Awards. “With the current business challenges and the tightening of budgets, we decided to focus our promotional dollars on activities that reach the most customers and get us the most return on investment,” Kelly Cusinato, a spokeswoman for the automaker, said in an interview.

AUTOMOTIVE

Delphi to eliminate 600 salaried jobs

Delphi Corp. said Monday that its electronics and safety division will lay off about 600 of its 3,200 U.S. salaried workers. Delphi spokesman Milton Beach said the job cuts are part of a plan to cut the division’s total costs by 25 percent as a result of the dramatic decrease in North American vehicle production this year. The bulk of the job cuts will take place in Kokomo, Ind., where about 2,500 of the division’s white-collar workers are based.

U.S. automakers slip in survey

U.S. car buyers are growing less satisfied with their purchases from domestic automakers while their Asian and European competitors continue to improve, according to a recent survey. Consumer satisfaction with U.S. auto brands slipped as Lexus and BMW tied for first place, followed by Toyota and Honda, according to the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index released today. General Motors Corp.’s Buick and Cadillac brands, and Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln and Mercury lines, fell from their No. 2 perch at a time when U.S. companies are struggling to reverse their shrinking sales and market share. That’s an unsettling sign for domestic automakers, said Claes Fornell, the University of Michigan business professor who runs the annual survey. Traditionally, U.S. brands improve their satisfaction scores each year, just not as much as their overseas counterparts. Now, the domestic companies’ ratings are declining. “This is somewhat of a double whammy here,” Fornell said. “The struggling companies are getting an even tougher road in the near future. The question also is do they really have the resources, the cash here” to adapt.

DEALS

Macaroni Grill gets private owner

Brinker International Inc., owner of the Chili’s Grill & Bar chain, said Monday that it will sell a majority stake in Romano’s Macaroni Grill to a private equity firm. Under the agreement, Brinker will sell most of its stake to Mac Acquisition LLC —- a unit of San Francisco-based Golden Gate Capital —- for $131.5 million in cash. Brinker will then turn over $6 million to Mac Acquisition in order to keep a 19.9 percent stake in the brand. “Brinker International will retain a minority ownership position in order to both maximize the value to Brinker’s shareholders and contribute to the success of Macaroni Grill as a stand-alone entity,” Brinker Chief Executive Doug Brooks said in a statement.

EA, Take-Two may make peace

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. may be retracting its hostile bid for smaller rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., but a deal —- a friendly one, at that —- is more likely than ever. Take-Two, best known for the popular “Grand Theft Auto” video game series, confirmed Monday that it expects to sign a confidentiality agreement with EA to begin formal discussions about “strategic alternatives.” EA had said earlier that it wouldn’t extend the Monday night deadline for its $2 billion tender offer to buy Take-Two. The companies have been unable to agree on a price for six months. Now, EA is saying that if it does buy Take-Two, it no longer believes it can combine the companies in time for the holidays, when video game companies make most of their money. Because of this, EA said it needs to review its offer price of $25.74 per share.

FINANCIAL

Interest rates fall in Treasury auction

Washington —- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday’s auction to the lowest levels in two weeks. The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.85 percent, down from 1.87 percent last week. Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.98 percent, down from 2.02 percent last week. Separately, the Federal Reserve said that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills fell to 2.18 percent last week from 2.23 percent.

FOOD / BEVERAGE

Restaurant firm seeks bankruptcy

The parent company of Crescent Moon, a three-restaurant chain in metro Atlanta, has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Crescent Moon, with its nostalgic diner motif and comfort food offerings such as meat loaf platters and fried green tomatoes, was a hit with families and couples at its downtown Decatur location on Ponce de Leon Avenue. It also operated at Northlake Mall in DeKalb County and near the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County. Global Restaurant Group LLC made the bankruptcy filing July 10. The attorney representing Global, Paul Reece Marr, could not be reached for comment.

LEGAL

Senior living firms file for bankruptcy

Senior Living Properties II LLC, a developer of assisted-living facilities in the South, has sought protection from creditors for eight of its units, saying it may sell assets. The petitions were filed Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Nashville. The units develop and operate senior facilities in Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina, according to court papers. Senior Living Properties, based in Salem, Ore., didn’t file a petition.

MANUFACTURING

Genuine Parts to make acquisition

Atlanta-based Genuine Parts Co. said Monday that its S.P. Richards office products unit will purchase the Midwest business assets of ActionEmco. A price was not disclosed, but Genuine Parts said the deal will add $50 million annually to overall sales. ActionEmco is a regional office products wholesale distributor. The S.P. Richards unit is buying a portion of ActionEmco’s dealer operations served by the company’s Grand Rapids, Mich., distribution center. The deal is expected to close Oct. 3. Separately, Genuine Parts said it would pay a quarterly cash dividend of 39 cents per share on Oct. 1 to shareholders of record Sept. 5.

REAL ESTATE

Builder confidence stays at bottom

Confidence among U.S. home builders was unchanged in August at a record low. The National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo sentiment index held at 16 for a second month, the Washington-based group said Monday. Readings under 50 mean most respondents view conditions as poor.

TECHNOLOGY

Forecast raised for IT spending

Information technology spending may climb 8 percent this year to $3.4 trillion, lifted by gains in foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar, Gartner Inc. said Monday. Holding currencies constant, the growth would be about 4.5 percent, according to the Connecticut-based research firm. In October, Gartner predicted 2008 growth of 5.5 percent to $3.3 trillion.

TELECOM

Qwest, unions agree to contracts

Denver —- Qwest Communications International Inc. and negotiators for its largest union said Monday that they tentatively agreed on a contract, avoiding a strike that could have disrupted both upcoming political conventions. About a day after a previous contract expired, Denver-based Qwest came to terms on a three-year deal with the Communications Workers of America, which represents about 20,000 of its employees in 13 states. Qwest also agreed with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents the company’s employees in Montana. Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs said the proposed CWA contract calls for a wage increase totaling 9 percent over three years, an increase to the base pay of sales staff and a 3 percent increase in pension payouts. He said it also includes a “modest” monthly premium for health coverage, where before employees paid only enrollment fees.

TRANSPORTATION

BA works to save travelers time

London —- British Airways PLC says its planned business-class-only flight from London’s close-in City Airport to New York will allow passengers to save time by completing U.S. arrival checks in Ireland. The airline said the route’s refueling stop at Shannon Airport, in western Ireland, will double as the port where passengers will go through U.S. immigration checks, meaning they’ll be able to skip them when they land in New York and speed straight into town.

UPS expands ‘on-call pickup’

Sandy Springs-based UPS is offering “on-call pickup” to 4,000 more ZIP codes and extending the service’s hours in 6,000 more ZIP codes. UPS spokesman Norman Black said on-call pickup is helpful for customers that miss their normal pickup time and still need to get a package out. Together, the enhancements represent improved service for 26 percent of all U.S. businesses. That figure was derived using census data, he said. “We view these latest enhancements as giving us a competitive advantage and moving us into the No. 1 position in the industry,” Black said.

Continental to furlough pilots

Houston —- Continental Airlines Inc. will lay off 140 to 180 pilots after Labor Day, when the company begins reducing flights to cope with high fuel costs and a sluggish economy. The furloughs are part of about 3,000 job cuts Continental expects. A union spokesman said Monday that the company had initially notified 500 pilots that they could be laid off, and the smaller number was “a dramatic improvement.”