Business Digest: Windstream to buy EarthLink for $673M

Revenue at EarthLink, which reported earnings as well Monday, fell 13 percent in the third quarter.

Both companies provide internet service, cloud computing and other services. The combined company will keep the Windstream name and be based at its headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. EarthLink Holdings Corp. is based in Atlanta.

EarthLink shareholders will receive 0.818 of a share for each EarthLink stock they own. Windstream Holdings Inc. will issue about 93 million shares for the deal.

The companies value the deal, expected to close in the first half of next year, at $1.1 billion when debt is included.

AUTOMAKERS

Tesla to end free use of supercharging stations

DETROIT — Electric car maker Tesla Motors says it will end free use of its worldwide charging station network.

The company says cars ordered after Jan. 1, 2017 will get roughly 1,000 miles worth of credits at the supercharging stations. After credits are used, owners will have to pay fees. Cars ordered or sold on or before Jan. 1 would still get free charging.

Tesla didn’t specify the fees but says charging would cost less than the price of filling a comparable gasoline car. The company says it will release fee details later this year. It says prices could fluctuate over time and vary by regional electricity costs.

This means that free charging won’t apply to the $35,000 Model 3, which is due to enter production in the second half of 2017.

ECONOMY

U.S. consumer borrowing rose in September

WASHINGTON — American consumers boosted their borrowing in September, a potential sign that recent job growth and wage gains have left them slightly more comfortable with holding debt.

The Federal Reserve said Monday that total consumer borrowing rose $19.3 billion in September to $3.7 trillion outstanding. Consumer debt has climbed at an annual pace of 6.3 percent, slightly below the growth rates seen in 2014 and 2015.

Revolving credit, which covers credit cards, posted an annual gain of 5.2 percent to $978.8 billion. The non-revolving category, which includes auto and student loans and makes up the bulk of consumer debt, has risen 6.7 percent over the past year to $2.7 trillion.

Roughly 70 percent of U.S. economic activity comes from consumers, so the increase in borrowing suggests that spending will keep aiding growth.

The economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.9 percent during the third quarter, its healthiest growth rate in two years.

ECONOMY

German factory orders unexpectedly drop

BERLIN — Factory orders in Germany unexpectedly fell in September following two months of gains, led by lower demand from other countries in the eurozone.

The Economy Ministry said Monday that orders in Europe’s biggest economy were down 0.6 percent compared with the previous month. Economists had forecast a gain of 0.3 percent, following a 0.9 percent increase in August.

The data showed a 4.5 percent drop in orders from other countries in the 19-nation eurozone and a 1.1 percent fall in demand from inside Germany. Orders from countries outside the eurozone were up 2.5 percent.

ING-DiBa economist Carsten Brzeski said orders have been growing on average by 0.1 percent a month this year and “it is hard to see how the German industry can shift to higher gear.”

BANKING

SoftBank’s profit doubles on strong Japan results

TOKYO — Japanese telecommunications and internet company SoftBank Group Corp., which has acquired British chipmaker ARM Holdings for about $30 billion, reported Monday that its July-September profit more than doubled from the same period the previous year.

Tokyo-based Softbank’s fiscal second quarter profit totaled 528.6 billion yen ($5.1 billion), up from 258.6 billion yen last year, boosted by a favorable exchange rate, as well as by healthy operations in Japan, the company said.

Quarterly sales slipped 3 percent to 2.145 trillion yen ($20.6 billion).

An active overseas investor, SoftBank also owns U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp., which has been slowly turning itself around.