Business briefs
U.K. firm buys Irwin-based PBM for $85 million
A Westmoreland County specialty valve manufacturer has been acquired by a Birmingham, Englandbased engineering outfit for $85 million. PBM Inc., of Irwin, which has 104 employees, was acquired by IMI plc, an engineering company that employs 11,000 people. IMI designs, manufactures and services products used to control the movement of fluids. PBM will become part of IMI’s Critical Engineering division.
Fed survey finds economy being hurt by trade battles
The U.S. economy was expanding at a modest pace in September and into October despite the fact manufacturing was being hurt by rising trade tensions and weaker global growth while adverse weather was affecting farmers. The Federal Reserve reported “persistent trade tensions and slower global growth” were weighing on the economy. The survey, known as the beige book, will be used by Fed officials when they meet Oct. 29-30 to decide whether to cut interest rates for a third time this year.
Dutch lighting company to buy Cooper from Eaton Corp.
Signify, the Dutch company formerly known as Philips Lighting, says it is buying Cooper Lighting Solutions from Eaton Corp. for $1.4 billion (1.27 billion euros) in a move intended to strengthen its position in the North American market. The deal is expected to close in the first
quarter of 2020 subject to regulatory approval. Cooper, headquartered in Peachtree City, Ga., sells professional lighting systems. It had sales last year of $1.7 billion.
EU orders chipmaker to change practices
European regulators have ordered chipmaker Broadcom to change the way it does business with key customers over competition concerns. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager’s office opened an investigation in June into whether the world’s leading supplier of chipsets for TV set -top boxes and modems included terms of exclusivity in contracts with six customers that violate competition rules. San Jose, Calif.-based Broadcom was not immediately reachable for comment.
Google Pay, Cubic join up for mobile fare payment
Cubic Corp., which makes fare collection technology for some of the world’s largest public transit agencies, is working with Google to make it easier for riders to use their Android smartphones to pay for fares. The aim is to add transit cards to the Google Pay platform, allowing unbanked riders, youth and others without credit or debit cards to tap their smartphones at the gate to pay for public transit.
Netflix’s U.S. subscriber growth drops
Netflix’s subscriber growth is bogging down even before the leading video streaming service confronts high-powered threats from Apple and Walt Disney Co. Netflix added 6.8 million subscribers worldwide from July through September, below the 7 million customers forecast by the Los Gatos, Calif., company. Just 520,000 of those subscribers were picked up in the U.S., below the 800,000 that management anticipated. The shortfall came after Netflix lost 123,000 subscribers in the U.S. during the April-June period, marking its first contraction in eight years.