SCOTTS TAKES BIGGER STAKE IN AEROGROW
Scotts Miracle-Gro is now the majority owner of AeroGrow International Inc., the Boulder indoor gardening products company that was Scotts’ first foray into hydroponics.
Scotts subsidiary SMG Growing Media Inc. upped its stake in the Boulder firm to 80 percent after it exercised the entirety of its outstanding warrants to acquire AeroGrow common stock. Scotts previously held a 45 percent stake.
The exercise of 21.6 million shares resulted in a $47.8 million infusion for AeroGrow, of which $41 million will be distributed to shareholders and $6.8 million will pay off the working capital loan from Scotts, officials said.
The deal gives Scotts greater control of AeroGrow’s board.
Existing board member Chris Hagedorn, who heads Scotts’ Hawthorne Gardening division, will become chairman. Peter Supron, chief of staff to Scotts’ president, and Albert Messina, finance and strategy lead at Hawthorne, will join the board.
AeroGrow CEO J. Michael Wolfe and director Michael Barish resigned. Jack Walker stepped down as chairman to become an independent director.
Seat belt trouble leads to Ford recall. Ford is recalling more than
680,000 midsize sedans mainly in North America because the front seat belts may not hold people in a crash. The recall covers certain 2013 to 2016 Ford Fusion, 2013 to 2015 Lincoln MKZ and 2015 and 2016 Ford Mondeo cars.
Macedonian teen shows how fake news is done. On the second floor
of a noisy sports center in the Macedonian town of Veles, a teenage purveyor of fake news cracked open his laptop and laid out his case for why lying is more lucrative than the truth.
Real news gets reported everywhere, he argued. Made-up stories are unique.
“The fake news is the good news,” the 18-year-old said, pointing to a graph showing his audience figures, which reached into the hundreds of thousands, a bling watch clasped firmly around his wrist. “A fake news article is way more opened than any other.”
China trying to avoid politics in Aixtron-Fujian deal. China appealed
to Washington and Berlin to avoid injecting politics into the proposed takeover of a German maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment following a report President Obama plans to oppose it as a security risk.
The proposed 670 million euro ($740 million) acquisition of Aixtron SE by Fujian Grand Chip, a semiconductor maker, is “normal business activity,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang.
No more “Melania Trump” honey, undies for Slovenians. No more
Melania Trump honey, cakes, shoes and underwear for Slovenians.
The future U.S. first lady has hired a law firm in her native country to protect her name and image from being used on numerous products that have sprung up since her husband, Donald Trump, was elected president.
Natasa Pirc Musar, director of the Pirc Musar&Partnerji law firm, said Friday that the use of the name “Melania Trump” for commercial purposes without approval of her client would be against the law in the small Alpine state and would represent a violation of personal rights.