Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word closing. 9 news.

INGERSOLL-RAND Co, the maker of Thermo King refrigerated trucks, has agreed to buy Trane Inc for US$10.1 billion in cash and stock to gain cooling systems for transportation and buildings. Ingersoll-Rand will pay US$36.50 in cash and 0.23 of a share for Trane, the Bermuda-based company said, according to Bloomberg News. That values the New Jersey-based air-conditioner maker's shares at US$47.81 based on Friday's closing price. Ingersoll-Rand will take on US$150 million of debt. Chief Executive Officer Herbert Henkel said the purchase of the air-conditioner maker will create a company with US$17 billion of sales, more than half coming from the heating and cooling business. Ingersoll-Rand this month completed the sale of its Bobcat construction-machinery unit, shifting its focus to refrigeration systems amid rising trade in frozen foods. "The market for transporting food is very strong," Sanjay Jha, a London-based analyst at Pali International, said in an interview.

(Crain's) -- The Hyde Park Co-Op board is expected to endorse a proposal Monday night that will close the historic grocery store at the end of January. The board's decision comes on the heels of a membership-wide vote in which 61% of votes cast endorsed an option to accept a cash infusion from ...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- National Oilwell Varco on Thursday said it would buy Grant Prideco for about $7.5 billion in cash and stock. National Oilwell, a leading oil drilling firm, will pay $23.50 in cash and 0.4498 a share of its stock for each share of Grant Prideco. The deal values Grant Prideco at a premium of 22% to Friday's closing price.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Safeco on Monday said it'll repurchase up to $500 million of its common stock. The previous $750 million share repurchase program, under which 12.9 million shares were repurchased, was completed on Dec. 6. Based on last Friday's closing share price, the current authorization is equal to approximately 9.7% of Safeco's shares outstanding at Oct. 23.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - RBC Capital Markets analyst Larry Miller cut his rating on Starbucks Corp. on Monday to sector perform from outperform after a meeting with company management. The analyst said he came away from the meeting "believing Starbucks' multiple pressure will last longer than we expected as sales weakness, EPS risk, and return compression continues." He cut his price target to $22 a share from $26 on the Seattle-based coffee-shop operator. Starbucks shares traded about 1.2% lower in Monday premarket trading after closing Friday at $21.25.

European online gaming companies were dealt a blow as the EU agreed to a US offer to open some other services markets as compensation for closing its online gambling market to foreign operators

Asian shares extended their losses Monday, with Australian benchmarks closing at a three-month low as investors caught up on a slump on Wall Street Friday on concern that accelerating inflation in the US will make it difficult for the Federal Reserve to continue to cut interest rates.

Georgia-Pacific tissue-mill workers are wary but hopeful as they get ready to shut down the final remnant of an industry that has been an...

School and sports ring manufacturer Jostens Inc. is considering options for its Denton plant after closing a similar facility in Attleboro, Mass., with the intent of moving all ring manufacturing to North Texas.