Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point has walked away from its activist campaign against CoStar Group, selling its entire position in the real estate data company after concluding that its original investment thesis no longer held, according to a letter to investors. Third Point had signaled in January that it would pursue a board challenge Read More…
A federal judge on Friday extended an emergency order keeping Nexstar Media Group and Tegna operating as separate companies for another week, as he weighs whether to issue a longer preliminary injunction that could halt the $6.2 billion merger while an antitrust lawsuit works its way through the courts. U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley of Read More…
Hi-Country Snack Foods, a nearly 50-year-old Montana jerky maker and one of the largest employers in the small mountain community of Lincoln, has paused production — a development that raises new concerns about the company’s future and the economic health of the town it has long anchored. The production halt comes less than a year Read More…
Shareholders of both NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp. have voted to approve a proposed all-stock merger that would combine the two regional utilities into a new company called Bright Horizon Energy Corporation, the companies announced Thursday. The votes were cast at special shareholder meetings held earlier in the day and mark a major step Read More…
Southwest Airlines is ready to make the biggest push for business customers in the company’s history with a distribution deal with Southlake-based Sabre Corp. that started Monday. Dallas-based Southwest, which has long been reluctant to share revenue with third-party companies when it sells tickets, went live on Sabre’s global distribution platforms Monday. READ FULL STORY
BOZEMAN — Despite a pandemic, it seems like the city of Bozeman is doing great economically. But that comes with advantages and disadvantages. “What we’re seeing in the last year and a half is an unprecedented surge in housing prices driven in large part by the availability of relatively high-income folks to relocate in places Read More…
WORDEN- — As drought conditions worsen across Montana, farmers are being forced to wait longer to harvest alfalfa. This is leading to a hay shortage, which is causing prices to skyrocket. “I was looking, and prices are anywhere from three to four times higher than this time last year,” says Clint Johannes, a Worden-area farmer Read More…
New food trucks have rolled into nearly every corner of the Flathead Valley this summer, vending everything from tacos to hot dogs and specialty soda. “COVID, I think, definitely had a huge impact on that,” said Amanda Hart, a co-founder of Kalispell’s Rescue Dog. Hart and her husband, Colten, launched their hot dog truck in Read More…
Town and Country foods will open sometime this summer. It’s a little bit behind schedule because of COVID and delivery delays. Management at Town & Country and at some of the other shops at West Park say it’s really important to not have that building be empty. “They gutted Lucky’s (Market) at the auction,” said Read More…
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality laid down the law last week, issuing a violation letter to the Montana Tunnels mine in Jefferson City. The mine is considered officially abandoned or complete, the company owes a $16.8 million reclamation bond, and reclamation is overdue, said the DEQ. Montana Tunnels Mining Inc. owns the once active Read More…
Contango Oil & Gas will purchase all Wyoming natural gas assets owned by ConocoPhillips, the company revealed Thursday. The acquisition comes as ConocoPhillips moves to sell off some of its oil and gas assets and Contango looks to continue expanding its operations in Wyoming. The $67 million deal will transfer approximately 446 billion cubic feet Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – Missoula is growing, and with that, the downtown corridor is changing in order to support both its residents and tourists. One of the cornerstones of revamping downtown Missoula is the modern AC hotel on the corner of Pattee and Main Street. It can seem hard to believe, but just two years ago, Read More…
HELENA — Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series on NorthWestern Energy’s request for pre-approval of 225 megawatts of new electricity resources – including construction of a 175-megawatt natural gas-fired plant in Laurel. NorthWestern Energy’s proposal to build a 175-megawatt power plant fired by natural gas in Laurel, to help serve its Read More…
WASHINGTON (SBG) — Economists believe the pandemic has revealed just how vulnerable the United States’ supply chain is to major economic shocks and that the time is coming where experts will have to rethink how to move products around the globe. The country has experienced severe shortages of everything from computer chips, to toilet paper, to furniture Read More…
Some companies are turning to signing bonuses to attract workers as they struggle to fill positions. While most often associated with higher-paying jobs that require secondary education, signing bonuses are increasingly being tied to job applications for low- and middle-wage jobs — a sign that some say is a symptom of a labor shortage. The Read More…
Efforts to defend Duke Energy from a proxy campaign led by billionaire Paul Singer have recently taken two quiet steps backwards. Last month, Singer’s hedge fund Elliott Management urged the utility to split its $78 billion electric-and-gas empire into three companies — an unusual proposal in an era of consolidation that a few analysts variously Read More…
Chelsea Clinton is a board director at a health insurance company that has been accused of defrauding investors. Clover Health has been slapped with numerous investor lawsuits that claim the company and its leadership failed to disclose that it was under investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly offering illegal kickbacks to health care Read More…
Christy Cummings Dawson will take over as Montana West Economic Development’s (MWED) president and CEO this July following two years as the company’s government contracting advisor. Dawson will replace Jerry Meerkatz, who served as president and CEO for the last five years. During her last two years assisting small businesses pursue government contracts, Dawson has Read More…
ProPublica made waves after it obtained thousands of private tax documents for the country’s wealthiest citizens and published a scathing investigation centered on the tax rates of Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg, among others. Absent from the report: any of the publication’s largest donors, including Laurene Powell Jobs, David Filo, and Pierre Omidyar. The nonprofit news Read More…
HELENA, Mt., June 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBMT), (the “Company” or “Eagle”) announced today the preliminary results of its modified “Dutch auction” tender offer (the “Tender Offer”) to purchase for cash up to $6,000,000 of shares of its common stock (the “Common Stock”) at a price per share not Read More…
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman bought a 10 percent stake in Vivendi’s Universal Music Group for $4 billion, valuing the world’s largest record label — which is home to Drake, Taylor Swift and Billy Eilish — at around $42 billion. Ackman’s blank-check company Pershing Square Tontine Holdings and Vivendi announced the news on Sunday after weeks Read More…
Guests lined up to board Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s Freedom of the Seas on Sunday, marking the first cruise from a U.S. port since the pandemic suspended operations 15 months ago. Passengers filed into PortMiami with suitcases in tow, a sight last seen in the world’s largest cruise port in March 2020. Freedom of the Read More…
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has claimed he was “hit” by a cryptocurrency token market crash on Wednesday. The token, known as the IRON Titanium Token or TITAN, fell from over $60 on June 16 to a fraction over zero on Thursday morning, CoinGecko data shows. The token is linked to Iron Finance, a group that Read More…
Lumber prices are finally going down after reaching a record high in May. Projections for July show lumber delivery prices are expected to be about 40% lower than the May record. After topping out on May 7, prices for lumber then dropped 22% by the end of May, according to the NASDAQ commodities exchange. READ FULL STORY
Billings, MT – Ultra Graphics has been recognized by the annual Printing News Top 100 Small Commercial Printers rankings as one of highest grossing small commercial print firms in the country. For sales-year 2020, Ultra Graphics ranked #1 in Montana and #31 in the country. “I’m extremely proud of our team and grateful to our Read More…
Biogen on Tuesday faced tough questions from Wall Street analysts over the $56,000 annual cost of its newly approved Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm – a price tag executives are calling “fair” and “responsible.” Shares of Biogen surged 38% on Monday after the FDA announced it approved the company’s drug, scientifically known as aducanumab. It is the first medication cleared by Read More…
The era of supersonic commercial flights came to an end when the Concorde completed its last trip between New York and London in 2003, but the allure of ultrafast air travel never quite died out. President Biden mused about supersonic flights when discussing his infrastructure plan in April. And on Thursday, United Airlines said it was ordering 15 Read More…
Roby Burch didn’t intend to develop a grill and start a company selling them. He just wanted to drink some beers with friends, eat good food and have a grill he could take on outdoor excursions. When Burch, 26, couldn’t find a grill he wanted — something that was portable and versatile — Read More…
BILLINGS – Montanans across the state are ready to get out after a year of staying in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why travel experts and those with camping giant KOA say travel for this Memorial Day holiday weekend will break records. “People are booking and booking often,” said Billings-based KOA Director of Public Read More…
Snowflake, the cloud data analytics vendor that held the biggest U.S. software IPO ever last year, has become the latest tech company to jettison California. In its earnings press release on Wednesday, Snowflake’s dateline showed up as “No-Headquarters/BOZEMAN, Mont.” As recently as May 3, when the company announced the date of its first-quarter earnings report, that same line said “SAN MATEO, Read More…
The key to filling all the lots at Glacier Rail Park can be summarized in just one word: plastics. That’s not just enigmatic advice from the 1967 film “The Graduate” — it’s also the linchpin for the completion of a major piece in the revitalization of the city of Kalispell. Glacier Rail Park opened in Read More…
The blockbuster WarnerMedia-Discovery deal is especially good news for HBO Max, billionaire media mogul John Malone told CNBC’s David Faber. In an interview that aired Monday, Malone said his previous reservations about HBO Max’s ability to be a dominant player in the crowded digital-streaming landscape will be addressed once the AT&T-owned service is under the same roof as Discovery. READ FULL Read More…
French fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault is the world’s richest person this Monday morning, with an estimated net worth of $186.3 billion—putting him $300 million above Jeff Bezos, who is worth $186 billion, and Elon Musk, worth $147.3 billion. Arnault’s fortune has jumped from $76 billion in March 2020 to $186.3 on Monday, a massive rise of over $110 billion Read More…
Amazon is reportedly in discussions with MGM about purchasing the movie studio. According to Variety, the deal could be worth a reported $7 to $10 billion. The Information reported that MGM’s extensive library includes James Bond movies, the “Rocky” franchise, “The Terminator,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Survivor.” READ FULL STORY
Three years ago, AT&T Inc. executives were in a federal courthouse fighting the Justice Department to defend their takeover of Time Warner Inc., a more than $80 billion foray into the entertainment business. AT&T won the court battle, but lost in the marketplace. Now, at the behest of Chief Executive John Stankey, the telecom giant Read More…
Coca-Cola is saying goodbye to its energy line just over a year after it launched. Coca-Cola Energy will be discontinued in North America due to petering sales, CNN reported. “An important component to this strategy is the consistent and constant evaluation of what’s performing and what’s not,” the company said in a statement to the outlet. Read More…
DUTTON — Farm-to-fashion is the passion of Kate Stephens, who at 16 years old launched the future of her family business as a fourth-generation farmer. After running combines with her dad at 15, Kate was inspired by the history of her family’s farm that dates back to 1912 to bridge the gap between farmers and Read More…
Montana’s high-tech companies overcame and even benefited from the dynamics of a pandemic economy in 2020, generating more than $2.9 billion in revenues and growing at rates up to seven times faster than the statewide economy, according to a survey conducted by the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The study found Read More…
MISSOULA — Bug lovers of all ages have reason to celebrate. The construction of the Rocky Mountain Gardens & Exploration Center is set to begin later this month at the Missoula County Fairgrounds. “It’s been a long road, it’s been a bumpy road at times, but we are here. And we are so incredibly thrilled Read More…
President Joe Biden is asking for $80 billion to help the IRS crack down on tax avoidance from wealthy Americans and big corporations. The proposal seeks a boost in enforcement staffing, technology and additional bank reporting, measures that may generate an estimated $700 billion in tax revenue over the next decade. However, some financial experts say the Read More…
Warren Buffett is seeing inflation among Berkshire Hathaway’s collection of businesses as the economic recovery from the Covid pandemic kicks into high gear. “We are seeing very substantial inflation,” the Berkshire chairman and CEO said at the conglomerate’s annual shareholder meeting Saturday. “It’s very interesting. We are raising prices. People are raising prices to us and it’s being accepted.” Read More…
Small businesses and nonprofit groups hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic now are eligible for additional support under a $5 billion Small Business Administration program The new round of Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance, known as Supplemental Targeted Advances, is available for up to 1 million small businesses and nonprofits with no more than 10 employees. Here’s Read More…
Chicken-lovers are going to have to wing it through the Great Poultry Crisis of 2021. America’s biggest fast-food companies reported earnings this week, and executives from KFC to Wingstop stressed a dire situation — there’s simply not enough chicken to go around. A meat-processing slowdown caused by pandemic safety measures along with a surge in Read More…
Texas’ main power grid struggled to keep up with the demand for electricity Tuesday, prompting the operator to ask Texans to conserve power nearly two months after catastrophic power outages left millions without electricity for days. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said it does not expect customer power outages like those caused in February’s Read More…