Dec. 19 Business Briefs

Jack in the Box selling Qdoba for $305 million

NEW YORK (AP) — Jack in the Box is selling the Qdoba restaurant chain to private-equity firm Apollo Global Management for $305 million in cash.

The chain of Mexican restaurants has been a sore spot on Jack in the Box’s overall business, posting same-store sales declines throughout the last year. The San Diego burger chain has been weighing its options with Qdoba for most of this year.

Chairman and CEO Lenny Comma said Tuesday the San Diego company decided that selling Qdoba was the best thing to do.

Jack in the Box Inc. has more than 2,200 restaurants, while Qdoba has more than 700 throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The deal is expected to close by April 2018.

Chinese tire maker picks North Carolina site for major plant

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Chinese tire maker is moving more aggressively into the U.S. market with plans for a North Carolina factory that is to ultimately employ 800 people and produce six million tires a year.

A state committee on Tuesday approved tax breaks to coax Triangle Tire to rural Edgecombe County, about 65 miles (100 kilometers) east of Raleigh. It’s to be the first U.S. plant for Weihai, China-based maker of tires for passenger vehicles, trucks, buses and heavy equipment.

Triangle Tire could receive up to $152 million in state and local tax breaks, worker training and other incentives if it meets hiring targets.

The Triangle factory marks at least the third Chinese tire maker to build production plants in the U.S., with other companies choosing sites in South Carolina and Georgia.

Nebraska panel denies request to amend Keystone XL ruling

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska commission that approved a route for the Keystone XL pipeline through the state is declining requests to amend its decision.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission on Tuesday denied motions by pipeline developer TransCanada and leading opponents of the project. The decision to approve a route through the state is expected to be appealed in court.

Opponents have said the commission overstepped its jurisdiction and denied due process to affected landowners when it approved a different route than what TransCanada had preferred. They say the alternative pathway will affect landowners who weren’t along the company’s preferred route and didn’t have a chance to speak against it.

TransCanada had asked the commission to let it file an amended application to thwart an appeal on those grounds.

Tegna buys KFMB-TV, radio stations for $325M

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The owner of KFMB-TV, San Diego’s CBS 8 television station, and 760-AM talk radio station says it is selling its holdings to publicly traded Tegna Inc. for $325 million in cash.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Midwest Television has entered a definitive agreement in which Tegna will acquire KFMB-TV and The CW San Diego television properties, as well as talk radio station KFMB-AM 760 and adult rock station KFMB-FM 100.7.

Midwest Television President Elisabeth Kimmel says she was searching for an “excellent steward” for the television and radio stations.

Tegna Chief Executive Dave Lougee called the sale a “marriage of two great broadcasting cultures.”
Tegna owns 46 television stations in 38 cities nationwide. Its only other station in California is KXTV-TV ABC-10 in Sacramento.