USA and Canada

Cooper Standard has announced plans for a new manufacturing facility in Craiova, Romania, further expanding its global automotive body sealing and fluid handling businesses.

Headquartered in Novi, Michigan, Cooper Standard is a global supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry. Products include body sealing systems, fluid handling systems and anti-vibration systems.

Sara Lee Corp has agreed to sell its North American dough business to Ralcorp Holdings for around $545 million.

The business had net sales of more than $300 million in the year ended July 2010.

Ralcorp’s CEO said the deal will enable the company to be a private leader in the $1.8 billion refrigerated dough category.

The business, which employs 700 people mainly in Texas and Georgia, will operate as part of the Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products division after the close of the transaction.

Boeing and Siemens are to form a strategic alliance for the joint development and marketing of "smart grid" technologies to improve energy access and security for the US Department of Defense.

The alliance's microgrid management solution will be designed to implement economical energy-efficiency tools that allow for analysis, control and automation of energy processes; use smart energy controls to provide real-time data to manage energy use; and integrate renewable energy sources and storage.

Reporting its sixth consecutive profitable quarter, General Motors today announced second quarter net income attributable to common stockholders of $2.5 billion, an increase of over 90 percent on Q2 of 2010.

Revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2011 increased $6.2 billion to $39.4 billion, compared with the second quarter of 2010. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) adjusted was $3.0 billion compared with $2.0 billion in the second quarter of 2010. There were no special items in either period.

After reporting strong profits for the half year ending 30 June, Swiss-based mining group Xstrata intends to expand its Canadian operations.

Operating profit rose 31 percent to $4.25 billion with the company’s cost reduction initiatives achieving $52 million of real unit cost savings.

In a separate announcement, Xstrata said it had approved two Xstrata Nickel projects totaling US$649 million as it continues its investment in growth options within its Canadian portfolio.

Mineral development company Energy Fuels Inc. has purchased a mining lease in southeast Utah's Sage Plain District from Uranium Energy Corp. for CAD$500,000.

The Crain Lease is situated on approximately 640-acres in San Juan County, Utah, near the historic Calliham and Sage Mines already controlled by Energy Fuels.

Germany’s Fresenius Medical Care has announced a $1.7 billion merger agreement with US-based Liberty Dialysis Holdings, Inc., the holding company for Liberty Dialysis and Renal Advantage.

Liberty Dialysis has annual sales of approximately $1 billion and operates approximately 260 dialysis clinics, although Fresenius has said that some facilities may need to be divested to secure regulatory clearance.

The deal is expected to close in early 2012, and is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year after closing of the transaction.

Bermuda-based oil services provider Archer Limited is to acquire Great White Energy Services for $742 million on a cash and debt free basis, it was announced today.

The acquisition will give Archer an entry point into the rapidly expanding frac market and effectively double its coil tubing and directional drilling capacity in the United States where development of unconventional oil and natural gas shale plays continue to drive E&P investments. The combined company will be operational in all major oil and gas regions in the US.

UK-based banking and financial services group HSBC has announced the sale of 195 of its retail branches in the US.

The branches, primarily in Upstate New York, are to be sold to First Niagara Bank for approximately $1 billion (approx. £608 million).

As of 31 May 2011, the branches held approximately $15 billion in deposits, $15 billion in gross assets including $2.8 billion in loans and $4.3 billion in assets under management.

A coalition of taxpayer groups, consumers, small businesses and Internet companies has been established in California in opposition to a new law for consumers to pay taxes on Internet purchases at checkout.

The More Jobs Not Taxes committee has been established to give Californians “a voice and a choice” on what they see as an unconstitutional new tax law.