USA and Canada

The Timken Company today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, TSB Metal Recycling LLC, has purchased substantially all of the assets of City Scrap and Salvage Co. in Akron, Ohio.

City Scrap has been a local source of supply of ferrous scrap for Timken’s steelmaking operations for more than 15 years. Timken's steel business was founded in 1917 to provide a dependable supply of steel for its bearing business, and this acquisition is consistent with that strategy.

The US Navy has awarded contracts worth a total of more than $7 billion to build 20 of its new Littoral Combat Ships to Lockheed Martin and Austal USA.

The Defense Department has awarded Lockheed Martin a $491.6 million deal to construct one ship. If options for nine additional ships are exercised, the award total amounts to $4.57 billion.

MidAmerican Energy has placed an order with Siemens Energy, Inc. for 258 of its 2.3-megawatt turbines, to be erected in Iowa during 2011.

MidAmerican Energy has also entered into an asset purchase agreement with RPM Access under which it will acquire the Laurel Wind Project from RPM, where approximately 52 of the Siemens turbines are planned to be located.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has approved the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, the ninth large-scale solar facility given the green light as part of an initiative to encourage rapid and responsible development of renewable energy on US public lands.

The concentrated solar power plant will produce 110 megawatts, enough to provide electricity for up to 75,000 Nevada households, and generate about 450-500 new jobs during construction and up to 50 permanent operations and maintenance jobs. 

Raytheon Company announced today that it has signed a definitive acquisition agreement with Applied Signal Technology, a leader in the collection and processing of communications signals to support tactical and strategic intelligence missions. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

France’s Ingenico, the world’s largest maker of electronic payment terminals, has rejected a €1.4 billion takeover offer.

The bidder is unnamed, though reports suggest it to be the US industrial conglomerate Danaher Corp.

Swedish-owned home appliance manufacturer Electrolux is planning to consolidate the manufacture of cooking appliances in North America by building a new manufacturing facility in Memphis, Tennessee.

After investigating potential locations in the United States and Mexico, Electrolux has chosen Memphis because the site offers an optimal geographical location for customers and suppliers, the company said in a statement.

Proterra Inc, manufacturer of zero-emission commercial transit solutions, today announced the completion of its first bus assembled entirely at its Phase 1 manufacturing facility in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Phase 1 facility at 25 Whitlee Court is manufacturing Proterra's EcoRide BE35™ buses and FastFill™ charging stations.

Proterra is working with local support to break ground on its larger state-of-the-art Phase 2 plant located on Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research campus in the spring of 2011.

Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis has bought the remaining shares in US eyecare company Alcon it did not already own for $12.9 billion (£8.2 billion), thus sealing 100 per cent ownership.

Novartis had been trying to assume total ownership of Alcon since January, when it paid $28.1 billion for a 77 per cent stake in the US company from food giant Nestlé.

Alcon is famous for its contact lens solutions and is also a leader in intraocular lenses, tiny lenses that are implanted in the eye to correct focusing problems.

Dianor Resources is advancing its Leadbetter diamond project, the first step toward a long-term plan to become a global player in the diamond market, as Keith Regan learns from president and CEO John Ryder.

Having divested numerous gold and base metal assets, Dianor Resources is now squarely focused on the opportunities it sees in diamonds, opportunities it believes will make both it and Canada major players in the changing diamond market.