Monday’s business headlines
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here’s a look at Monday’s business headlines.
Lilly is making a major bet on cancer genetics?
Eli Lilly, the Indianapolis-based drug giant, said Monday that it will purchase Loxo Oncology, a tiny startup, for $8 billion in cash to gain access to the company’s cancer medicines, one of which is on the market.
The deal price of $235 per share represents an 85 percent premium to Loxo’s closing price on Friday, and a rich gain for loxo shareholders.
Shares in the Stamford, Connecticut, company had already risen 975 percent since its September 2014 initial public offering.
The reason: two experimental cancer pills that worked fantastically well in very small numbers of patients.
Shutdown could delay USDA reports
Farmers may be left guessing as agriculture reports due this week on supply and demand as well as winter wheat could be delayed.
These reports are all to come out on Friday, Jan. 11.
But even with a deal to reopen the government, these reports will likely be delayed as the data will have to be prepared.
Whole Foods is serving up dietary assistance online
Whole Food is offering a digital catalog, located at products.wholefoodsmarket.com, that enables shoppers to find items by dietary preference and provides quick access to product ingredient lists and nutritional information.
Customers can do a general search for an item or use filters to drill down by product category, dietary preference, what’s on sale and prime member deals.
Lowe’s hiring seasonal workers
Lowe’s is hiring 65,000 new workers this year-some permanent and some seasonal.
It also is planning to ditch some existing roles, which the company says will help it “simplify operations” in stores.
Many retailers are dealing with a tight labor market in the U.S. that’s making it harder to find talent.
CES gets underway
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas gets underway Monday.
Apple put a huge sign on a Vegas hotel that says, “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone,” a direct aim at Facebook, Google and others that collect data on users.
Samsung also announced that its TVs will start offering Apple’s iTunes movies and tv shows beginning this spring.