in brief

Penn National Gaming kills option agreements with rival

Penn National Gaming announced Wednesday it terminated option agreements with rival Lakes Entertainment concerning two casino sites in Ohio.

In a statement, Penn National said it would pay Lakes a $25 million cash payment in exchange for Lakes surrendering its interest in casino projects in Columbus and Toledo.

Penn National Chief Executive Officer Peter Carlino said the company would break ground on the Toledo project next month and on the Columbus site early next year. Both casinos are expected to open in 2012.

Aecom Technology closes deal for Tishman Construction

Aecom Technology Corp. said Wednesday it closed a deal to acquire construction management firm Tishman Construction Corp. for $245 million.

New York City-based Tishman has 900 employees and manages construction projects in the United States and United Arab Emirates.

Locally, Tishman was executive construction manager on CityCenter, and was manager of Boyd Gaming Corp.'s Echelon when the project was suspended in 2008.

Aecom is a publicly traded technical and management support services company with 45,000 employees in nearly 100 countries. The company generated $6.3 billion in revenues for the 12 months ended March 31.

Tishman generated nearly $1 billion in revenues in 2009. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Tishman will continue to head Tishman's operations. He will also become a vice chairman and a director of Aecom.

International Game Technology adds to board of directors

Slot machine maker International Game Technology said Tuesday that Vincent Sadusky has been elected to the company's board of directors.

Sadusky is president and chief executive officer of LIN TV Corp., a multimedia company based in Providence, R.I.

"He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the media industry and adds a new and important dimension to our board," IGT CEO Patti Hart said in a statement. "Additionally, his tenure as CEO of a public company will make him a valuable adviser to IGT's management team."

IGT has several openings on its board of directors. Bob Bittman and Richard Burt both left the board in the past year. Frederick Rentschler, the company's longest-serving board member, died recently.

ATLANTIC CITY

Trump reorganization OK'd;
exit from bankruptcy to come

The name on the casinos is still Trump, but the main owners of three Atlantic City casinos are now the company's bondholders.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a group led by New York-based Avenue Capital Management to own Trump Entertainment Resorts.

The commission also approved the company's bankruptcy court reorganization, paving the way for Trump Entertainment to emerge from its third bankruptcy by Monday.

Avenue Capital, which specializes in buying the debt of distressed companies and trying to turn them around, will own the largest single stake in the company -- 21.7 percent.

Marc Lasry, Avenue Capital's CEO, said it plans to operate the casinos for at least the next five years.

DETROIT

To inspire confidence in Volt, GM guarantees batteries

General Motors Co. is guaranteeing the battery in its Chevrolet Volt electric car for eight years or 100,000 miles in an effort to inspire confidence in the new technology.

The guarantee is better than warranties on GM's conventional car engines and transmissions, which are five years or 100,000 miles.

The rechargeable Volt is due in showrooms this November. The vehicle can travel 40 miles on battery power before a small gasoline engine takes over to generate power so the car can go longer distances. The Volt is expected to be priced around $35,000 but will probably cost less after federal tax credits.

A longer warranty will help GM as it tries to persuade people to adopt the new lithium-ion battery technology.

WASHINGTON

In minutes, Fed says it stands ready to bolster economy

Federal Reserve officials cut their forecasts for growth this year and signaled they stood ready to take new steps to keep the recovery alive if the economy worsens.

A new document, released Wednesday, revealed a more cautious mood among the Fed policymakers in light of Europe's debt crisis, a volatile Wall Street, a stalled housing market and high unemployment.

With risks growing, Fed officials at their June 22-23 meeting saw the need to explore new options for bolstering the economy.

If the recovery were to deteriorate, Fed policymakers have options. They could revive programs to buy mortgage securities or government debt. They could lower the rates banks pay for emergency Fed loans. The Fed also could create a new program to spark more lending to businesses and consumers in a bid to lure them to raise spending and expand the economy.

Eleven MGM Resorts hotels lauded for ecofriendliness

MGM Resorts International said 11 Strip resorts received high marks in a program that audits and evaluates environmentally sustainable hotels operations.

The casino operator said its MGM Grand Detroit was also honored, marking the first resorts in Nevada and Michigan to earn marks from the Green Key Eco-Rating Program.

AAA, Travelocity, Expedia, and other major travel services use the designations as a guideline for making recommendations to travelers who are conservation-minded.

CityCenter's Aria and the nongaming Vdara Hotel earned "five keys," the organization's highest designation.

"Four keys" designations went to, Bellagio, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand Las Vegas, The Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York and MGM Grand Detroit.

Circus Circus Las Vegas earned a "three keys" designation.

MGM Resorts shares rose 2 cents, or 0.19 percent, Wednesday to close at $10.42 on the New York Stock Exchange.

WASHINGTON

Retail spending declines
0.5 percent in June, data show

Retail sales fell in June for the second straight month.

Spending on retail goods dropped 0.5 percent in June, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That followed a 1.1 percent fall in May. Excluding autos, spending was down 0.1 percent in June.

A dip in auto sales and falling gasoline prices pulled down June figures. When taking those out, sales would have risen 0.1 percent for the month.

Separately, the Commerce Department said that business inventories rose 0.1 percent in May. But sales fell 0.9 percent, the first dip since March 2009.

MENLO PARK, Calif.

Former plant workers sue Toyota over severance pay

Former employees of a shuttered California auto plant sued the factory and Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday, claiming they were denied fair severance packages because injuries kept them off the job in the months leading to the facility's closure.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, seeks a revised severance deal, restitution, lost compensation, other employee benefits and monetary damages.

The lawsuit also seeks class action status. Lawyers claim that about 300 of the 4,700 employees who lost their jobs when the Fremont-based New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or Nummi, closed April 1 may be affected.

Many of the laid-off employees, who assembled Toyota cars and trucks, received a minimum union-negotiated payout of $21,175 each. Employees who worked continuously in the six months before the plant's closure also received enhancements based on years of service and other factors.