Economy Briefs

MEDIA

Gallup: Slight uptick in trust of papers, TV

A new poll shows public confidence in newspaper and television news has picked up slightly in recent years but still lags behind levels of trust from two decades ago.

A Gallup poll finds that the biggest improvement in media trust in the past year registered among 30-to-49-year-olds. But those under age 30 delivered a split verdict: Confidence in television news rose 10 percentage points for that age group, while trust in newspapers fell 10 points in the same group.

Overall, Gallup says, barely a fourth of Americans say they have much confidence in newspaper and TV news.

Confidence in newspaper and TV news slid during the 1990s and hit bottom in 2007. Gallup says recent small improvements could mark the beginning of a reversal in the trend.

MICHIGAN

Lawsuit says GM failed to fix nonpolice Impalas

DETROIT | A lawsuit asserts that General Motors Co. fixed a defective part on police versions of the Chevrolet Impala but didn’t correct the same problem in hundreds of thousands of other Impalas.

The class-action lawsuit, filed last week in Detroit, says 2007 and 2008 model-year Impalas have defective spindle rods, which connect the suspension to the rear wheels. The defect misaligns the wheels, which makes the tires wear out faster.

According to the lawsuit, GM told dealers to replace the spindle rods and tires on affected police vehicles. It also authorized dealers to reimburse police who had purchased replacement tires.

But the suit says GM didn’t offer the same remedy to nonpolice owners. The company sold 423,000 Impalas from those model years.

A GM spokesman was not immediately available to comment Tuesday.

NEW YORK

Bondholders challenge Bank of America settlement

NEW YORK | A group of bondholders Tuesday challenged Bank of America’s record $8.5 billion settlement for losses on mortgage-backed securities, clouding its efforts to move past the subprime mortgage mess.

The proposed settlement was marred by “serious conflicts of interest” and “would extinguish the legal rights of hundreds of other investors,” Walnut Place, the group of disgruntled bond-holders, alleged.

“Walnut Place has serious concerns about the secret, nonadversarial, and conflicted way in which the proposed settlement was negotiated and about the fairness of the terms of the proposed settlement,” the group said.

The challenge threatens to scuttle a deal Bank of America had worked out with 22 large investment groups in an effort to close the door on its disastrous 2008 acquisition of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial.

Before the financial crisis, Countrywide was a leading issuer of subprime mortgages, many of which were bundled into complex mortgage-backed securities sold to investors ignorant of underlying risks.

NEW YORK

TPG Capital buying Immucor for $1.97B

NEW YORK | Blood-testing equipment maker Immucor Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to be acquired by TPG Capital in a deal worth $1.97 billion, or $27 per share in cash.

Immucor said its board unanimously approved the deal, and the Norcross, Ga., company expects the sale to close in the second half of 2011.

TPG Capital, a private investment firm, is offering a 30.3-percent premium to the most-recent closing price of Immucor shares. The deal requires regulatory approval and the support of the owners of at least 84 percent of Immucor’s shares. TPG will start a tender offer for Immucor shares by July 15.

ValueAct Capital, which is Immucor’s biggest shareholder, said it supports the transaction. ValueAct is a hedge fund that owns 8.9 million shares of Immucor, or 12.7 percent of the company.

Shares of Immucor jumped $6.27, or 30.3 percent, to $27 in afternoon trading.