GE, Ukraine sign $1bn locomotives deal

BENGALURU: General Electric Co’s transportation unit said on Friday it signed a $1 billion deal to supply 30 freight locomotives to Ukrainian Railways.

Under the agreement, the unit will also supply additional locomotive kits over 10 years, rehabilitate locomotives in the railway’s legacy fleet and provide long-term maintenance services.

Production is expected to begin in the US in early 2018, with the first deliveries slated for this fall, the company said.—Reuters

LafargeHolcim buys Kendall Group

ZURICH: LafargeHolcim has bought Kendall Group, an aggregates and ready-mix concrete maker in southern Britain, in the first acquisition by the Swiss company’s Chief Executive Jan Jenisch since he took charge last September.

LafargeHolcim did not disclose how much it was paying for Kendall, a Portsmouth-based family business, which had sales of around 33 million Swiss francs ($35.26m) in 2017.

The region where Kendall is active is expected to benefit from above national average growth, especially in the housing segment, LafargeHolcim said on Friday.—Reuters

General Mills to acquire Blue Buffalo

NEW YORK: US food conglomerate General Mills is adding dogs and cats to its portfolio, in an $8 billion deal to acquire natural pet food company Blue Buffalo, the companies announced Friday.

Yoplait yogurt said the acquisition gives the company a way into a growing $30bn market for pet food.

Blue Buffalo has seen double-digit sales growth of its natural products in each of the last three years with $1.3bn in sales last year.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2018