Zynga to offer casino games in Britain, stock rallies. NEW YORK, April 3- U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after disappointing economic data, but the S&P 500 index hung near an all-time intraday high.
NEW YORK, March 12- Dean Metropoulos may not be a household name, but the food industry veteran's reach extends from the pantry to the refrigerator to the freezer. Metropoulos, who works with his sons Daren and Evan, has teamed up with longtime partner Apollo Global Management to buy some snack cake brands from bankrupt Hostess Brands Inc.
*Milling operations had total sales last year of $4.3 bln. March 5- Giant U.S. food and grain-handling companies ConAgra Foods Inc, Cargill and CHS Inc plan to combine their North American flour milling businesses into a new venture that would control more than a third of U.S. capacity, dwarfing all competitors in size and market reach.
*Milling operations had total sales last year of $4.3 bln. March 5- Giant U.S. food and grain-handling companies ConAgra Foods Inc, Cargill and CHS Inc on Tuesday said they plan to combine their North American flour milling businesses into a new company called Ardent Mills.
The $23 billion buyout of H.J. Heinz by Warren Buffett and private equity put food executives on notice: start showing better results or risk being left behind. Campbell Soup has long been seen as a good candidate, though roughly half of its stock is controlled by heirs of John Dorrance, who invented condensed soup.
*Wal-Mart, Burger King, Kraft already feeling the pinch. "Unfortunately, the loss of so many middle-class jobs in this country makes it tough," said Gary Rodkin, chief executive of consumer packaged foods company ConAgra Foods, in an interview on Tuesday.
*Monsanto stock jumps after strong earnings, raised outlook. "I'm surprised futures are holding up, given the relative disappointment that German data showed, but I think all eyes are on the beginning of earnings season," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
*Sears says CEO to step down, shares rise. Monsanto Co, Apollo Group and Dow component Alcoa Inc start the quarterly season. Monsanto shares rose 3.2 percent to $99 after announcing first-quarter results and the company's outlook.
*Yum shares fall alongside China sales. *Shares of Yum Brands Inc fell 5 percent to $64.50 in light premarket trading a day after the KFC parent warned sales in China, its top market, shrank more than expected in the fourth quarter. *ConAgra Foods Inc priced a public offering of 8.1 million common shares at $29.75 per share, the foodmaker said on Monday.