Possible merger by parent won’t affect Mercy sale talks

Portland-based Mercy Health System said its parent company, Catholic Health East, is in talks to merge with Trinity Health of Michigan.

The talks between Catholic Health East and Trinity Health will not affect Mercy’s own negotiations to be acquired by Steward Health Care System of Massachusetts, Mercy officials said.

Mercy and Steward are still exploring a deal and aim to reach an agreement in a few months.

A takeover by Steward would make Mercy the first for-profit acute-care hospital in Maine. The proposed deal was announced in August.

Catholic Health East, based in Newtown Square, Pa., has been Mercy’s parent company since 1997. It owns hospitals from Maine to Florida.

A combined Catholic Health East and Trinity Health entity would create a health system serving 21 states with 82 hospitals and 87,000 employees. The new health system would have operating revenues of about $13.3 billion and assets of about $19.3 billion.

The proposed deals are part of ongoing efforts by health care centers nationally to cut costs, gain heft in negotiating with vendors and respond to changing health care policies. 

Chinese company still wants to buy auto battery supplier

DETROIT – A Chinese auto supplier whose deal to acquire A123 Systems fell apart said Wednesday that it’s still interested in acquiring the electric-vehicle battery supplier.

Wanxiang Group had previously agreed to pay as much as $465 million for up to 80 percent of A123 Systems, but that deal unraveled as A123 slipped into Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday.

Wanxiang’s interest in A123’s assets could complicate auto supplier Johnson Controls’ $125 million bid to acquire A123’s auto battery plants and technology. That tentative deal was revealed Tuesday as part of the A123’s bankruptcy petition.

In Chapter 11 bankruptcy, proposed sales must be approved by a judge who generally awards assets to the highest bidder with the goal of returning money to creditors. 

New-home increase puts investors in buying mood

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after data showed new-home construction at a four-year high, offsetting disappointing results from technology bellwethers.

“If we’ve had one sector increasingly positive, it’s been housing, and today’s data proves that out again. That said, we’re in the middle of earnings season, and that’s a bumpier ride now,” said Art Hogan, market strategist at Lazard Capital Markets.

Up for a fourth consecutive session, its longest win streak in nearly five weeks, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 5.22 points to 13,557.

International Business Machines Corp. was the worst performer on the Dow, with shares dropping 4.9 percent after it reported revenue that missed expectations.

The next worst was Intel Corp., with shares down 2.5 percent after the semiconductor maker projected a fourth-quarter profit margin below analysts’ estimates.

Bank of America Corp. shed 0.2 percent after the lender and Dow component posted a profit of $340 million, but also reported revenue that missed Wall Street estimates.