Here is a look at some of Wednesday's top business stories:
Citigroup to sell off insurance arm in IPO
New York, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Financial monolith Citigroup Inc. said Wednesday that it will be selling up to 20 percent of its insurance sector in an initial public offering, and then spin off the insurance arm.
Travelers Property Casualty Corp. had reported $448 million in losses as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, driving down the group's third-quarter profit by 8.6 percent. The IPO would allow Citigroup to get out of the less predictable business of insurance, and remain focused on its core operations.
The IPO should take place in the first quarter of next year, and the spin-off should be completed by the end of 2002.
"In addition to enabling Citigroup to focus its resources more fully on higher growth areas of global financial services, this spin-off creates a stand-alone, leading publicly-owned property casualty company," said the group's chief executive officer Sanford Weill.
Tyson, officers charged in alien smuggling
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury in Chattanooga, Tenn., has returned a 36-count indictment against executives and managers of Tyson Foods Inc., for conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens to its U.S. facilities for profit, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
The company immediately disputed the government's allegations.
Tyson is the world's largest producer, processor, and marketer of poultry-based food products in the United States.
The indictment, unsealed Wednesday in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, is the result of a two-and-a-half year undercover investigation conducted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service into the business practices of Tyson Foods, the department said.
"Tyson Foods executives and managers are accused in the indictment of conspiring to import and transport illegal alien workers from the Southwest border to Tyson plants throughout the United States," the department said in a statement. "Fifteen Tyson Foods plants in nine states have been implicated in this conspiracy to defraud the United States government."
INS Commissioner James Ziglar said, "This case represents the first time INS has taken action against a company of Tyson's magnitude."
According to the indictment, Tyson Foods cultivated a corporate culture in which the hiring of illegal alien workers was condoned in order to meet production goals and cut costs to maximize profits.
GM, Ford drop some Internet ventures
DETROIT, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are scrapping e-business ventures the automakers jumped into during the heady days of the Internet boom.
GM has canceled a $50 million Web site to sell cars and trucks directly to consumers because of a lack of interest by dealers, and Ford is selling its stake in Internet Capital Group Inc. for a fraction of the $50 million it paid in 1999.
The Detroit News on Wednesday said GM dealers don't believe the proposed AutoCentric site, a joint venture between GM and its 7,800 dealers, makes economic sense right now. The venture would have sold cars from other manufacturers and competed with independent auto Web sites that sell all brands.
GM withdrew registration of AutoCentric JV LLC with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, but will continue to operate its corporate GMBuyPower.com Web site, which sells only GM vehicles.
GM's Internet unit, e-GM, launched in August 1999, will be scaled back as the corporation integrates new e-commerce technologies into its traditional business divisions, the News said.
Ford, meanwhile, said earlier this week it would write off most of the $50 million investment it made in Internet Capital Group two years ago. Ford paid $108 a share for stock in the venture in 1999, an investment now worth only about $1.15 a share.
