BIOPHARMA
Boston contract research company to merge with North Carolina firm
A private equity-backed Boston company that provides contract research and business services to drug makers is merging with a North Carolina company in a bid to form a larger contract research organization to serve the growing biopharma industry. Under the deal, inVentiv Health Inc. will combine with INC Research Holdings Inc. The transaction values inVentiv, owned by Boston private equity firms Advent International Corp. and Thomas H. Lee Partners, at $4.6 billion and the combined company at $7.4 billion. The combined company, which will be based in Raleigh, will be the nation’s second-largest biopharma contract research organization, the two companies said in a statement. When the deal is completed, INC Research shareholders will own about 53 percent and inVentiv shareholders about 47 percent of the combined company. Advent International and Thomas H. Lee Partners will remain investors in the combined company. — ROBERT WEISMAN
ADVERTISING
Pizza Hut apologizes for ad mocking Palestinian hunger striker, fires ad agency
Pizza Hut has apologized and fired an advertising firm responsible for an Israeli Facebook ad that mocked the leader of a mass Palestinian hunger strike. The ad on Israel’s Pizza Hut Facebook page was deleted and the parent company said in a statement on Tuesday that the Facebook post was ‘‘completely inappropriate.’’ After Israel Prison Service released a video claiming to show Marwan Barghouti secretly snacking, Pizza Hut Israel published a Facebook post with a pizza box superimposed on Barghouti’s prison cell, asking if he would rather have broken his hunger strike with pizza. A representative of Grass Pink, the Israeli advertising company behind the ad, said it ‘‘didn’t mean to offend anybody.’’ Prisoners are an emotional issue for Palestinians after decades of conflict. Some threatened to boycott the chain. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
HEALTH CARE
Central Mass. physician group to be acquired by Optum
Reliant Medical Group, a Central Massachusetts group of about 300 doctors, has agreed to be acquired by the large national health care company Optum. Worcester-based Reliant said the deal would help it grow, modernize facilities, access data analytics tools, and attract top talent to its practices. The transaction still must be finalized and is subject to regulatory approvals. Optum is a health services company owned by UnitedHealth Group, which also owns the nation’s largest health insurer. Optum’s care network includes more than 17,000 primary care providers and specialists. Reliant, with about 2,500 employees across 25 locations, was part of the Atrius Health network until 2015, when it split off and merged with Southboro Medical Group. — PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY
MEDIA
Time Inc. to sell some magazines or other properties
Time Inc. is planning to sell some magazines or other properties as the struggling publisher tries to push ahead with a digital strategy and move past months of talks with potential acquirers. The owner of Sports Illustrated and People will look to offload ‘‘relatively smaller’’ titles in its portfolio and other ‘‘non-core’’ assets, chief executive Rich Battista said Wednesday on a conference call. He didn’t name the assets. Battista added that Time is open to joint ventures with other companies and interested in an outside investor who could provide capital ‘‘for a particular opportunity.’’ Last month, Time announced that it was sticking with its online strategy rather than sell itself after months of negotiations with potential suitors, including Meredith Corp. and a group including Pamplona Capital Management and Jahm Najafi. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
SPORTS
Report looks at cost of new Pawtucket Red Sox stadium
One of the proposed sites for the new Pawtucket Red Sox stadium would bring in $34 million more in state and city taxes than the other site, according to a recently released study. Both properties are just off Interstate 95 along the Seekonk River, but Apex (left), named for the site’s ziggurat-shaped former department store building, is a short walk from downtown. Tidewater is in a wooded area on the other side of the highway. The minor league baseball team and the city jointly hired a national firm for the study comparing the impact of developing the two sites. The Brailsford & Dunlavey firm found Apex would generate $129.8 million in taxes, while Tidewater would generate $95.8 million. However at an estimated $146.7 million, development for the Apex site would cost nearly twice as much as Tidewater. An earlier study found the current McCoy ballpark needs $68 million in renovations and razing it for a new stadium would be about $78 million. The most recent study did not compare which benefits from the sites would be generated above what’s being generated at McCoy. Team owners say they plan to stay at McCoy until their lease ends in 2021. The team is a Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
TECHNOLOGY
Larry Page’s dream of a high-tech city may lead to Toronto
Larry Page’s dream of using technology to fix cities may come to Canada first. Sidewalk Labs, the urban innovation unit of Page’s Alphabet Inc., has applied to develop a 12-acre strip in downtown Toronto, responding to a recent city agency request for proposals, according to two people familiar with the plans. Details of the proposal are private, but these people said the bid fits with the company’s ambition to create a connected, high-tech city or district from scratch. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
ATHLETIC GEAR
Adidas sells golf brands
Adidas AG said it sold its golf brands including TaylorMade to KPS Capital Partners LP as the sports footwear and apparel maker focuses on its namesake brand and Reebok. TaylorMade, Adams Golf, and Ashworth will be sold to KPS for $425 million via a newly formed affiliate of the private equity firm, Adidas and KPS said in separate statements Wednesday. The amount will be paid half in cash and half with a combination of a secured note and contingent considerations. The world’s second-largest sport apparel company is focusing on its core brands. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
GOVERNMENT
US Postal Service hopes to raise stamp prices
The US Postal Service is hoping it can soon raise stamp prices by a penny or more. The postal service on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss of $562 million, despite growth in package delivery, due to continued erosion in the use of first-class mail as well as expensive mandates for its retiree health care obligations. It also attributed losses to a forced reduction in stamp prices last year. The postal service is generally barred under federal law from raising prices more than the rate of inflation. But it is seeking greater regulatory leeway to increase prices, including a one-cent rate hike provided in a measure being considered by Congress. The current cost of a first-class stamp is 49 cents. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
RETAIL
Struggling Abercrombie may be taken over by rivals
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rallied the most in more than two months after at least two rivals were said to be discussing a takeover of the ailing chain. Express Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. are both in merger talks with Abercrombie, according to a person familiar with the situation. The discussions are in an early stage, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. A highflying retailer in the 1990s, Abercrombie has now suffered four years of flagging sales. The company announced earlier this year that it was cutting 150 corporate-level jobs to help cope with the slump. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
