The shoe company Skechers is being acquired for more than $9 billion to be taken private by the investment firm by 3G Capital.

The deal comes amid growing uncertainty over how U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign goods will affect companies who make their products overseas, particularly in China. Athletic shoe makers have invested heavily in production in Asia.

The offer of $63 per share represents a premium of 30% to Skechers’ 15-day volume-weighted average stock price. The deal was unanimously approved by Skechers’ board.

Skechers shares jumped nearly 24% Monday, to $61.39.

In a press release announcing the deal, the companies did not mention the potential impacts of Trump’s tariffs on its business going forward. However, Skechers says that about two-thirds of its revenue comes from sales outside of the U.S. China accounts for 15% of the company’s revenue, according to the data firm FactSet.

Like many other companies increasingly have done since Trump’s widespread tariff announcements, Skechers did not issue guidance when it released its first quarter earnings in April.

Executives also said they would be looking to minimize products going to the U.S. from “high-cost locations,” including the impact of tariffs. The company did not immediately provide a breakdown of foreign production, but many of their shoes come with a “Made in China” stamp.

Skechers has about 5,300 retail stores worldwide, about 1,800 company-owned.

When the deal closes, the company will be led by Skechers Chairman and CEO Robert Greenberg and his management team. Its headquarters will remain in Manhattan Beach, Calif., where it was founded more than three decades ago.

Skechers reported a record $9 billion in revenue in 2024 with net earnings of $640 million.

The deal with 3G Capital is expected to close in the third quarter this year.

— Associated Press

Rite Aid again files for bankruptcy

Rite Aid is again seeking bankruptcy protection as the struggling drugstore chain says it will try to sell substantially all of its assets.

The company said Monday that its stores will remain open during bankruptcy proceedings.

The company said it will work to ensure that customer prescriptions are transferred to other pharmacies as it goes through the sale process. The drugstore chain has lined up from some of its lenders $1.94 billion in new financing which help fund it through the sale and bankruptcy proceedings.

The company initially filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2023, with plans to sell parts of its business and restructure. The company ran more than 2,300 stores in 17 states before the filing.

Rite Aid said then that its initial voluntary Chapter 11 filing would allow it to slash debt and resolve litigation. The company sold its relatively small pharmacy benefits management business, Elixir Solutions, for around $576 million.

Rite Aid emerged from Chapter 11 nearly a year later as a private company.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI to keep nonprofit status

After months spent pursuing a plan to convert itself into a for-profit business, OpenAI is reversing course and said Monday its nonprofit will continue to control the company that makes ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence products.

“We made the decision for the nonprofit to stay in control after hearing from civic leaders and having discussions with the offices of the Attorneys General of California and Delaware,” said CEO Sam Altman in a letter to employees.

Altman and the chair of OpenAI’s nonprofit board, Bret Taylor, said the board made the decision for the nonprofit to retain control of OpenAI. The nonprofit already has a for-profit arm, but that arm will be converted into a public benefit corporation “that has to consider the interests of both shareholders and the mission,” Taylor said.

Ford sees a $1.5B hit from tariffs this year

Ford Motor said Monday that the Trump administration’s tariff policies were likely to lower its 2025 profit, before interest and taxes, by about $1.5 billion. The company also dropped its forecast for the year, saying that predicting the future had become too hard.

Ford is less affected by President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on vehicles than other automakers because most of the vehicles it sells in the United States are made in the country. General Motors said last week that the tariffs would increase its costs $4 billion to $5 billion this year.

“We believe we are well positioned to adapt to the changes tariffs are driving in our industry,” Ford’s chief financial officer, Sherry House, said in a conference call.

The company said the administration’s shifting tariff policies had the potential to disrupt to automotive supply chains, and they could force other nations to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports. It also noted further uncertainty in the Trump administration’s tax and emission policies.

“We felt it prudent to suspend our full-year guidance,” House said.

Strike hits engine maker Pratt & Whitney

About 3,000 labor union members went on strike early Monday at jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut, as negotiations over wages, retirement benefits and job security broke down.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were picketing at manufacturing locations in East Hartford and Middletown, after about 77% of nearly 2,100 union members voted to approve their first strike since 2001, union officials said. Their contract expired late Sunday.

“Pratt and Whitney is a powerhouse in military and commercial aerospace products because our membership makes it so,” David Sullivan, the union’s eastern territory vice president, said in a statement. ”This offer does not address the membership concerns, and the membership made their decision — we will continue to fight for a fair contract.”

Picketing workers lined and crossed streets near the entrances to the East Hartford and Middletown plants on a rainy Monday morning. Many of the signs said “I am on strike! against Pratt & Whitney,” while some read “Solidarity for Security” and “Together We Rise.”

— From news services