The State from Columbia, South Carolina • B4

I A 1 A I A WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 1 WWW.THESTATE.COM 1 PAGE B4 BUSINESS Dow 16,429.47 0.84% 1 Nasdaq 4,352.84 0.71% 1 500 1,920.21 0.97% 1 Gold $1,285.30 1 Oil $97.38 NATION WORLD African leaders, U.S. investors meet WASHINGTON President Barack Obama convened a giant game of Make a between the United States and Africa on Tuesday, bringing together nearly 50 African leaders with U.S. investors for what he promised would be a long-term partnership that went beyond extracting from the ground for our For Obama, the son of a Kenyan economist, it was the centerpiece of a three-day summit meeting of African leaders that represents the most ambitious attempt to cement his legacy as a U.S. leader who cares about the African continent. His speech focused heavily on creating the right conditions for U.S.

companies to invest in Africa. He made a couple of announcements to jump-start the effort, including $12 billion in new funding for the Power Africa initiative, which aims to provide electricity to households across sub-Saharan Africa. With $26 billion in funding, Obama said he had tripled the goal of reaching 60 million households. He also promoted $14 billion in new investments by U.S. companies in Africa, including $5 billion from Coca-Cola.

Heeding requests from African leaders, he said the White House would work with Congress to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which grants trade preferences to sub-Saharan countries and expires next year. 21st Century Fox drops Time Warner plan NEW YORK Rupert 21st Century Fox is abandoning its attempt to take over Time Warner in a proposed deal that would have combined two of the biggest media companies. The about-face announced Tuesday comes three weeks after Time Warner Inc. revealed that it had rejected 21st Century unsolicited $76 billion buyout offer. There had been hopes that 21st Century Fox, which owns the 20th Century Fox movie studio, Fox broadcast network, and TV channels Fox News and FX, might raise its original cash-and-stock offer bid of roughly $86 per share to as much as $100 per share to win over Time Warner.

Even with 21st Century Fox now out of the picture, Time shares still remain above where they were before the news of buyout offer came out. Time Warner, which owns the Warner Bros. movie studio and TV channels such as TNT, TBS and HBO, immediately respond to requests for comment about 21st Century decision. Target lowers its fiscal hopes NEW YORK Target has lowered its second-quarter forecast because of costs related to a massive data breach and the repayment of debt. The retailer also said Tuesday that it expects sales to be flat at established locations in the U.S., as continue to spend cautiously and focus on and that promotional discounts are expected to hurt profit margins.

Target Corp. has been reeling since it announced in December that hackers stole millions of credit- and debit-card records. The theft hurt the reputation and profits and spawned dozens of legal actions. The New York Times and The Associated Press contributed. Daniel Eskew has been promoted to Midlands regional sales manager for Co- lumbia-based Spirit Communications.

Es- kew previously served as an account executive in the com- Greenville office. He is a grad- uate of North Greenville University with a degree in business administration. Rebekah Friedman Visit thestate.com/business and click on People Achievements to see the latest news from busi- ness community. Submissions: MIDLANDS PEOPLE ACHIEVEMENTS Kristy Eppley Rupon, Business Editor (803) 771-8308 or Business e-mail: REACHING US Walgreen Co. will main- tain its corporate tax head- quarters in the United States after it completes its roughly $16 billion acquisi- tion of European counter- part Alliance Boots GmbH, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Shares of the Deerfield, drugstore chain fell on the news as much as 7 percent in early after- noon trading on Tuesday before rebounding to close down $2.99, or 4.2 percent, at $69.12. The company will hold a call with investors Walgreen to remain based in U.S. Company will not move headquarters to Europe to save on taxes By PETER FROST Chicago Tribune SEE WALGREEN PAGE WASHINGTON Starting Tuesday, la- bels on packaged foods have real meaning. Until now, the term was unregulated, and man- ufacturers made their own decisions about what it means. This new requirement is especially important for people who suffer from ce- liac disease and ab- sorb nutrients well.

They can get sick from the gluten found in wheat and other cereal grains. Under a rule announced a year ago, food manufac- turers had until this week to ensure that anything la- beled gluten-free contains less than 20 parts per mil- lion of gluten ensuring that those products are technically free of wheat, rye and barley. That amount is generally recog- nized by the medical com- munity to be low enough so that most people who have celiac disease get sick if they eat it. Currently, wheat must be FOOD LABELS standards kick in By MARY CLARE JALONICK The Associated Press SEE LABELS PAGE B5 MULLINS A nod to once- bustling tobacco days is no more. Last week a demolition crew and a bulldozer toppled the Old Brick Warehouse along Main Street.

The warehouse was more than 100 years old, and one of several in the city that used to house the largest tobacco market. These warehouses in Mullins were a solid source of income dur- ing the summer season, employing hundreds of people in the area. Mayor William McMillan said the landmark will be remembered. too valuable a location and too important not to consider fu- ture he said. was a great historical spot.

My first job was there as a water boy, so got a lot of wonderful memories to a lot of There are no plans for the space, but McMillan is willing to entertain ideas if groups want to purchase property. had three engineering firms to come in to try and help us save it, but it was too far he said. was a safety hazard and had no MULLINS LANDMARK GONE The old Brick Warehouse in Mullins was a Main Street landmark for more than 100 years until it was torn down last week. BRICK WAREHOUSE IS DEMOLISHED Building was one of several in city to house largest tobacco market By NAEEM MCFADDEN (Florence) Morning News SEE WAREHOUSE PAGE B5 lumping its digital ventures into a new company that al- so will retain vast broadcast holdings. The deal provides Gan- nett, publisher of USA To- day, with sole control of a profitable digital site and gives the sellers an infusion of cash at a time of high valu- ations for Internet ventures.

was one of those ac- quisitions, simply put, that makes perfect sense finan- cially and said Gracia Martore, president and CEO of Gannett, during a call with investment analysts. As its sole owner, Gannett can the business to the next said Martore, adding that she will become the CEO of the new publicly traded company that com- bines higher-growth broad- cast and digital holdings. In an interview McClatchy CEO Patrick lamantes hinted that the sale marked a milestone. were in it for 17 years. It was a joint venture for all that time.

As often happens to joint ventures, eventually there is an ownership transi- WASHINGTON Gannett announcement Tuesday that it was buying out its four media partners in Cars.com to the tune of $1.8 billion is both a success story for the struggling newspaper sector and a sign of the challenges ahead. The largest U.S. newspa- per publisher, Gannett, said it was buying the 73 percent stake held by its partners in Classified Ventures, the pa- rent of popular auto shop- ping website Cars.com. Sell- ing stakes to Gannett were McClatchy, Tribune Media Graham Holdings Co. and A.H.

Belo Corp. McClatchy owns The State newspaper and several other newspapers in South Carolina and North Caroli- na, including The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News and The Charlotte Observer. And as had been predic- ted by several industry watchers, Gannett also reor- ganized into two publicly traded media companies, leaving its newspaper pub- lishing operations in one standalone business and Cars.com sale shows success and struggle for news companies By KEVIN G. HALL McClatchy Newspapers SEE NEWS PAGE B5.