Quaker Steak sale approved

Quaker Steak sale approved

SHARON, PA.

The sale of Sharon-based Quaker Steak & Lube LLC was granted in U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division earlier this week.

TravelCenters of America LLC agreed to acquire Quaker Steak & Lube’s restaurant and related assets for about $25 million after Quaker Steak filed for bankruptcy in November 2015.

Quaker Steak’s bankruptcy filing includes the asset purchase and $2 million debtor-in-possession financing agreements with TA.

Pursuant to the purchase agreement, TA has placed a substantial deposit toward the purchase price and has agreed to offer employment after the closing to substantially all Quaker Steak & Lube’s employees.

Quaker Steak & Lube has 12 corporate-owned or controlled operating locations, including one joint venture and 42 franchised locations operating in 16 states and Canada.

Village Pump ribbon-cutting

CANFIELD

The Youngstown/ Warren Regional Chamber announced there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Tuesday for the Village Pump, 5231-4 S. Canfield-Niles Road.

Located in the Addison Reserve Plaza, the Village Pump is a full-service restaurant and bar that opened in February.

The restaurant offers a unique dining menu and a continually expanding craft and imported beer list, classic and seasonal cocktails and a robust wine menu. It is open from 3 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 3 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed Sundays.

Retirees’ pension checks to be cut

WASHINGTON

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, issued a statement Friday after the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. announced it will cut some Delphi retirees’ pension checks moving forward in order to recoup past overpayments.

PBGC made the decision after determining retirees previously had been overpaid through no fault of their own. In light of this announcement, Brown will introduce legislation to prevent PBGC from cutting retirees’ benefits.

Court nixes suit over TGI Friday’s drink prices

NEWARK, N.J.

A lawsuit that began over a $1.59 discrepancy for a drink at TGI Friday’s cannot proceed as a class action, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled.

The court’s ruling published Thursday is the latest development in a six-year saga that began when a southern New Jersey woman sued the chain after she realized she had been charged $2.00 for a drink at the bar and, later, $3.59 for a similar drink while sitting at a table.

Debra Dugan claimed the price difference and the fact the restaurants don’t print drink prices on their menus amounted to violations of state consumer-protection laws. She claimed the practice amounted to “menu engineering” and sought to exploit customers.

Gilead ordered to pay Merck $200M

The federal jury in a patent trial has ordered drugmaker Gilead Sciences to pay Merck $200 million in damages for infringing on patents for hepatitis C drugs.

The award is far below the damages Merck sought, but the trial moves to a new phase Wednesday. The jury, in San Jose, Calif., then will decide whether Merck & Co. is due royalties on sales of Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs, Harvoni and Sovaldi.

Staff/wire reports