Chrysler's Ceo Sees Sale To Fiat Closing Friday

Ford Motor Co.

According to internal documents obtained by the website TechCrunch, Microsoft has offered $1 billion for the digital assets of Nook Media, Barnes & Noble's digital book venture.According to internal documents obtained by the website TechCrunch, Microsoft has offered $1 billion for the digital assets of Nook Media, Barnes & Noble's digital book venture. The deal would give Microsoft Barnes & Noble's e-books, homegrown games and of course its Nook e-readers and tablets. But perhaps not for long: Nook plans to discontinue its Android-based tablet business by the end of 2014, according to the documents. Instead, the company will transition to having Nook content available solely on third-party devices, perhaps ones made by Microsoft, if the purchase goes through.

Sears continues to struggle to get a "decent" return on its assets and the retailer didn't move fast enough to cut expenses after the financial crisis, the CEO said at the annual meeting.

Germany drug company Bayer AG says it intends to buy California-based Conceptus to expand its birth control offerings. Bayer said Monday it would launch a public offer to pay $31.00 per share for all the stock in Conceptus, Inc. That means Bayer would pay $1.1 billion. Conceptus makes Essure, an irreversible birth control method in which metal and polyester coils are inserted to block a woman's fallopian tubes. The procedure can be done in 10 minutes a doctor's office. Conceptus CEO D. Keith Grossman was quoted in a Bayer statement as saying Essure "will benefit in new markets from Bayer's global presence." The deal is subject to approval by antitrust authorities and could be completed by midyear. Conceptus is based in Mountain View, California and employs about 300 people.

The head of Italian automaker Fiat is considering a plan to hold a public stock offering after the company buys 100 percent of Chrysler, according to a person briefed on the matter.