LI Council to make case in Albany; other business briefs

LONG ISLAND

Council to make case in Albany

Long Island Regional Council members are due in Albany Wednesday to provide a progress report on local building projects. They'll join nine councils from across the state in a public event with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The local report will focus on how $161.3 million in state aid, awarded over the past 18 months, is being spent. Stuart Rabinowitz, Hofstra University president and Long Island council co-vice chairman, said he would emphasize to Cuomo that Long Island created more jobs than any other region for fewer state dollars, based on data from the first aid competition. The Island was one of the big winners in 2011 but was a runner-up in 2012.-- James T. Madore

NEW YORK

Bloomberg News apology

The editor in chief of Bloomberg News apologized Monday for the financial news service's practice of accessing private data on clients through the company's information service. Journalists at Bloomberg News, until recently, had been able to see when clients last accessed their Bloomberg information terminals and what broad categories of functions they used. Goldman Sachs had complained that a Bloomberg reporter was using the information to investigate if a Goldman employee had departed. "Our client is right," editor in chief Matthew Winkler said in an online posting. "Our reporters should not have access to any data considered proprietary." Bloomberg employs more than 2,400 journalists.

NATION

Two IPO anniversaries

LinkedIn and Facebook will celebrate the anniversaries of their IPOs this week. But their experiences as publicly traded companies couldn't be more different. LinkedIn Corp., which promotes its service as a stepping-stone to a more enriching career, has seen its stock nearly quadruple in value from its $45 IPO price on May 20 two years ago. Monday, it closed at $175.03. In contrast, social networking giant Facebook's stock is hovering around $27 per share, down 29 percent since it debuted on May 18, 2012, at $38. While LinkedIn is growing and yielding strong shareholder returns, Facebook has been a high-profile disappointment.

Dell board wants Icahn details

Dell board members say they need more details from investor Carl Icahn if he wants them to seriously consider his latest challenge to Michael Dell's $24.4-billion plan to take the computer maker private. Icahn and prominent Dell shareholder Southeastern Asset Management said last week they want to keep Dell Inc. publicly traded and give shareholders $12 per share in cash or more shares. But a Dell board special committee said Monday it wants more information on financing and what strategy Icahn would implement. An investment group led by company founder Michael Dell had offered to pay $13.65 per share to take the company private. That proposal has drawn criticism from Icahn and Southeastern, who together own about 13 percent of the company.

Ranbaxy pharmaceutical in $500M settlement

A subsidiary of India's largest pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay a record $500 million in fines and penalties for selling adulterated drugs and lying to federal regulators in a case that is part of an ongoing crackdown on the quality of generic drugs flowing into the United States. Federal prosecutors said Monday the guilty plea by Ranbaxy USA Inc. represents the largest financial penalty against a generic drug company for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits the sale of impure drugs. The Food and Drug Administration had earlier barred the company from importing more than 30 different drugs made at factories in India. Prosecutors said the batches of adulterated drugs included generic versions of an antibiotic and other medications used to treat severe nodular acne, epilepsy and nerve pain. -- AP