Timken receives
order for China plant

And the Aluminum Medal for Best Performance in Tapered Bearings goes to . . . the Timken Co.

OK, we all know there is no Olympic medal for bearings in the summer games in China.

But Timken has received an order in the low-multimillion-dollar range to provide large-bore tapered roller bearings for a high-precision aluminum rolling mill being built in northwestern China.

The Canton-based bearings and specialty steel maker designed bearings for Qinghai Ping'an High Precision Aluminum Co. Ltd., which is constructing the new hot strip mill in Ping'an, Qinghai province.
Kroger, union reach
tentative agreement

The Kroger Co. grocery operator said it reached a tentative deal with the union representing Columbus-area workers.

The agreement announced Wednesday must be ratified by members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1059. It represents more than 11,000 Kroger workers at 87 stores.
Skechers makes bid
for Heelys sneakers

Skechers USA Inc. made an unsolicited offer to buy Heelys Inc., the maker of wheeled sneakers, for $142.8 million.
BMW AG recalls
200,000 vehicles

BMW AG said it was recalling 200,000 vehicles over concerns that the front passenger air bag might not deploy in a crash.

The German automaker said the recall involves the 2006 3 Series, the 2004-2006 5 Series, and the 2004-2006 X3 compact sport utility vehicles in the United States.
Alltel Corp. states
loss of $70 million

Alltel Corp., which is still paying the price of being acquired by private investors, said it lost $70 million in the second quarter as interest and other costs gobbled up its earnings.

Alltel, which in June agreed to be acquired by Verizon Wireless for $5.9 billion, said sales rose 10 percent from a year ago to $2.39 billion. But the $70 million loss contrasted with a profit of $196 million in 2007.

Alltel was taken private last year and took on an estimated $23 billion in debt to finance the $24.7 billion buyout by TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners.
Continental rejects
rival's latest offer

German auto parts maker Continental AG, which is Europe's second largest tire maker, again declined a bid by rival Schaeffler KG to take it over, leaving the possibility open to more talks.

Hannover-based Continental said in a statement the offer price of 70.12 euros ($104.48) per share in cash remained ''inadequate from a financial point of view.''

With about 161 million Continental shares outstanding, privately held Schaeffler's offer is worth approximately $17 billion.

If a takeover effort is successful, it would make Schaeffler the world's biggest auto component maker, putting it ahead of competitors like Robert Bosch GmbH.

Schaeffler makes ball bearings for the industrial, aviation, aerospace and automotive sectors as well as components for engines, transmissions and drive trains.

Cerberus, Carlyle
sell big investments

Cerberus Capital Management LP and Carlyle Group sold two investments worth a combined $6.6 billion, indicating that private equity firms can make money even when they can't raise financing for new deals.

Cerberus sold Talecris Biotherapeutics Holding Corp. to CSL Ltd., the world's second-largest maker of blood plasma products, for $3.1 billion, reaping about 22 times more than its original cash investment.

Carlyle, based in Washington, sold U.S. steel maker John Maneely Co. to Russia's OAO Novolipetsk Steel for $3.5 billion, more than six times what the buyout firm originally paid for the company in 2006, the companies said.

Carlyle Group is the owner of Fairlawn-based Veyance Technologies, which is the former Goodyear Engineered Products unit.