Business Watch -- WSJ

CORNING

Swap Completed to Leave Dow Corning

Corning Inc. said it had successfully exchanged shares of silicone company Dow Corning for cash and an interest in a semiconductor company, ending a 73-year joint venture with Dow Chemical Co.

Corning said it swapped its 50% stake in Dow Corning for $4.8 billion and a 40% stake in Hemlock Semiconductor Group, which makes semiconductors for the solar-panel industry.

"Our position in Hemlock allows us to capture the potential upside from a rebound in the solar market," Corning Chief Executive Wendell Weeks said.

Dow Chemical said the deal would result in $400 million in cost and growth synergies and provide complementary offerings in segments where Dow Chemical already has market share.

The South Africa Competition Commission's approval came a little over a month after AB InBev pledged to create a $69 million investment fund in South Africa and promised that no employees in the country would lose their jobs as a result of the merger.

--Austen Hufford

GENERAL ELECTRIC

Wisconsin Plant Will Relocate to Canada

General Electric Co. said Wednesday that Welland, Ontario, would be the new home of its Waukesha, Wis., facility, following Congress's failure last summer to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank -- the export-financing entity in the U.S.

GE had flagged the move in September, saying it would cease manufacturing gas engines at the Waukesha plant and move 350 jobs to a new factory in a then-undetermined location in Canada.

The company said in September that it already had about 6,500 workers in Canada and has used Ottawa's export-financing entity to support past sales.

Since GE announced the decision, President Barack Obama signed legislation to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank for four more years.

--Lisa Beilfuss

CRACKER BARREL

Revenue and Profit Up; Dividend on Tap

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. said revenue and profit rose as an increase in the average customer check was partially offset by traffic declines.

The company said it would issue a special one-time dividend of $3.25 a share and increase its regular quarterly dividend to $1.15 a share, up from $1.10.

Shares rose 3.6% in premarket trading.

Cracker Barrel also raised its earnings forecast for the year, now expecting adjusted per-share earnings of $7.45 to $7.55, up 5 cents from the previous guidance.

--Austen Hufford

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 02, 2016 02:50 ET (06:50 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.