U.S. finalizes noise rules on ‘quiet cars’

The U.S. government on Monday finalized long-delayed rules that will require “quiet cars” such as electric vehicles and hybrids to emit alert sounds when moving at speeds of up to 18.6 mph to help prevent injuries among cyclists, pedestrians and the blind.

The rules, which were mandated by Congress, will require automakers such as Tesla Motors, Nissan and Toyota to add the sounds to all vehicles by September 2019. The Transportation Department said it expects the rules to prevent 2,400 injuries a year by 2020 and to add the alert sounds to about 530,000 2020 model vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the rules will cost the auto industry about $39 million a year, but the benefits of reduced injuries are estimated at $250 million to $320 million annually.

The rules apply to hybrid and electric cars, SUVs, trucks and buses weighing up to 10,000 pounds. At higher speeds, the alert is not required because tire and wind noise adequately warn pedestrians, NHTSA said.

— Reuters

Siemens will buy Mentor Graphics for $4.5 billion in its biggest acquisition since 2014.

The German engineering company will pay $37.25 a share in cash for Oregon-based Mentor, Siemens said Monday — 21 percent above Friday’s closing price. Elliott Management, which owns 8.1 percent of Mentor’s shares, backed the offer, Siemens said.

The deal follows Siemens’s January purchase of U.S. computer-program-maker CD-adapco, as chief executive Joe Kaeser seeks to grow the digital business as part of a retreat from consumer-oriented products to focus on industrial applications.

Mentor’s software and hardware is used to design electronics for the semiconductor, auto and transportation industries. The company was under pressure from Elliott Management to boost shareholder value.

— Bloomberg News

● A former executive at pharmaceutical company InterMune and a British restaurant owner were found liable Monday on U.S. civil charges that they engaged in a $1 million insider trading scheme. The Securities and Exchange Commission said a federal jury in San Francisco found Sasan Sabrdaran, InterMune’s former director of drug safety risk management, and Farhang Afsarpour, a friend, liable for insider trading over marketing of the drug Esbriet, aimed at treating a fatal lung disease.

● American Apparel, an apparel retail chain known for its made-in-the-U.S.A. branding, is going through a second bankruptcy. The Los-Angeles based company filed for bankruptcy Monday, less than a year after ending its first stint under court protection. It plans to sell itself at auction with a leading $66 million offer from Canadian T-shirt and underwear-maker Gildan Activewear. Montreal-based Gildan said in a statement that it is buying the brand and inventory supply but not any stores.

● General Electric agreed to buy ServiceMax, a cloud-based software company, for $915 million to expand its digital operations and enhance equipment maintenance. The deal will help GE automate and digitize the servicing of heavy-duty machinery, the company said Monday in a statement. GE expects the acquisition to close in January.

● Apple Pay, which allows users to make purchase at retail stores and online, is expanding its mobile payments service to charities. The American Red Cross, United Way and 18 other nonprofits will accept Apple Pay starting Monday. Other charities are coming soon, Apple said.

● Microsoft has committed to its largest wind-power purchase to date with a deal to buy 237 megawatts of capacity from projects in Wyoming and Kansas. Allianz Risk Transfer’s Bloom Wind Project in Kansas and Black Hills’ Happy Jack and Silver Sage wind farms in Wyoming will provide all the power needed by a data center in Cheyenne, Wyo., under two long-term contracts, a Microsoft blog post said Monday.

— From news services