Google’s long-delayed stock split scheduled to happen on April 2

SAN FRANCISCO >> Google is finally ready to split its stock for the first time, more than three years after co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin began discussing a move engineered to ensure they remain in control of the Internet’s most powerful company.

The split will happen April 2. It had been delayed because of staunch resistance from other Google Inc. shareholders, who feared the maneuver would unfairly benefit Page and Brin.

Google’s split will create a new class of "C" stock that carries no voting power. One share of C stock will be distributed for each share of voting Class A stock owned as of March 27. Initially, the value of the current stock will be divided equally between the two types of shares. But they will then trade separately with different ticker symbols.

Google proposed the unorthodox split so that Page and Brin could preserve power in the company they started in a rented garage more than 15 years ago. It addresses concerns that the founders would lose control of Google as the company creates more shares to compensate its employees and buy startups.

To gain clearance for the split, Google settled a shareholders lawsuit and agreed to pay up to $7.5 billion if the split doesn’t pan out the way the Mountain View, Calif., company envisions.

U.S. yogurt is not Greek, court rules

LONDON >> It’s not all Greek to yogurt makers.

A British court has ruled that Chobani, the company leading the burgeoning Greek-yogurt market in the U.S., cannot label its products "Greek" in the U.K. — because they are made in America.

Chobani said it was disappointed but that it would continue the legal battle.

The court case was brought by Chobani’s rival Fage, a Greek company, soon after New York-based Chobani launched in the U.K. in 2012. Fage has dominated sales of Greek yogurt in Britain under the Total brand for decades.

A judge ruled last year that Chobani’s "Greek yogurt" label misled British customers, agreeing with Fage that products labeled Greek yogurt — made by straining off the whey to achieve a creamy texture — have to be made in Greece.

Chobani appealed that decision, but a panel of three judges at the Court of Appeal dismissed it.

The company said it would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Trump plans new hotel in Rio

NEW YORK >> Trump Organization is adding its first hotel in South America, the 171-room luxury Trump Hotel Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian developer LSH Barra SA is building the $82.5 million project with the help of investment partners, Chief Executive Officer Paulo Figueiredo Filho said at the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles. Trump Organization, based in New York, is licensing its name and will manage the property, Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of development and acquisitions for Trump Hotel Collection, said at the conference.

The project is part of the company’s goal to expand its Trump Hotel Collection to 30 properties by 2020. The eight existing hotels include the Trump Waikiki Beach Walk.

Ship Ahoy! Arrivals and departures

MAKING CENTS

Retailers upgrade systems for smart-card checkouts

Major U.S. retailers, including Walmart and Kroger, already have checkout systems that work with the smart cards that are widely used internationally.

It’s harder for hackers to extract personal information and account numbers that are stored in a computer chip.

But U.S. consumers don’t have the cards yet, making the hardware unusable against the criminal world for now.

Retailers aren’t waiting for a credit card industry deadline to upgrade their checkout hardware. The credit card industry has asked stores to comply with EMV — which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa — chip card reading hardware by October 2015.

The incentive to upgrade is high. After the deadline, MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express have said they are shifting liability for fraudulent charges onto retailers and banks if they haven’t complied.

Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said the company’s checkout terminals are already capable of accepting EMV cards. The world’s largest retailer says the technology is more effective in safeguarding payments.

Some smaller retail chains, such as GNC and Jones of New York, just ordered EMV-capable payment systems from supplier VeriFone, which also works with Kroger.

Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey said the company has been building toward chip and PIN technology for the past two years. All new PIN pads at Kroger, the largest traditional supermarket chain in the U.S., can read EMV cards.

"That’s not to say that this conversion can be accomplished with a simple flip of the switch," Dailey said. "The entire payment processing infrastructure, which includes banks, credit card issuers and payment processors in addition to retailers, has to change."

Total recall

Fred & Friends is recalling 200,000 pacifiers because of the risk that a baby using one could choke. Young children should stop using the pacifiers immediately, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

The CPSC said three different pacifiers are involved in the recall. The Chill Baby Artiste Pacifier has an attached plastic mustache and beard, which can break off. The Chill Baby Volume Control Pacifier has a volume knob that can detach, and its ventilation holes are smaller than federal regulators require. The Chill Baby Panic Button Pacifier also has ventilation holes that are too small.

The pacifiers were sold in department stores, toy stores, hospital and museum gift shops, and other retailers from April through December, the CPSC said. Consumers can return the pacifiers for a $12 refund by calling 855-346-6372 or going online at fredandfriends.com.