In Brief

Nielsen to buy IAG Research

Nielsen Co., whose audience ratings drive television advertising prices, agreed to buy closely held IAG Research for $225 million in cash to expand its TV data for advertisers and media companies.

IAG, based in New York, measures which shows are likely to keep viewers’ attention as well as the effectiveness of commercials and product placement.

RETAIL

Firm to sell shops to Disney

Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc. said its subsidiaries agreed to sell their U.S. Disney Stores to Walt Disney Co. for $50 million to $55 million.

The amount may be adjusted based on inventory, according to a Children’s Place filing. The agreement also calls for Disney to pay $4 million for the assignment of a Pasadena office lease.

VIDEO GAMES

Disney to acquire China’s Gamestar

Walt Disney Co. agreed to buy Gamestar, a Chinese developer of video game software, as part of its plan to expand in the fast-growing entertainment segment.

Gamestar was founded in 2002 and has locations in Shanghai and Wuhan, China, Glendale-based Disney Interactive Studios said. Terms weren’t disclosed.

AIRLINES

Delta-Northwest deal still on table

Delta Air Lines Inc. has agreed to revive merger talks with Northwest Airlines despite the lack of agreement between the pilots of the two companies on the transfer of seniority in a merger, a person briefed on the situation said.

Atlanta-based Delta’s board members agreed to press ahead with negotiations with Northwest, which urged Delta to revive the talks.

Jury awards skycaps $325,000

A federal jury has awarded $325,000 to nine American Airlines skycaps who claimed they lost tips when the airline instituted a $2-per-bag fee for curbside check-in service at Logan International Airport in Boston.

The attorney who represented the skycaps says she will ask a judge to approve a class-action lawsuit that would cover hundreds of other American Airlines skycaps.

AVIATION

Airbus quarterly deliveries up 7%

Airbus said deliveries of commercial aircraft rose 7% in the first quarter from a year earlier as it worked off a record backlog of 3,687 planes. New orders in the period also rose.

Shipments reached 123 planes, including 102 of the A320 single-aisle series, 19 long-range planes and two A380 super-jumbo jets, the Toulouse, France-based company said. Airbus won new orders for 420 planes in the period compared with 134 a year earlier.

AGRICULTURE

Wal-Mart buys organic cotton

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it had purchased more than 12 million pounds of cotton from farmers who are changing over from conventional to organic farming, to boost the supply of certified organic cotton in the marketplace.

To encourage farmers to switch to organic cotton, Wal-Mart said it bought the transitional cotton from farmers at the same premium cost of certified organic cotton. It can take roughly three years before the crops can be certified as organic.

From Times Wire Services