From wire reports

Aegon sells subsidiary to GE for $5.4 billion

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The Dutch insurance company Aegon said Tuesday it is selling the noninsurance operations of Transamerica Finance to General Electric Co. for about $5.4 billion.

The operations being sold are based in Chicago and have around 1,700 employees. Their primary business is arranging loans and financing for manufacturers.

The deal announced Tuesday comes only a day after Fairfield, Conn.-based GE sold its financial-guaranty insurance business for $2.16 billion to a consortium led by PMI group, saying the operations had slow growth.

General Electric said the purchase of the Transamerica industrial finance business was attractive because of Transamerica's strong customer relationships and reputation in the market.

Verizon sees progress at contract talks

WASHINGTON - Verizon and its unions offered proposals for a new contract Tuesday, and the company said both sides "have established a framework" for an agreement.

"We believe we have established a framework that addresses all the major issues, including job security," the company said. "This is a complex package, and all the issues are interconnected."

Some 78,000 workers remained on the job without a contract.

Top-Flite can use cash to fund Chapter 11

WILMINGTON, Del. - Top-Flite Golf Co. won bankruptcy court permission Tuesday to use cash that is collateral for secured debt to fund its Chapter 11 restructuring.

The budget attached to the order signed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath projects Top-Flite will spend $57.1 million from June 30 to Sept. 26, including $12.9 million in fees for lawyers, financial advisers and investment bankers.

The cash collateral deal was agreed to by the official committee of unsecured creditors and Top-Flite, settling an objection that too little was carved out, or set aside from the cash budget, to pay lawyers and financial advisers representing the creditors.

Monster drops off AOL, MSN portals

BOSTON - Move over, Monster. Careerbuilder.com is moving in.

Monster is relinquishing partnerships with Web portals AOL and MSN that account for about a quarter of the No. 1 online job site's traffic.

Careerbuilder.com, owned by Gannett Co., Tribune Co. and Knight Ridder Inc. will take its place.

Monster Worldwide chief financial officer Mike Sileck said Monster had made the decision not to extend either deal.

He said the move was part of a broader strategy that would save the company $50 million a year - money it could spend on improving its targeting of job seekers and advertising to prospective job posters, who pay the bills.

Gateway to make digital music player

POWAY, Calif. - Gateway Inc. said Tuesday that it would begin selling its own portable digital music players, extending its march from a personal-computer maker into a broad array of consumer electronics.

Gateway said its player with 128 megabytes of storage space, enough for about two hours of music in MP3 format, is available immediately at its stores for $130. A 256-megabyte version will be available Aug. 14 for $170.

Gateway said the player weighs 1.5 ounces and is a half-inch wide, about the size of a pack of chewing gum.

Gateway is introducing 50 products this year as it morphs from a traditional PC company to a manufacturer of televisions, digital cameras, DVD players and other gadgets. The campaign is Gateway's latest effort to halt a slide in its business that began in 2000.

Board cites track as factor in train crash

WASHINGTON - Poor track maintenance was to blame for the fatal crash of the Amtrak Auto Train in Florida last year, federal investigators said Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board unanimously approved a report saying the track's owners, CSX Transportation, did not ensure the track was properly aligned and had adequate supports.

The Auto Train, one of Amtrak's most popular services, travels between the Washington suburb of Lorton, Va., and Sanford, Fla., just outside Orlando.

It was headed north when it derailed near Crescent City, Fla., on April 18, 2002. Twenty-one of 40 cars left the track. Four people were killed and 36 seriously injured.

After the wreck, the train's engineer told investigators he had seen a misalignment of the track just ahead and was trying to apply the brakes when the force of the derailment threw him against the wall.

In its recommendations, the NTSB said CSX should develop a program to ensure compliance with the company's maintenance standards.