Investing
Boston pension fund ranks 102 of 105 in state
The pension fund for city of Boston employees posted a 4.9 percent investment return for 2014, according to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, well below the annual target rate of 7.75 percent. The $4.2 billion fund, called the State-Boston Retirement System, ranked 102d out of 105 public pension systems in the state for the year’s investment return, according to the Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission. The investment performance was driven in part by the fund’s lower-than-average holdings in US stocks, which did well last year. The larger Massachusetts state pension fund posted an 8.2 percent return last year. — BETH HEALY
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Aviation
JetBlue to add a bag fee on its cheapest fares
Say goodbye to a free checked bag on JetBlue Airways if you buy the cheapest ticket. The airline will introduce a new fare scale as soon as Tuesday, and missing will be its complimentary luggage policy. That will leave Southwest Airlines as the only major US carrier that does not charge for an initial checked suitcase in coach. JetBlue had said it would unveil three-tiered pricing by June 30 but has declined to say if it would meet the self-imposed deadline. JetBlue opted to end its free-bag policy under pressure from investors and analysts to boost revenue. The company failed to hit targets for return on invested capital. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Energy
Gas price falls ahead of holiday
The average price of a gallon of gas in Massachusetts fell 2 cents last week, a small piece of good news for people planning to hit the road this holiday weekend. AAA Northeast said gas prices are 96 cents lower per gallon than they were a year ago, when oil was nearly double its current price. The auto club said the average Massachusetts gas price has risen 8 cents per gallon in the past month but is still 3 cents below the US average. — JACK NEWSHAM
Biotechnology
Amag will buy cord blood bank
Amag Pharmaceuticals has struck a deal to pay $700 million for the Cord Blood Registry, a private company that stores more than 600,000 samples of cord blood. It’s the largest such operation in the country; in its most recent fiscal year, the registry took in $126 million. Many parents pay thousands of dollars to store blood from newborns’ umbilical cords, in case a disease like leukemia or bone cancer — both treatable with stem cells — strikes. Cord blood stem cells are never rejected by the infant they came from, unlike cells from donors. — JACK NEWSHAM
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Real estate
Apartments would cater to ‘zero-car households’
Eden Properties says the 138 apartments it plans at 89 Brighton Ave. would cater to “zero-car households” whose residents prefer renting over homeownership, biking over driving, and public transit or rented vehicles over owning a car. The project would include just one parking space for every two units, but storage for 142 bikes and a bicycle repair station. Eden also plans benefits for carless residents, such as discounts on MBTA passes, the Hubway bike-rental program, and Zipcar. Residents could also get credits for Uber, the smartphone-directed ride-hailing service. Most of the units would be for small families or single people, with 83 studios and 39 one-bedroom apartments planned. About one-sixth of the units would be designated as affordable. — JACK NEWSHAM
Retail
Sysco gives up on plan to buy US Foods
NEW YORK — Sysco is scrapping its proposed $3.5 billion buyout of US Foods after a legal victory by the Federal Trade Commission temporarily blocked a deal to combine the two food-service companies. The FTC said the proposed buyout would reduce competition, and a federal judge in Washington, D.C., agreed on Tuesday. The case could have implications for Staples Inc., the Framingham, Mass., office-supply chain that aims to acquire its largest competitor, Office Depot Inc. Both companies’ boards have approved the acquisition, but regulators have not yet weighed in. Shares of Staples fell 4.6 percent Monday; Office Depot fell 2.8 percent. Both stocks declined last week on news of the FTC’s decision on Sysco. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Transportation
R.I. project aims to speed up some Amtrak trains
WEST KINGSTON, R.I. — A $41 million project to build new platforms at the Kingston train station and lay more track so that Amtrak’s fastest trains can bypass its slower ones will create jobs and attract businesses to Rhode Island, state officials say. The state Department of Transportation is partnering with Amtrak to build a 1.5-mile track that will allow Acela trains (right) to bypass the railroad’s so-called Northeast Regional trains, thereby cutting time of Acela schedules. The money will also pay for two high platforms that officials say will make boarding more efficient and provide access for the disabled. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Technology
Uber buys part of Microsoft’s mapping unit
Uber Technologies is acquiring part of Microsoft’s Bing mapping unit as it pushes
to broaden its technology for drivers in the app-based ride-hailing service. Uber is offering jobs to about 100 Microsoft employees who work on the mapping team for Bing, Microsoft’s Internet search engine. The deal includes a data site near Boulder, Colo., as well as cameras, software, and a license to certain intellectual property. The Bing team included in the deal will join Uber’s advanced technologies group. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Law
High court won’t hear Google-Oracle dispute
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is staying out of a long-running battle between Oracle Corp. and Google Inc. over copyright protection for a computer program that powers most of the world’s smartphones and computer tablets. The justices said they won’t review an appeals court ruling that said Oracle, a software maker, could copyright portions of the Java programming platform that Google used to build its popular Android software for mobile devices. Oracle is seeking $1 billion in damages on claims Google stole some of the Java technology that Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems Inc. A federal court ruled in 2012 that copyright laws did not cover the program. But an appeals court reversed the decision. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Private equity
KKR to pay $30m to end fee probe
KKR & Co. agreed to pay almost $30 million to settle allegations it violated its fiduciary duty to investors by misallocating fees from unsuccessful corporate buyouts. The accord includes a $10 million fine and disgorgement of $18.5 million, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. An SEC investigation found that over six years, KKR incurred $338 million of “broken deal’’ expenses that it did not share with co-investors, the SEC said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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