Office Depot to buy OfficeMax

Office Depot to buy Office Max as an attempt to compete with Staples.

Office Depot Inc. and Office Max Inc. have agreed to merge in a $1.17 billion stock transfer, the companies announced Wednesday, ending nearly two hours of confusion about whether a deal had been reached.

Officials at Naperville-based OfficeMax and Office Depot declined to say who would lead the combined company nor where it would be located when the "merger of equals" is completed, likely by the end of the year.

After some confusion early Wednesday, when a draft press release was posted prematurely on the website of Boca Raton, Fla.-based Office Depot's, both companies issued a joint statement at around 8:30 a.m. CT announcing the planned merger. 

"During the appropriated times ... our board will make the right decision,"  OfficeMax President and CEO  Ravi Saligram said of the location and leadership of the combined firm. "Now we're independent companies and we've got to go through lots of processes," he said.

On a conference call with analysts, Office Depot CEO Neil Austrian apologized for the announcement mishap on Wednesday morning.  "Our webcast provider inadvertently released our earnings in advance of schedule," he said.  We regret any inconvenience that this may have caused." 

Saligram and Austrian emphasized that the combination, which will create a company that will do roughly $18 billion in revenue, is a merger of equals.

"This [merger] will create a stronger, more global, more efficient competitor able to meet the growing challenges a rapidly changing industry," said Saligram. 

When combined, OfficeMax and Office Depot, the world's second and third largest office products companies by revenue, will still not eclipse the segment's largest business, Staples Inc.

The pair had combined revenue of about $18.5 billion in the last fiscal year. They expect to save about $400 million to $600 million per year within three years through layoffs, streamlining of back-office functions and combined advertising. They didn't provide details on how many workers would lose their jobs or the fate of OfficeMax's Naperville headquarters.

After days of speculation that a deal was close, a draft of a press release announcing the news was posted prematurely on Office Depot's website early Wednesday morning. More than an hour after it came out, there was still no mention of the merger on either company's website nor on the SEC or other investor websites. Sources cited by the New York Times Wednesday morning said negotiations were ongoing.

Thomson Reuters Corporate Services, which operates various investor relations websites including Office Depot's, took responsibility for the early publication. "Unfortunately, Thomson Reuters incorrectly posted this morning's announcement of Office Depot's intention to merge with Office Max prior to its intended release," Lemuel Brewster, PR director - investors at Thomson Reuters, said Wednesday afternoon in an email response to an inquiry. "We regret this error and are taking all steps necessary to enhance our processes and controls to ensure this does not happen again."

Office Depot will issue 2.69 new shares of common stock for each outstanding common share of OfficeMax. At Tuesday's closing prices, the deal is valued at $13.50 per share, or $1.17 billion, based on 86.7 million shares outstanding as of Oct. 26.

After the merger is completed, Office Depot's board will consist of an equal number of directors chosen by that company and OfficeMax.

Although the actual announcement didn’t go as planned, the deal has been rumored for years as the struggling office supply sector deals with fickle consumers and businesses that are conserving costs and doing more online.

Analysts say they expect far less pushback from antitrust authorities for this deal than what Office Depot faced in the 1990s, when it tried to merge with Staples, given the changes in the office supply market since then.

Underscoring how tough that business has become, Office Depot reported a fourth-quarter net loss, hurt by a 6 percent decrease in comparable sales at its North American stores and a revenue drop at its unit that serves North American businesses.

Office supply retailers, which are often seen as reflecting overall economic health, have suffered as demand for their products fell in the years after the last U.S. recession led companies to cut spending.

They also face strong competition from the likes of Amazon and Wal-Mart Stores Inc in selling everything from pens and notebooks to furniture and break room supplies to government, businesses and individuals.

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The offer represented a premium of just under 4 percent to OfficeMax's $13 close. It was not immediately clear if that was enough to satisfy one of the company's largest shareholders, Neuberger Berman, which said earlier this week it would support a deal depending on the terms.

OfficeMax shares rose 9.2 percent to $14.20 in premarket trading. Office Depot was up 10 percent at $5.52, meaning that OfficeMax was still trading below the value of the bid.

The deal, considered long overdue by many on Wall Street, will also give Office Depot and OfficeMax a chance to save hundreds of millions of dollars by closing stores, cutting advertising costs and streamlining their supply chain.

Industry experts have long hoped Office Depot would join hands with OfficeMax to take on Staples, which boosted its international business and clout with suppliers by buying Dutch rival Corporate Express in 2008.

BB&T Capital Markets analyst Anthony Chukumba said the Office Depot-OfficeMax combination would help Staples, however.

"Clearly, you can't make this deal work unless you close a bunch of stores," he said. "Store rationalization is long overdue, and Staples will clearly benefit from just having fewer stores to compete with."

Staples has 39.9 percent of the U.S. office supply market, Office Depot 19.2 percent and OfficeMax holds 15.7 percent, according to Euromonitor International.

Tribune reporter Samantha Bomkamp and Reuters contributed.

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Ex-law partner: Drew Peterson attorney attacked me

Joel Brodsky’s ex-law partner testified that Drew Peterson’s former lead attorney had physically attacked her in the past and tried to intimidate her this morning before she took the witness stand.

The testimony from Reem Odeh, a former attorney for Peterson, came during a hearing on a motion for a new murder trial filed by Peterson’s defense team.

Peterson, convicted last fall of first-degree murder in the 2004 bathtub drowning of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and his attorneys will argue that Peterson deserves a new trial in part because Brodsky’s work on the case was flawed. The 59-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant faces 20 to 60 years in prison at his scheduled sentencing Wednesday.
Odeh said this morning that Brodsky talked to her often about how he thought the Peterson case would benefit himself and the firm.

“On many occasions, especially when we would have our quarrels about financial matters regarding the case,” Odeh said.

She also said Brodsky made a comment to her in passing outside the courtroom this morning. Odeh testified that she could not recall Brodsky’s exact words but “I perceived that he was trying to intimidate me or threaten me.”
She also testified that Brodsky had attacked her when she left his firm in 2010.

"There was an incident where he physically attacked me and the police had to be called," she said. "Just remembering what I had to go through is very, very upsetting."

Outside court, Odeh said she never pressed charges because she wanted to end any contact with Brodsky. Also outside court, Brodsky said he never spoke with Odeh or threatened her before the hearing this morning, and said she lied when she testified that he physically attacked her when she dissolved their partnership in 2010.

Instead, it was he who fired her after she allegedly forged his signature on affidavits, he said.

"This is a very angry person who I found out was forging affidavits," Brodsky said.

Odeh denied she forged affidavits when asked about it outside court.
On the witness stand, Odeh said she left Brodsky’s firm under “very disturbing” circumstances. Many of her files and belongings were packed up and shipped out, and she took with her a copy of a contract between Brodsky, Peterson and a publicist.

She said she didn’t take the documents as a hedge against any future action by Brodsky or others.

“I thought that Mr. Brodsky was very furious with me for ending the partnership and leaving. So I gathered everything I could get my hands on and left.”

This morning’s hearing in Joliet began with questions from Judge Edward Burmila about one of Peterson’s attorneys.
Burmila said he was “concerned” about whether defense attorney Steve Greenberg could give his full attention to Peterson’s case given that Greenberg has been sued for libel this month by Brodsky.

"The issue now is that Mr. Greenberg's personal name and financial interest could be at interest due to this lawsuit and the timing of it," Burmila said to Peterson. "Someone could argue...that Greenberg is now pulling his punches because he'd be afraid that if he revisits these same issues, he'd be accused of once again libeling Mr. Brodsky. Do you still have confidence in these attorneys this morning...despite the pendency of this lawsuit?"

"Yes, your honor," Peterson replied.

Peterson remains the sole suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy. Prosecutors believe Peterson killed her and have said they will ask the judge to weigh that when sentencing him.

Peterson's defense team is alleging that Brodsky's legal leadership — including calling a witness whose testimony several jurors said convinced them Peterson was guilty — amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel, which can be grounds for a new trial.

Burmila has indicated that if he denies the motion for a new trial, he will immediately move into the sentencing hearing.

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2nd major hotel for McCormick Place

The agency that owns McCormick Place announced Tuesday that it will build a second hotel near the convention center complex, with plans calling for a 1,200-room facility that can serve as a headquarters for trade shows and conventions.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, also known as McPier, said it is acquiring land for the project, which will cost $400 million to build and will be located immediately west of the convention center's newest facility, the West Building. A skywalk would connect the two.

McPier is in talks with the site owners, affiliated with McHugh Construction Co., for the L-shaped parcel, said Jim Reilly, chief executive of the state-city authority.

"We think that will work out," he said. "If for some reason it doesn't, the city is prepared to use its eminent domain power. But we hope we won't have to do that."

He declined to comment on the potential deal cost, but said it would be a fraction of the construction cost. McPier and the site owners are discussing the possibility of a land swap, in which McPier would trade some land it owns on a nearby block.

A representative of McHugh Construction could not be reached for immediate comment.

The McPier proposal comes as key parcels just north of the West Building are moving toward auction. Those sites have been viewed as potential locations for more hotels and entertainment, and possibly an arena for DePaul University's Blue Demons basketball team.

Reilly declined to comment on where things stand in talks with DePaul. But he said McPier's latest hotel proposal would not stand in the way of other hotels being developed nearby, noting a 2009 study found potential demand for up to 8,000 hotel rooms in the area. The area will need some lower priced options too, he said. 

"I don't see this as competing (with other projects), he said. "This will give us 2,400 rooms, and we could easily use more than 2,400 rooms."

McPier owns the 800-room McCormick Place Hyatt Regency, which is undergoing a 460-room expansion due to be completed this summer at a cost of nearly $90 million.

The two hotels will operate cooperatively, McPier said. 

The latest project, to be between Indiana and Michigan, along the south side of Cermak, was announced jointly with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pat Quinn. Both said, in prepared statements, that the project would stimulate the local economy and make the city more competitive in the race for trade shows.

McPier will immediately seek proposals from design/build teams, hotel operators, and financial advisers and underwriters, Reilly said.  Construction should begin in the last quarter of 2014, with completion set for the end of 2016, he said.

As it did with its first hotel, McPier intends to finance the project in the construction phase through revenue bonds that would be paid back by hotel operating proceeds. At a later stage, it may add more financing through its expansion project debt structure, in which bonds are paid back with tourism taxes.

The hotel will have a Michigan Avenue address, which will connect it to the downtown in visitors' minds, and which should help foster entertainment development in the surrounding neighborhood, a historic strip known as Motor Row, Reilly said.

"I have long said I want there to be nightlife (in the area)," he said.

The hotel also would be two blocks from a planned new station on the CTA's green line, which should add to its appeal, he said.

International trade show visitors "love using mass transit," he said.

kbergen@tribune.com | Twitter@kathy_bergen

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Father recalls poignant final moment with slain daughter

The father of a Clemente High School student killed Friday spent Monday morning putting up a memorial to his daughter at the North Side school. Later that morning, he remembered one of the last things he did with his daughter.

It was Friday afternoon, Jose Colon Jr. recalled, and he and his daughter Frances were watching President Barack Obama speak at Hyde Park Academy on the city's South Side. The topic of that speech: The same kind of gun violence that would end his daughter's life later that night.

"She said, 'About time they do something with the gun thing,' " he said, adding that Obama and other elected officials need to "make these people more afraid" to shoot each other by making tougher penalties.

The 46-year-old man wasn't optimistic the president's proposals would come to fruition soon enough.

"It's not over," he said. "This is just the beginning. Wait until summer comes along."

Frances Colon, of the 2900 block of West Armitage Avenue, was shot about 7:05 p.m. Friday in the 1100 block of North Pulaski Road, according to police. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 8:16 p.m.

Colon is the third student at Roberto Clemente to be killed this school year, said Clemente's principal Marcey Sorensen.

Rey Dorantes, 14, of the 2400 block of West Augusta Boulevard, a freshman at the school, was shot and killed on Jan. 11. His death came about a month after another Clemente student, Jeffrey Stewart, 16, of the 5200 block of West Race Avenue, was shot and killed on Dec. 9.

"I'm sick of it," said Sorensen. "How many more kids have to die before we do something?"

The school has mobilized a crisis team to support students and staff. Despite the deaths, Sorensen said the students have been coping well.

"Our kids live in fear and because of that, they are incredibly resilient," she said.

Colon was a senior who was preparing to attend college, said Sorensen. She was previously selected as the student of the month, a recognition for students who display good behavior, Sorensen said.

Clemente sophomore Noel Roman said this morning he's not surprised his high school has had to deal with the recent string of fatal shootings.

"Considering the neighborhood, no," he said. "It's barely getting better."

Roman said he didn't know Colon personally, but they shared some friends.

"It's like, 'I was walking with her one day and now she's gone,' " he recalled one of his buddies telling him.

psvitek@tribune.com
Twitter: @Patrick Svitek

nnix@tribune.com
Twitter: @nsnix87

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At 80, Yoko Ono sees a world full of new activism

BERLIN (Reuters) – Half a life-time ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long “bed-in” for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism.

Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity.

“When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with us. But now there are so many activists, I don’t know anyone who is not an activist,” she told Reuters in an interview in Berlin on Monday, her 80th birthday.

“Even the corporations – John always used to say the corporations need to be with us… Corporations now say 10-20 percent of their profits will go to such and such charity. They have to do that almost for people to feel good about it.”

The late Beatle and Ono’s 1969 bed-in to protest against the Vietnam war was repeated in Montreal, Canada. Press attention was huge, but much of it was mocking.

Ono, who gave a sell-out concert in Berlin on Sunday alongside their son Sean Lennon which closed with the anthem “Give peace a chance”, said it was still critical to stand up for peace despite new conflicts in the intervening decades.

“I don’t want to be drowning in sadness. I think we have to stand and up and change the world,” she said.

The artist, born to a wealthy Japanese family in Tokyo in 1933, has recently become a passionate opponent of fracking, a controversial procedure which has sharply lifted energy output in the United States but which critics fear pollutes drinking water deep underground and could increase earthquake risks.

“Fracking is an incredible risk to the human race, I don’t know why they even thought of doing it,” she said.

Ono, whose birthday is being marked by a major retrospective of her work in Frankfurt, said she feels she is becoming freer in her art.

“My attitude has changed… I’m allowing things to happen in a way I hadn’t planned before,” she said.

Asked about her feelings on becoming an octogenarian, she said: “I’m surprised. It is a miracle in a sense that I am 80, I am proud about it. Not everybody gets there.”

(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones and Paul Casciato)

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Google to open retail stores this year

It started with Apple stores. Then came Microsoft stores.

Are Google stores next?

The Silicon Valley company hopes to open retail stores in time for this year's holiday shopping season, according to a report by 9to5Google, which cites an unnamed source.

According to the report, Google's leaders have decided retail stores are necessary for the eventual launch of Google Glass -- eyeglasses with capabilities similar to that of smartphone.

QUIZ: How much do you know about Google?

To attract regular consumers -- and not just hard-core tech users -- Google believes it needs to let people try out Google Glass in person, the report says. That's what Apple does with its products at its stores.

Besides Google Glass, the stores would also sell Chrome computers and Google Nexus smartphones and tablets.

The report doesn't specify where or when these stores might open, except to say they will be located in major U.S. metropolitan areas.

Google could not be reached for comment.

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Hutchinson expected to drop out, endorse Kelly

State Sen. Toi Hutchinson dropped out of the 2nd District special Democratic primary today and endorsed former state Rep. Robin Kelly in the contest to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress.

The move, announced in a morning news release, shakes up the Democratic field just nine days before the Feb. 26 primary election.

"Robin is a friend, and has captured momentum in pulling our community together. I am simply unwilling to risk playing a role going forward that could result in dividing our community at time when we need unity more than ever," Hutchinson said in the statement.

Hutchinson recently experienced a pair of setbacks during the short campaign. A super political action committee run by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg started airing a TV attack ad backing Kelly and attacking Hutchinson and another candidate, former one-term U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson of Crete, for past support from the National Rifle Association.

Gun control has loomed as a big issue in the contest and that's what Hutchinson indicated her departure from the contest was about.

"In the wake of horrendous gun related crimes all across our country, I agree with Robin that we need to stand together to fight gun violence, but Debbie Halvorson has been wrong headed in her refusal to moderate her views on banning dangerous assault weapons. President Obama needs a strong voice and a partner in Congress to win these important fights and I do not believe Debbie Halvorson would be that voice or partner," Hutchinson said in a statement.

Besides the gun control attack ad, Hutchinson had to deal with a recent news report detailing how she paid her mother as a campaign consultant. Hutchinson also was not listed as a participant in upcoming WTTW-Ch. 11 candidate forums.

Hutchinson's camp began contacting supporters Saturday night telling them of her intention to drop out of the contest, said two sources with knowledge of the decision. There are now three major Democratic candidates left in a 15-candidate field: Kelly, Halvorson and 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale of Chicago.

Hutchinson got an early boost in the contest when Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle endorsed her instead of Kelly, who served as a top aide to Preckwinkle. But Preckwinkle jumped to Kelly's camp today, according to the Hutchinson campaign news release.

As of Feb. 6, Kelly trailed Hutchinson in cash available to spend. Kelly reported $88,820 available while Hutchinson had more than double at $199,901. Hutchinson’s campaign has engaged in a significant direct-mail campaign since that time. For the entire campaign, through Feb. 6, Hutchinson reported raising $281,106. Hutchinson has been endorsed by Preckwinkle, who gave her $1,000.

Overall, campaign disclosure reports showed Kelly has raised more than $303,725 since the start of the short campaign through Feb. 6. Campaign aides to Kelly said she has raised $417,727 for the campaign cycle through Wednesday.

Tribune reporter Bill Ruthhart contributed to this report.

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Daley turns focus toward Gary

Richard M. Daley has kept a low profile since leaving office in 2011.

That doesn't mean he has lost interest in urban issues. The former mayor has turned his attention in a surprising direction, beyond Chicago's borders to one of the most intractable urban tragedies in America: the collapse of Gary, Ind.

"I always believe no part of America should be forgotten, and I think Gary has been forgotten," Daley said.

Daley is using his influence at the University of Chicago, where he is a distinguished senior fellow, to push a modest but growing amount of manpower toward Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.

With guidance from Daley and Freeman-Wilson, University of Chicago graduate students are trying to figure out what to do with Gary's abandoned buildings and how to promote greater use of technology to help the city accomplish more with less, among other projects.

The hope is that the students will go on to help other cities after graduation. If successful, the U. of C.-Gary partnership could be replicated in other industrial towns grappling with decline.

Gary spans about 55 square miles, nearly a quarter of the size of Chicago. Yet the steel town's population has plummeted to an estimated 80,000, meaning the city has lost about half its people since 1960. The city's problems have mounted, including abandoned buildings and homes, sagging infrastructure and a declining budget to pay for services.

Outsiders have tried to fix Gary since at least the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. Freeman-Wilson, a former Indiana attorney general, judge and Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate, has reinvigorated Gary's renewal efforts. And she's unafraid to ask for help.

Immediately after winning the 2011 Democratic primary, Freeman-Wilson called Daley for advice. They met, and Daley invited her to be the first guest speaker at his lecture series at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, where Daley has a five-year appointment.

This quarter, 11 students from the university's public policy, business and social services schools are getting course credit for working on projects for Gary.

"It was Mayor Daley's idea," Freeman-Wilson said as she rode from a meeting on Chicago's West Side to Gary. "I had always envisioned getting the support and work from (University of Chicago Law School) alums, because there were issues around codes and things of that nature. It was not until the mayor came up with the idea of using students from the (Harris) School of Public Policy that I said, 'Oh yeah, that would work. That would work very well.'"

Daley does not teach a class at the University of Chicago. He runs an occasional lecture series.

Carol Brown, his last policy chief at City Hall, leads the program and the class, which is called the "Urban Revitalization Project: City of Gary, Ind." Grants from the Chicago-based Joyce and MacArthur foundations help pay administrative costs, including Brown's salary and that of a part-time assistant.

Last quarter's class was divided into three project teams. One team is cataloging Gary's abandoned buildings, which are magnets for crime and eyesores that further depress surrounding property values. Another is trying to recruit pro bono legal and consulting services for the city. And a third is trying to craft a strategy to clean up front stoops and empty lots one block at a time. This quarter's class also is tackling untapped funding opportunities and economic development.

Freeman-Wilson said a major benefit of the partnership is the fresh ideas from students "who aren't jaded by the limitations of government, whereas a 20-year employee might say, 'Oh, no, we can't do that in government because we don't have X, Y and Z.'"

Already their work has prompted more widespread use among Gary employees of a technology that stores and analyzes geographic data. City workers are now using the technology to map potholes, fallen tree limbs and illegal dump sites. That way work crews can be dispatched to neighborhoods where the problems are most severe.

"This partnership encourages urban planners to think broadly about regions instead of cities — greater Chicago instead of the city of Chicago," said Stephen Paul O'Hara, a historian at Xavier University who wrote a book about Gary.

The students operate as consultants. They gather best practices and ideas from cities around the country and then recommend a course of action. At the end of each 10-week quarter, students present their recommendations to Daley, Freeman-Wilson and their staffs. Their grades are based on those presentations and supporting reports.

"I will tell you, it never stops getting nerve-wracking," second-year graduate student Jocelyn Hare said of presenting to Daley. "But it gets easier."

Last spring, Hare, 32, responded to an email seeking student volunteers to conduct preliminary research to test the idea of a partnership. Hare then interned for the city of Gary during the summer. The Harris school paid her $15 an hour. She then enrolled in the first class in the fall and again this winter, when it was opened to graduate students outside of Harris for the first time.

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Jackson family: 'We felt the impact'

Members of Jesse Jackson Jr.'s family said this morning they are struggling in the aftermath of Jackson being charged with misusing $750,000 in campaign funds.

"We felt the impact of this court," said Jonathan Jackson today outside the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's Saturday Morning Forum at the group's Chicago headquarters. "The gravity has affected our family."

He said his brother is still following a medical regime from his illness. He said his brother, mother and father are in Washington D.C. and Jonathan Jackson said he planned to join them.

Jackson's sister Santita said, "We love our brother very much."

They said Sandi and Jesse Jackson Jr.'s children were aware of the developments involving their parents.

"They are part of the Jackson family. We will take care of them," said Santita Jackson.

The family said they were thankful for the public's prayers, and Jonathan Jackson said he hoped people would remember the good things his brother had done during his political career.

Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandi intend to plead guilty to federal charges alleging the former congressman misused $750,000 in campaign funds while she understated their income on tax returns for six years, their lawyers say.

Jackson Jr., 47, a Democrat from Chicago, was charged in a criminal information Friday with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and false statements. He faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and other penalties.

Sandi Jackson was charged with one count of filing false tax returns. She faces up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and other penalties.

Jackson Jr. is accused of diverting $750,000 in campaign funds for personal use.

Federal authorities allege that Jackson Jr. used campaign funds to purchase a $43,350 men's gold-plated Rolex watch, $5,150 worth of fur capes and parkas, and $9,588 in children's furniture. The purchases were made between 2007 and 2009, according to the criminal information, which authorities noted is not evidence of guilt.

Other expenditures listed by prosecutors include $10,105 on Bruce Lee memorabilia, $11,130 on Martin Luther King memorabilia and $22,700 on Michael Jackson items, including $4,600 for a "Michael Jackson fedora."

The government also alleged that Jackson Jr. made false statements to the House of Representatives because he did not report approximately $28,500 in loans and gifts he received.

"He has accepted responsibility for his actions and I can confirm that he intends to plead guilty to the charge in the information," Jackson Jr.'s attorney Brian Heberlig said.

Sandi Jackson is accused of filing incorrect joint tax returns with her husband for calendar years 2006 through 2011, reporting income "substantially less than the amount of income she and her husband received in each of the calendar years," with a substantial additional tax due.

Her attorneys released a statement saying she has "reached an agreement with the U.S. attorney' office to plead guilty to one count of tax fraud."

Jackson Jr. stepped down from the House of Representatives on Nov. 21, citing both his poor health and an ongoing federal probe of his activities. In a statement then, he said he was doing his best to cooperate with federal investigators and to accept responsibility for his "mistakes."

In a statement, Jackson Jr. said:

"Over the course of my life I have come to realize that none of us are immune from our share of shortcomings and human frailties. Still I offer no excuses for my conduct and I fully accept my responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes I have made. To that end I want to offer my sincerest apologies to my family, my friends and all of my supporters for my errors in judgment and while my journey is not yet complete, it is my hope that I am remembered for the things that I did right."

Sandi Jackson's attorneys released a statement saying she "has accepted responsibility for her conduct, is deeply sorry for her actions, and looks forward to putting this matter behind her and her family. She is thankful for the support of her family and friends during this very difficult time."

Jackson's father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., said he wanted to attend President Barack Obama's speech Friday at Hyde Park Academy in Chicago but traveled to Washington, D.C., instead, to be with family members while they waited for the federal charges to come down.

"This has been a difficult and painful ordeal for our family," the civil rights leader said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said he would "leave it up to the courts system" to determine his son's fate.

"We express our love for him as a family," he said.

nnix@tribune.com

Twitter: @nsnix87

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Illinois corporate tax credits swelled to $161 million 2011

When lawmakers raised taxes on Illinois residents and businesses, they also increased corporate income tax breaks for a select group of companies.

In 2011, businesses were eligible to claim about $161 million in tax credits — double from the prior year — mostly because of the increase to 5 percent from 3 percent in the state's personal income tax rate, which is a factor in determining the value of the incentives. The boost marked the largest increase in the Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credit program, the state's main economic development program, since its creation in 1999.

Deere & Co., Boeing Co. and Caterpillar Inc., whose leader severely criticized lawmakers for tax hikes, were among dozens of companies that received more robust tax breaks. Some companies' deals also allowed them to be in line to receive tax incentives even while laying off workers or lowering wages.

The EDGE program allows a business to claim a credit against its corporate income tax liability if it agrees to create and/or retain jobs and make an investment in the state of at least $1 million, for companies with fewer than 100 workers, and at least $5 million for larger companies.

Once accepted into the program, which typically lasts 10 years, a company applies on an annual basis for a tax credit certificate, similar to a voucher, which it can claim when it files its taxes.

Marcelyn Love, a spokeswoman with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which administers the program, said that under the tax credit program companies make investments and employ workers, practices that otherwise would not have occurred without the credits.

"Both the private investment and the increased employment significantly increase tax revenue collection for the state in excess of the credits given," Love said in an email. Far from adding to the tax burden, she added, these incentives actually generate revenue for the state. "Further, most of these tax credits pay for themselves within two years."

The certificates are the only way to gauge the potential cost and scope of the program, because tax filings are not public. The Tribune obtained the 2011 certificates data, the latest year available, under the state's Freedom of Information Act. Companies have as many as five years to redeem a certificate.

After a deal is finalized, a company has two years to meet its side of the bargain and begin applying for certificates. Thus, the increase in the total value of 2011 tax breaks is also the result of companies receiving certificates for the first time. For example, Ford Motor Co. began applying for its certificates in 2010 from a 2007 deal.

During Gov. Pat Quinn's administration, companies have received increasingly larger deals. Many have been for retaining jobs, according to a Tribune analysis. In 2011, Sears Holdings Corp. was offered a tax credit package worth $150 million over 10 years to keep its headquarters in the state and retain at least 4,250 full-time jobs. The company, which after the deal was announced revealed that it was closing 125 stores nationwide, has yet to apply for a certificate. Five of those stores were in Illinois. State officials have said that during a recession, when few jobs are created, it's important to focus on retaining workers.

Chris Brathwaite, a Sears spokesman, said the company's employment level at its headquarters is higher than the more than 6,000 jobs it had when the deal was approved, but he declined to provide figures.

In general, the value of a certificate equals the number of jobs created and/or retained, multiplied by wages tied to those jobs and the state's personal income tax rate.

That means companies that didn't add one worker and kept wages at the 2010 rate received a 67 percent boost to their 2011 corporate income tax break. Just like individuals, corporations also registered a tax rate increase in 2011. Lawmakers set the new corporate income tax rate at 7 percent, up from 4.8 percent. The increases in breaks partially offset that hike.

The formula under which companies become eligible to receive tax breaks was aimed at encouraging job creation and increasing employee wages. Still, the 2011 data revealed that some companies made deals to allow job cuts and still qualify for incentives, a practice known as "normal attrition."

A case in point is Motorola Mobility. For the past two years, Motorola Mobility has qualified for certificates worth a total of $22.6 million while slowly chipping away at its workforce. Late last year, the smartphone-maker, which was acquired by Google Inc. in May, announced it was laying off 20 percent of its global workforce. Locally, the company cut hundreds of workers, bringing its Illinois head count to about 2,300, a figure that would make it ineligible for a 2013 certificate unless it boosts its workforce before the end of the year.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity said the EDGE program played a crucial role in keeping Motorola Mobility in Illinois after it was acquired by Google. Its presence, the agency said, is drawing more technology investment and jobs to the state.

A state lawmaker wants the state to end the wiggle room practice, cap at $100 million the annual amount of tax breaks awarded and remove the investment bar so more small and medium-size businesses can qualify for breaks.

"Large multinationals are getting all the breaks," said Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, adding that his focus is to modernize the program and increase accountability.

Franks' House Bill 1336 would also limit the length of the tax breaks to five years and require that companies pay workers at least the median salary of their occupation as determined by federal data. The bill also eliminates the provision requiring companies to make a capital investment in the state of at least $1 million or $5 million, depending on their size. And it creates a nine-member board to oversee the deals, with members appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate.

Franks said that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shouldn't promote the program while also negotiating deals with companies, because it creates a conflict of interest.

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