LinkedIn pays $1.5 billion for online courses website

LinkedIn is buying Lynda.com for about $1.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, adding the online learning and professional development company to its professional networking offerings.

LinkedIn said Thursday that it will pay for the California-based company with a combination of 52 percent cash and 48 percent stock. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter. It is by far LinkedIn’s largest acquisition so far, and one that should help the 12-year-old company expand its audience and the market it serves.

LinkedIn’s key focus is online professional networking. Lynda.com is a subscription service that allows members to access courses taught by experts, in multiple languages.

Long-term mortgage rates down to 3.66% this week

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates declined this week, approaching historically low levels with the spring home-buying season underway.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said the national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 3.66 percent from 3.70 percent last week.

The average rate for a 15-year mortgage, popular with homeowners who refinance, fell to 2.93 percent from 2.98 percent last week.

Walgreens closing 200 stores in effort to save $500 million

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. will close 200 of its 8,232 U.S. drugstores to reduce costs as its profits get squeezed by competition and by lower pharmaceutical insurer reimbursements.

The company will also reorganize corporate and field operations and revamp its technology, which along with the store closings will help cut an additional $500 million in costs by the end of fiscal 2017.

Investors cheered the plans and the company’s quarterly earnings report, which beat analysts’ estimates. Walgreens Boots shares climbed 5.6 percent to $92.62 at the close in New York, their highest-ever closing price. The stock has increased 22 percent this year.

Agency declines to require GM recall over brake lines

General Motors will not have to replace brake lines on 1.8 million older pickup trucks and SUVs, some of which developed severe rust that caused the brakes to fail, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday.

The agency said it will encourage owners of GM full-size pickups and SUVs from the 2007 model year and earlier to inspect their brake lines and wash their underbodies after each winter to clear road salt that has accumulated. But the agency is closing an investigation begun in January 2011.

The decision shifts responsibility for maintaining, and if needed, replacing brake lines on the vehicles from GM to the owners of Chevrolet Silverados, Tahoes and Suburbans; GMC Sierras and Yukons; and Cadillac Escalades, mostly from the 1999 through 2003 model years.

— From news service reports