SC business briefly

Milliken acquires Australian company

Spartanburg-based Milliken & Co. announced Wednesday it has acquired Australian carpet maker Ontera. A subsidiary of Cavalier Corp., Ontera has licensed Milliken technology for more than 30 years, the company said. The acquisition is the latest initiative in Milliken’s focus on global growth within its floor covering division, expanding the company’s reach throughout Australia and New Zealand and increasing its direct customer base and service capabilities.

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▪ Sales of some BMW X models produced in Spartanburg County helped drive the company’s U.S. business to a 2 percent increase in August from the same month in 2014. BMW of North America LLC reported Tuesday it sold 32,864 vehicles last month, compared with 32,219 during the same month a year ago. Sales of four models made in Spartanburg — the X3, X4, X5 and X6—produced mixed results. Sales of the X3 and X4 increased more than 5 percent and more than 31 percent, respectively, during the month while X5 sales declined almost 20 percent. Sales of the X6 increased to 443 units in August, compared with 27 during the same month one year ago.

▪ Hiring by U.S. firms picked up a bit last month as the private sector added 190,000 net new jobs, payroll firm Automatic Data Processing said Wednesday. The job growth was an improvement over July’s 177,000 figure, which was revised down from the initial report of 185,000. But the August figure was below analyst expectations of about 210,000 net new private-sector jobs.

▪ Video-streaming company Hulu is introducing an ad-free version of its subscription service for $4 extra a month as competition for streaming customers heats up. The service with ads costs $8 and the ad-free version costs $12. The company said customers asked for an ad-free option.

From Staff and Wire Reports