TransCanda has announced on Thursday its acquisition of Columbia Pipeline for $13 billion in total, enabling the energy giant to represent itself as a dominant player in the businesses of natural gas across the North America. The deal appears following a series of announcement for merger in the energy sector including $2.3 billion deals in 2016.

JPMorgan board has announced the approval of $1.88 billion buy-backs in stock. The recent buy back decision follows its earlier precedence of repurchasing stock for $6.4 billion. The board has allowed flexibility in timeframe and quantity of purchased shares or even pulling out from the decision at company’s own discretion.

Automatic emergency braking systems have proved their efficiency in preventing car accidents. The systems may reduce the number of rear-end collisions by up to 40%. Considering the efficacy level, almost all US automakers and NHTSA have reached an agreement to make the system a standard equipment on most cars by 2022.

Tech company 373K decided to move from Georgia due to religious freedom bill that would allow anti-gay discrimination. After reaching the decision to move through voting, the company is now in the process in moving to Delaware.

Uber has announced another new feather of its app, Family Profiles which enables customers to pay for the rides of their family members. The person, organizing the' Family Profiles' will be served a detailed report of the rides they are paying for. The feature is primarily available in select cities of the US.

Coherent has announced acquiring Rofin-Sinar through a deal for $942 million. The deal is expected to close by the coming six to nine months. Through the acquisition, Coherent eyes to represent itself as a global leader in the area of laser and photonics technology.

Morgan Stanley lowered Gap's stock to an "underweight" rating from "equal-weight", citing key weakness in the company's business. Analyst at Morgan Stanley fixed an objective price of $26 for Gap's stock, down 11% from the present level.

San Diego SeaWorld announced that it will no longer offer theatrical shows for orcas but instead it will be replaced by an educational show about the killer whale itself. The theme park's declining number of visitors and with the left and right criticism it received from animal activists made them change their tarnished image. However, orcas born and raised in captivity cannot be released to the wild as they could not fend for themselves and might perish.

Citing drop in revenues, Moody's Investors Service has lowered Houston's $3 billion of general obligation debt by one level to Aa4. Lower oil prices and restrictions on raising taxes are keeping further pressure on Houston's economy.

LivingSocial, partly owned by Amazon, has represented itself as a foe in ecommerce business. Gautam Thakar, the new CEO has gone through a massive workforce reduction since his inception 18 months back. Beside job cuts, Thakar has transformed its business focus from daily deals to card linked discount business which is now being tested in three US cities and seems to be popular.