Economic Development

Continental Surveying Services LLC has acquired Elder Engineering in a transaction that merges the two Richfield-based companies.

Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Vertis Holdings Inc., a Baltimore, Md.-based company that has filed for bankruptcy, for $258.5 million.

The PNC Financial Services Group Inc., the Pittsburgh-based parent company of PNC Bank, which has branches in the Milwaukee market, today reported third quarter net income of $925 million, or $1.64 per share, up from $834 million, or $1.55 per share, for the same period a year ago.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn announced he plans to make an unsolicited takeover bid to acquire Oshkosh Corp. for almost $3 billion.

BizStarts Milwaukee has received a grant extension for $718,000 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to help grow start-up companies in the M-7 region.

The Wisconsin Department of Administration announced Monday it will deposit $108.7 million in the state’s rainy day fund, the largest amount ever allotted to the fund. The deposit will bring the fund balance to $125.4 million.

Business confidence in future growth prospects turned downward in 2012's fourth quarter, according to the latest Business Outlook Survey conducted by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

Consumer sentiment jumped again in this month to its highest level in five years, according to the latest gauge by the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters.

Associated Bank has announced three new additions to its leadership team in Milwaukee.

Marcus Hotels & Resorts, a division of Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp., is teaming with Carey Watermark Investors Inc. (CWI) and The Arden Group to acquire the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North in a joint venture.