Business Briefs: CBL Properties sells stake in El Paso shopping center

In this 2018 staff file photo, Michael, Charles and Stephen Lebovitz, from left, celebrate 40 years as a company as they talk about CBL Properties.
In this 2018 staff file photo, Michael, Charles and Stephen Lebovitz, from left, celebrate 40 years as a company as they talk about CBL Properties.

CBL Properties said Tuesday it has sold a 25% interest in The Outlet Shoppes in El Paso, Texas to an affiliate of its existing joint venture partner, Horizon Group Properties, for $27.75 million.

The sales price included approximately $18.5 million in related debt. Following the sale, CBL and its joint venture partner both own a 50% interest in the center. Net proceeds from the sale were used to reduce outstanding balances on the company's line of credit.

"The completion of this sale demonstrates both the substantial value of our assets as well as our ongoing access to attractively priced capital," said Stephen Lebovitz, CBL's chief executive officer. "The nearly $150 million in gross disposition activity completed year-to-date supplements our significant free cash flow, which allows us to further our transformative redevelopment efforts at our properties as well as improve our balance sheet through debt reduction."

Hasbro eliminates plastic packaging

Hasbro is giving plastic packaging the boot.

The toy maker said Tuesday that all its packaging for new products will be mostly plastic free by the end of 2022. It plans to stop using plastic bags, elastic bands and the shrink wrap that's usually found around Monopoly, Scrabble and other board games.

But Hasbro's toys, such as Mr. Potato Head, will still be made with plastic. The company said it is testing materials to replace it, but said it's challenging to find an alternative that's still safe for kids and keeps toys looking the same as the plastic ones. Hasbro, however, said it has a program that allows people to ship in their GI Joes or My Little Pony figurines to be recycled.

Plastic is a menace to the environment. Much of it ends up in landfills and doesn't disintegrate, breaking down into tiny pieces that can harm birds and other animals if eaten. Some cities and states have banned plastic bags and several companies have made their own changes to reduce plastic waste. Starbucks, for example, plans to get rid of plastic straws. And toy maker Lego is looking to find an alternative to plastic for its colorful bricks.

Hasbro said it will begin cutting down on plastic packaging next year.

Facebook adds tool to block data mining

Facebook is launching a long-promised tool that lets you limit what the social network can gather about you on outside websites and apps.

The company said Tuesday that it is adding a section where you can see the activity that Facebook tracks outside its service via its "like" buttons and other means. You can choose to turn off the tracking; otherwise, tracking will continue the same way it has been.

Formerly known as "clear history," the tool will now go by the slightly clunkier moniker "off-Facebook activity." The feature launches in South Korea, Ireland and Spain on Tuesday, consistent with Facebook's tendency to launch features in smaller markets first. The company did not give a timeline for when it might expand it to the U.S. and other countries, only that it will be in "coming months."

What you do off Facebook is among the many pieces of information that Facebook uses to target ads to people. Blocking the tracking could mean fewer ads that seem familiar - for example, for a pair of shoes you decided not to buy, or a nonprofit you donated money to. But it won't change the actual number of ads you'll see on Facebook. Nor will it change how your actions on Facebook are used to show you ads.

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