The daily business briefing: July 7, 2016

1. Fed leaders favor halting interest rate hikes until Brexit turmoil clears

Federal Reserve policy makers indicated in their June meeting that they favored putting their plan to raise interest rates on hold until the impact of Britain's vote on its membership in the European Union became clear, according to minutes released Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee meeting took place just over a week before the U.K. voted to leave the EU. Fears over the Brexit fallout have intensified since the vote, as the British pound hit a 31-year low. U.S. stocks got a boost from the Fed news.

Reuters

2. Ex-Fox News host Gretchen Carlson accuses Roger Ailes of sexual harassment

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit Wednesday saying that her former boss, network CEO Roger Ailes, fired her last month because she refused his sexual advances. The former Miss America said Ailes told her last year they "should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better." Carlson also accused Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy of sexual harassment. Ailes called the allegations "false" and "defamatory."

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The Hollywood Reporter Star Tribune

3. CBS to spin off its radio business

CBS Corporation announced Wednesday that it planned to spin off its radio business. CBS Radio, founded in 1928, has 72 million weekly listeners and owns 117 radio stations across the country, making it one of the biggest and oldest U.S. broadcasters. CBS CEO Les Moonves said in March that the company was exploring options for the radio business, but it did not find a buyer willing to pay enough for it. Now the plan is to file documents later this month to make CBS Radio a separate public company and sell an initial public offering of stock.

CNN Bloomberg

4. Danone to buy WhiteWave Foods

France's Danone is buying WhiteWave Foods for $56.25 a share, a 24-percent premium over the Denver-based organic food maker's 30-day average closing price, the companies announced Thursday. The deal values WhiteWave, which owns brands such as Silk, Horizon Organic, and Earthbound Farm, at $12.5 billion, including debt. Danone is currently best known for its yogurts Activia and Actimel. The deal will double the size of its U.S. business. Danone shares gained six percent on the news.

Reuters USA Today

5. More U.K. property funds frozen as Brexit panic spreads

With fresh trading suspensions by Henderson Global Investors, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, and Canada Life on Wednesday, U.K. property funds with $23 billion in assets have frozen withdrawals as Brexit-panicked investors rush to get rid of real estate holdings. Fund manager Bill Gross of Janus Capital Group said the development is "something to worry about," because it is a sign liquidity isn't flowing as it should in the Brexit fallout. "It's reminiscent of Bear Stearns' subprime funds before the Lehman debacle," Gross said.

Bloomberg