Business news in brief

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which owns Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal Casino and the closed Trump Plaza, provided details on its proposed reorganization. Under the plan, affiliates of investor Carl Icahn would trade $292 million in debt for 55 percent of the stock in the reorganization and a $100 million note that would not require cash interest payments. Instead, the amount owed to Icahn would increase over the five-year term, the bankruptcy court filing said. Vendors owed $13.5 million would receive nothing. Trump Entertainment is also asking for major givebacks from the union that represents more than 1,100 workers at the Taj and for a major break on its property taxes from Atlantic City. - Harold Brubaker

Vanguard Group Inc., of Malvern, which managed more than $3 trillion as of Aug. 31, said it is tightening oversight on its bond mutual funds to prevent investors from making large short-term deposits. The move came as investors yanked a record $446.5 million from Pacific Investment Management Co.'s $2.9 billion Total Return ETF after the departure from that firm of marquee manager Bill Gross on Friday. Vanguard spokesman John Woerth said the firm can reject deposits and has done so in the past. "We do not want to allow our funds to be used as a short-term parking spot," Woerth said in an e-mail. "Such activity drives up transaction costs for the long-term shareholders." - Bloomberg News

Ametek Inc., the Berwyn maker of electronic instruments, said it agreed to sell $700 million in senior notes in a private placement with institutional investors at a weighted-average interest rate of 3.88 percent. Shares closed down 88 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $49.33. In August, Ametek said, it earned 61 cents per share on sales of $991 million for the second quarter. - Reid Kanaley

Merck & Co. said it completed the $14.2 billion sale of its consumer products division, which includes over-the-counter drugs such as Claritin, to Bayer AG. Merck said it cleared about $9 billion on the deal after taxes, less some amounts related to the closing, transferring a plant in Canada, and regulatory approval in Mexico and South Korea. Merck is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, N.J., and has operations in Upper Gwynedd and West Point, Montgomery County. Germany-based Bayer has its North American headquarters in Whippany, N.J. - David Sell

Aqua America Inc., the Bryn Mawr utility, said its Texas subsidiary acquired the water and wastewater systems assets of Texas H2O, in Mansfield, Texas, for $2.8 million. The systems provide service to about 3,300 customers. Aqua America serves about three million people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Indiana, and Virginia. - Reid Kanaley

RJMetrics, a Center City cloud-based data-analytics firm, will nearly double staff, to 150 from the current 80, by the end of next year, chief executive Robert Moore said. He said the firm has more than 300 business customers, and expects to sign more as it applies $16.5 million invested by backers August Capital, Trinity Ventures, and SoftTech VC in its latest fund-raising round. - Joseph N. DiStefano

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, of Philadelphia, said it entered an agreement with Safari Energy to install a 1,600-kilowatt-hour, 5,000-panel solar system on the rooftop of the PREIT-owned Cherry Hill Mall. Safari will finance and build the project by the end of 2015, and PREIT will receive lease income and reduced energy costs. PREIT owns shopping malls in 12 states. - Reid Kanaley

An overseer hired by Michigan after a series of problems said the state's prison food service contractor will boost worker pay, staffing levels, and training. Ed Buss said better staffing alleviates other problems, and overall performance of Aramark Correctional Services, of Philadelphia, "needs to be much better." Aramark's work and its three-year, $145 million contract with Michigan have been under scrutiny. The state fined the company $200,000 last month for unapproved menu substitutions, inadequate staffing, and employee misconduct. - AP

General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra told investors that GM plans a raft of new models and a big push to sell more cars in China to drive profits in coming years, as the biggest U.S. automaker tries to shift the spotlight from a mishandled recall of older small cars. Barra needed to reassure investors that GM has a strong plan going forward. The stock has dropped about 18 percent this year. - AP