Woburn-based battery maker raises $78 million

TAXES

The City Council referred Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposal to increase commercial property tax rates to a subcommittee at its Wednesday meeting. Wu’s proposed legislation comes amid a decline in property values post-pandemic and ahead of an election year, though the incumbent has not announced her plans to run for a second term in 2025. The proposal, her office says, would protect residents from “sudden and dramatic tax increases” by temporarily shifting some of the tax burden to commercial properties. Real estate trade groups warn the move would increase the burden on an already struggling office market and could deter new investment. If the proposal is passed by the City Council, it will next head to the state Legislature and Governor Maura Healey for approval, where its fate also remains uncertain. The legislation could go into effect as soon as July, the start of the 2025 fiscal year, though the Wu administration could wait to implement it in either of the following two years. It would sunset after five years. Wu said the aim is not to increase the total amount of revenue that City Council collects from taxpayers but rather to ensure that the city can maintain current funding. “As Boston invests in revitalizing our downtown and commercial corridors in response to shifting market trends, we are working with all stakeholders to protect residents and homeowners against sudden and dramatic tax increases,” Wu said in a statement released by the city. “For our seniors on fixed incomes, for families with children, for frontline workers and all our community members, we must have the tools to address rising housing costs and keep residents in their homes.” The matter was referred to the council’s government operations committee with no discussion Wednesday. A hearing date has not yet been announced. — ESHA WALIA

MUSIC

It’s never really the end of the road for Kiss. The hard rock quartet has sold its catalog, brand name, and IP to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment Group in a deal estimated to be over $300 million, it was announced Thursday. This isn’t the first time Kiss has partnered with Pophouse, which was cofounded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus. When the band’s current members — founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons as well as guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer — took the stage on the final night of their farewell tour in December at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden, they ended by revealing digitized avatars of themselves. The cutting-edge technology was created by George Lucas’s special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, in partnership with Pophouse. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLOTHING

Levi Strauss & Co. jumped after cost-cutting measures boosted profitability and a bet on baggy jeans and denim skirts drove higher-than-expected sales. The retailer, which announced a cost-cutting and productivity plan in January, said those measures are now paying off. Levi chief executive Michelle Gass, who took over as CEO in January, has also focused on introducing fresh merchandise. These products, including denim skirts and non-denim activewear pants, have helped drive demand and are beginning to support wholesale growth, she said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

AGRICULTURE

Sweet-toothed consumers are facing double trouble with storms lashing the world’s top producer of vanilla — a beloved flavor for ice cream — even as surging cocoa prices bite into chocolate. Madagascar’s key vanilla-growing region has been slammed by Cyclone Gamane, whose rain and high winds have flooded fields and stripped vanilla pods from their vines. Georges Geeraerts, president of the Indian Ocean island’s union of vanilla exporters, said the deluge could halve the vanilla harvest. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

LUXURY

Gucci owner Kering is spending $1.41 billion for a property on Milan’s toniest shopping street. The French luxury group said Thursday that it’s buying Via Monte Napoleone 8 from a unit of Blackstone Property Partners Europe. The 18th-century property covers five floors and boasts more than 5,000 square meters of retail space, making it one of the largest on the famed street, according to Kering. The building already hosts a location of Cova, the high-end Italian cafe brand owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, as well as fashion label Prada. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

AVIATION

Boeing’s latest 737 Max crisis has worsened an airline shortage of popular narrowbody aircraft, sending the cost of used-jet rentals to the highest level in years. The US planemaker has slowed production of its bestselling model to address quality lapses tied to a near-disaster on a 737 Max 9 in January. With Airbus also struggling to lift output, available planes remain scarce. As a result, airlines are searching out leased ones — especially the largest single-aisle jets that carry more passengers. A 3-year-old 737 Max 9, the largest narrowbody in production at Boeing, now commands a higher monthly rent than before the pandemic, according to data from Ishka Global, which tracks aircraft prices. The price of an earlier 737-900ER is approaching January 2020 levels. A similar trend has boosted fees for the Airbus A321neo and the prior A321-200 variant. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

COPY MACHINES

Shares of Konica Minolta Inc. jumped to a 10-month high on its plan to slash 2,400 jobs worldwide, part of an effort to boost profitability. The maker of photocopiers and medical diagnostic imaging equipment said it is reducing headcount around the world over the next twelve months by increasing productivity through the use of generative artificial intelligence. The cuts are set to increase profit by $130 million in the fiscal year starting April 2025, it said. Japan is crowded with the world’s biggest makers of office equipment, including Canon, Fujifilm, and Ricoh. Demand for printers and copiers has declined steadily as more offices go paperless, prompting many of these companies to shift their optics expertise into areas such as health care, semiconductor production, and space technologies. — BLOOMBERG NEWS