Zoltek Companies Inc. has hired J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as financial advisor to commence a process to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value. There is no assurance that this review will result in the Zoltek pursuing any transaction or that a transaction, if pursued, will be completed. Zoltek does not intend to announce further developments regarding the process until its Board of Directors either completes its review or enters into a definitive agreement for a possible transaction, Zoltek Companies said in a press release.

A federal court has dismissed the $100 million CDO lawsuit filed by Melbourne Credit Union against several banks. Space Coast claimed in the suit that the CDOs created a false demand for residential mortgage loans. Banks named in its lawsuit included Wells Fargo & Co.'s Wells Fargo Securities, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Bank of America Corp.'s, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and unit Merrill Lynch Home Loans, UBS AG's UBS Securities LLC, and Barclays Plc's Barclays Capital Inc.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. announced that it hired J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Goldman, Sachs & Co. to seek buyers for its industrial packaging business. The business makes plastic, paper and steel protective packaging products under the Angleboard, Reddi-Pac and Orgapack brands, used to transport bulk products. The target had 2012 revenue of about $2.4 billion.