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FOR THE
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| MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS | DEALS | NEW PLANTS & COMPANIES | EXPANSIONS |
| CUTBACKS & CLOSINGS | EXECUTIVE PROMOTIONS | STOCKS | CONTRACTS |
This report is compiled from company releases, business journals and newspapers from around the state. If you have an item for these listings, mail it to Catherine Leitch at VIRGINIA BUSINESS, 411 East Franklin Street, Suite 105, Richmond, Va. 23219, e-mail it to ForTheRecord@va-business.com, or fax it to (804) 649-6311.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
AES Corp., an Arlington-based power company, acquired six electricity generating stations in central and western New York from NGE Generation Inc., a New York-based power company. The stations were sold for $953 million.
Richmond-based Alfa Laval, a manufacturer of compact heat exchangers, acquired Vicarb, an exchanger supplier based in New Market, Canada. Terms were not disclosed.
CarMax, a Richmond-based used-car dealer and subsidiary of Circuit City Stores Inc., acquired Fairway Chrysler Plymouth Jeep, a car dealership in Orlando, Fla., and Prince Chrysler Jeep Eagle Co. and LAX Dodge Inc., new-car dealerships in Los Angeles. CarMax will operate the businesses as stand-alone new-car dealerships. Terms were not disclosed.
Richmond-based CEK Inc., an engineering and plumbing firm, was acquired by Chicago-based Teng & Associates, an architectural, engineering and planning company. Teng retained all of CEK's employees. Terms were not disclosed.
Landmark Communications Inc., a Norfolk-based communications company, sold Landmark Specialty Publications to Krause Publications, an Iola, Wis.-based publisher of hobby and collectible publications. Terms were not disclosed.
Media General Inc., a Richmond-based media company whose properties include Virginia Business, sold half of its 40 percent interest in Denver Newspapers Inc., which publishes the Denver Post, to MediaNews Group of Denver, a communications company. The $92 million deal also included the redemption of Media General's preferred stock in Denver Newspapers.
Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corp. merged Scott & Stringfellow and Craigie Inc., two Richmond-based securities affiliates owned by BB&T Corp., to create a full-service investment banking and brokerage firm. The combined subsidiaries will employ more than 750 people. The new company will continue to operate under the Scott & Stringfellow name.
Water Works Supply Co., a Virginia Beach-based distributor of water and sewer building materials, acquired Hughes Supply Co., an Orlando, Fla.-based distributor of construction and industrial materials. Terms were not disclosed.
Williams, Mullen, Christian & Dobbins, a Richmond-based business law firm, and Clark & Stant, a Virginia Beach-based law firm, merged. The move creates the third largest law firm in Virginia, with 183 attorneys and 398 total employees. As a result of the merger, the firm changed its name to Williams, Mullen, Clark & Dobbins. Terms were not disclosed.
DEALS
America Online, a Dulles-based Internet services company, and New Line Cinemas, a Los Angeles-based producer and distributor of motion pictures, formed a partnership to give New Line a major presence on the AOL Movies main screen. As part of the agreement, New Line will create special links to AOL on its Web site.
America Online and RealSelect, a Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based online real estate company, expanded their relationship. RealSelect will be the exclusive home-listing service on AOL, CompuServe, AOL.com and Digital City. The move expands on a multiyear, multimillion-dollar deal from April 1998, which made RealSelect AOL's exclusive provider of home listings.
Vienna-based MicroStrategy, a decision support system provider, announced that IBM, an Armonk, N.Y.-based information technology company, has joined MicroStrategy's DDS partners program as a value-added reseller.
Network Solutions, a Herndon-based Internet technology company, agreed to perform technical support services for Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent Technologies, a communications systems and software company. T
he Norfolk-based rail company, Norfolk Southern Corp., signed an agreement with New York Cross Harbor Railroad, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based rail car transport business, to provide access to the New York company's bulk terminal facility in Brooklyn. Under the agreement, Norfolk Southern will interchange freight with the company in New Jersey City, N.J.
Henrico County-based Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, an electricity distribution company, and Reliant Energy, a Houston-based electricity and natural gas company, signed a five-year agreement to cooperate on generation development, natural-gas marketing, retail energy services and wholesale electricity.
Smithfield Foods Inc., a Smithfield-based pork processor, will invest $24 million to acquire a 50 percent stake in Agroindustrial Del Noroeste, a hog-raising and slaughtering farm in Mexico City.
Charlottesville-based Value America, an online retailer, and Be Free Inc., a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based marketing technology provider, formed a partnership to enable Value America's approved partners to win a variety of prizes through Value America's Web site.
NEW PLANTS AND COMPANIES
Nextel invests in Hampton with $14 million support center
Nextel Communications, a Reston-based provider of integrated wireless services, plans to build a technical and customer support center in Hampton with a $14 million investment. The facility will create more than 700 jobs.
Virginia beat out North Carolina for the project, and Gov. Jim Gilmore agreed to provide Hampton with a $500,000 grant from his economic development fund to help with site preparation. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will reimburse the company for work force training costs.
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Richmond-based Chasen's Business Interiors launched a subsidiary, Chasen's e-workspaces, with offices in Richmond, Charlottesville and Norfolk. The new division will sell office furniture online.
Sherwood Brands, a candy company based in Rockville, Md., plans to open a plant in Keysville. The company is investing $4 million in the facility, which will create 150 jobs over the next two years.
EXPANSIONS
Richmond-based ALC Communications, a Web site design company, is expanding its services to include database integration, custom programming and office network installation.
Capital One Financial Corp., a Falls Church-based holding company whose subsidiaries include Capital One Bank, plans to open a customer relations call center in Boise, Idaho, to service the company's 18 million customers. Capital One acquired the assets of an existing call center and hired 100 employees. The company plans to hire 400 more employees by December.
Carter Ryley Thomas, a Richmond-based public relations and marketing firm, opened an office in Los Angeles.
Commonwealth Biotechnologies, a Richmond-based research and development company, plans to expand its services to include DNA identity and paternity testing.
CFW Intelos, a Waynesboro-based communications company, opened an information services center in the Taylor Hotel in Winchester. The company plans to hire 200 employees over the next two years to staff the facility.
Richmond-based First Market Bank, a joint venture of Richmond-based Ukrop's Super Markets and Memphis, Tenn.-based National Commerce Bancorporation, will open a branch in Richmond's Carytown. The full-service facility will be the 17-month-old bank's 22nd Virginia branch.
Guaranty Bank, a Charlottesville-based bank, will open a branch in Henrico County and one in Albemarle County. The company will also build a Web site to improve customer service.
Henninger Media Services, an Arlington-based post-production company, plans to build an editing facility in Arlington to support growth in DVD production services.
Smithfield Ham and Products Co., a Smithfield-based maker of pork products and a division of Portsmouth-based The Smithfield Cos., began construction of a 19,000-square-foot meat-processing facility adjacent to its current plant. The company will hire eight employees.
Richmond-based White Oak Semiconductor, a microchip maker, plans to expand its Henrico County plant. The $1.5 billion venture will broaden the facility's memory chip assembly and test operations to include the production of memory modules.
CUTBACKS & CLOSINGS
South's oldest metal
manufacturer
closes Orange County operation
Bristol-based United Co., a metal manufacturing company, will close the Orange County plant of its subsidiary, Virginia Metal Industries, after 62 years of metal making. Virginia Metal is one of the county's largest employers and claims to be the oldest metal manufacturer in the South.
The announcement came more than three months after the United Co. initially told workers Feb. 8 that it planned to close the plant by early April. The company had planned to sell to Mity-Lite of Orem, Utah, for about $3 million. The closing will leave the county with a vacant 225,000-square-foot building and put about 100 people out of work.
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Seattle-based Nordstrom, an upscale department store chain, plans to lay off about 25 of its workers in its MacArthur Center store in Norfolk. The layoffs will come from the sales and support staffs and from regular, not temporary, positions.
The Norfolk-based railway company, Norfolk Southern Corp., will lay off 61 workers at its Norfolk coal terminal. Two earlier layoffs occurred in January and April.
EXECUTIVE PROMOTIONS
Jeffery P. Busby, vice president of operations, Lampert Construction, a commercial and industrial construction company based in Virginia Beach.
James C. Cherry, president of Virginia Banking, Wachovia Bank, a Winston-Salem-based bank holding company.
Scott Cockerham, corporate vice president, Lee Technologies Group, a Fairfax-based environmental systems company.
Robert Galey, senior vice president and chief information officer, WMF Group, a Vienna-based mortgage and financial services company.
Keith Gilchrist, executive vice president-European packaging, Chesapeake Corp., a Richmond-based specialty packaging company.
Sam Goodson, vice president of manufacturing, Albright & Wilson Americas, a Glen Allen-based specialty chemicals producer.
Brian J. Harker, CEO, Dimon Inc., a Danville-based producer of leaf tobacco.
Conrad J. Hunter, vice president and general manager - Virginia region, PrimeCo Personal Communications, a Richmond-based personal communications company.
Paul G. Leslie, executive vice president and COO, BTG Inc., an informations systems company based in Fairfax.
Brenda Medlin, vice president of marketing, Lee Technologies Group.
John A. O'Connor, senior vice president of marketing, Hassell & Folkes, an engineering firm based in Chesapeake.
Michael Shank, vice president of Herndon business operations, FGM Inc., a Herndon-based software company.
Thomas P. Smithberger, senior vice president, HDR Engineering, an Alexandria-based architecture and engineering firm.
John Sporidis, senior vice president, Syska & Hennessy, a Fairfax-based engineering firm.
Elbert S. Walker Jr., vice president sales, Lee Technologies Group.
Elizabeth Whitbred-Snyder, executive vice president, WMF Group.
STOCKS
Reston-based CareerBuilder Inc., an online recruiting network for employers and job seekers, announced the initial public offering of 4.4 million shares of common stock at $10 a share.
Norfolk rail company, Norfolk Southern Corp., announced a grant of 3.7 million shares of common stock to more than 5,500 employees at a fixed price for up to 10 years.
CONTRACTS
GTSI, Chantilly: $16.6 million from the U.S. Treasury Department for general-purpose supplies.
Hercules Aerospace Co., Radford: $18.4 million from the Army for operation of government-owned facilities.
Integrated Engineering Concepts, Alexandria: $2.5 million from the General Services Administration for management support services.
Securiguard Inc., McLean: $14.3 million from the Fleet and Industrial Supply center for utilities and housekeeping services.
TVT Associates, Arlington: $22.4 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development for professional support services.
WIN Laboratories Ltd., Manassas: $18.4 million from the Treasury Department for general-purpose supplies.
© JULY 1999, Media General Business
Publications Inc.,
publisher of Virginia Business Magazine