The consolidated bank, which is based in Norfolk, has assets of $786 million and 56 branches.

Though First Virginia has merged several of its subsidiary banks in the past several years, John A. Nystrom, president and chief administrative officer of First Virginia-Hampton Roads, said in a prepared statement that the bank remains committed to a multibank structure. Large bank holding companies typically combine subsidiaries to cut overhead.

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AES Corp., an Arlington-based power company, acquired two electric utilities, Eastern Kazakhstan and Semipalatensk in Kazakhstan. Together the utilities serve 1.8 million people in northeastern Kazakhstan. Terms were not disclosed.

CarMax, a Richmond-based used-car dealer, acquired Town & Country Pontiac Nissan, a dealership in Perryhall, Md. Terms were not disclosed.

CSX Corp., a Richmond-based transportation company, sold its Sea-Land Service Inc. international liner business to Madison, N.J.-based A.P. Moller-Maersk Line for $800 million. The combined company will operate under the name Maersk-SeaLand and will be based in Madison, N.J.

Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., a Richmond-based title underwriting company that is a subsidiary of LandAmerica Financial Group, acquired McKinney, Texas-based Wilson Title Co. Terms were not disclosed.

Orion Technologies, an Alexandria-based Internet and telecommunications company, acquired two Frankfurt, Germany-based companies: EX Elektronische Zahlungssysteme and Elektronische Processing Systeme. Both companies are electronic point-of-sale processing and terminal rental companies. Terms were not disclosed.

Plateau Systems, a Fairfax-based developer of online software, acquired the online learning management products portion of Sensory Computing, a Fairfax-based online courseware developer. Terms were not disclosed.

PSINet a Herndon-based Internet service provider, acquired Argentina On-Line, a Buenos Aires-based Internet service provider. Terms were not disclosed.

Richmond-based Slabaugh Morgan White & Associates, a benefits consulting firm, and Palmer & Cay Inc., a Savannah, Ga.-based property and casualty agency, have merged. Terms were not disclosed.

Thurston Inc., a Richmond-based advertising company, and Richmond's Chapman Advertising have merged. The new company, Thurston Chapman & Associates, will employ 30 people.

Value America, a Charlottesville-based online retailer, acquired InService America, a call center company headquartered in Lynchburg. Terms were not disclosed.

America Online also formed an alliance with National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., to integrate NPR programming into AOL's News Channel, a general news Web site.

AMF Bowling Products, a Richmond-based bowling company, and Shanghi Zhonglu Industrial Corp., a Nanhui, China-based manufacturer of bowling products, signed a three-year joint distribution agreement in which Zhonglu will become the exclusive distributor of AMF products in China.

Chesapeake Corp., a Richmond-based packaging and tissue company, and Georgia-Pacific Corp., an Atlanta-based building products manufacturer, agreed to combine commercial tissue operations. Chesapeake would receive a 10 percent interest in the partnership plus an initial cash distribution of about $730 million for contributing the assets of its Wisconsin Tissue to the deal.

Herndon-based Network Solutions, a domain name registration company, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed to provide links to each other's Internet services to boost each company's profile with small businesses.

Herndon-based Resource Solutions International, a technology consulting company, and San Diego, Calif.-based Science Applications International Corp., a research and engineering firm, formed a partnership to develop Internet commerce. The agreement focuses on business-to-business services, including inventory and supply-chain management.

Value America, a Charlottesville-based online retailer, has joined with Memphis, Tenn.-based Federal Express Corp. to use FedEx's order-management system and returns process for Internet shoppers. Under the terms of the agreement, Value America will offer its customers FedEx NetReturn, an Internet-based program that makes it easier to return products ordered online.

Value America and Esselte Group, an office supply company based in Uxbridge, England, signed a $15 million sales agreement. Under the terms of the deal, Value America will promote, present and sell office and computer products offered by Esselte.

National Catalog contracts with direct-marketing companies and takes orders by phone, e-mail and the Internet. The company also may open a warehouse in Martinsville to complement the call center, says Bob Rhudy, National Catalog's executive vice president. Until then, a warehouse in Portland, Tenn., will ship the orders taken at the Martinsville center.

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Pharming Healthcare Inc., a Leiden, Netherlands-based pharmaceutical company, plans to build two biotechnology facilities in Virginia. The company expects to build a transgenic cattle center in Craig County and a milk-processing plant in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech's Corporate Research Center. During the next two years, the company plans to hire 88 employees and invest $37 million in buildings and equipment.

Dan River Inc., a Danville-based textile company, plans to build a facility in the Riverview Industrial Park to house the company's graphics operation, which prints packaging for the company's home-fashion products. The expansion would create 22 jobs and will cost about $4 million.

James Martin & Co., a marketing firm based in Fairfax, plans to open an office in Richmond that would employ 12 people.

Jackson Hewitt has about 150 full-time employees in Virginia Beach. About half of them work for the company's technology group, however, which will remain in Virginia Beach. The company plans to relocate some employees, but about 25 will lose their jobs, Quinn says.

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Discount Furniture, a Chesapeake-based retailer, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The company owns two stores in Chesapeake and one in Newport News. According to Anne Neill, a trustee appointed by the bankruptcy court, the company filed for bankruptcy before the delivery date of some of its orders, which will transform many customers into creditors.

Upton's Department Stores Inc., an Atlanta-based division of American Retail Group, plans to close its four stores in Hampton Roads, vacating 260,000 square feet of space and leaving 193 people without jobs.

NuOncology Labs Inc., a Virginia Beach-based research and pharmaceutical company, applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. The company is currently trading on the Berlin Stock Exchange and the OTC Electronic Bulletin Board.

Jan A.J. Bout, Orion Technologies, an Alexandria-based Internet technology company.

Mary L. Blunt, president of Sentara Life Care, a subsidiary of Sentara Healthcare, a Norfolk-based health care organization.

David R. Boccia, president and CEO of Panurgy DC Metro, an Internet technology company based in Chantilly.

Jeff Brooks, president and COO of Brooks Transfer & Storage, a moving and storage firm based in Richmond.

Dennis N. Cavender, CFO, CyberCash, a Reston-based Internet technology company.

Christopher C. Cheek, vice president of marketing for Telos Corp., an Ashburn-based Internet technology company.

Babi Das, president of Metamor Consulting Solutions, an Alexandria-based Internet technology company.

C. Thomas Faulders III, president and CEO of LCC International, a telecommunications company based in McLean.

Richard J. Hanna, president of Teligent International, a Vienna-based communications company.

Philippe Kuperman, president-Latin America for PSINet, a Herndon-based Internet service provider.

Rick LaReau, president and COO of Worth Higgins & Associates, a Richmond-based printing company.

Kenneth T. Nelson, CFO of Cyveillance, an Arlington-based e-business company.

Bert S. Reese, chief information officer of Sentara Healthcare.

Avis Construction, Roanoke: $1.8 million from the U.S. Postal Service for construction services.

Darlington Inc., Arlington: $5.7 million from the Navy for automatic data-processing services.

General Injectables & Vaccines, Bastian: $1.6 million from the Veterans Affairs Department for virus vaccines.

General Scientific Corp., Arlington: $10 million from the General Services Administration for management, organizational and business-improvement services.

Industrial Marine Services Inc., Norfolk: $18.6 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for emergency and rapid-response services.

Logicon Inc., Herndon: $53 million from the U.S. Navy, Air Forces and Special Operations Command to provide a joint mission-planning system.

Unisys Corp., McLean: $100 million from the National Institutes of Health for technical support services.

Universal Systems & Technology, Fairfax: $10.3 million from the Army's Target Control Support Services for technical support.