For the Record - July 2001

For the Record
July 2001

This report is compiled from company releases, business journals and newspapers from around the state. If you have an item for these listings please:

mail it to:
For the Record
Virginia Business Magazine
P.O. Box 85333
Richmond, VA 23293

or e-mail it to ForTheRecord@va-business.com, or fax it to (804) 649-6311.

Mergers & Acquisitions
Align360 Industry Solutions Group, a Richmond-based provider of technology solutions to vertical-market companies, has been acquired by GM Acquisition Company LLC, a group led by the company’s management. Formerly known as McClain Group Inc., Align360 became a division of Renaissance Worldwide Inc. in 1997. Dominion Partners LC, a Richmond-based investment banking firm, helped to negotiate, structure and arrange financing for the management buyout. (Press release, 05/10/01)

Capital One Financial Corp., a Falls Church-based financial-services company, has agreed to acquire AmeriFee Corp., a financing company for elective medical procedures. Capital One will pay $81.5 million for the Massachusetts-based company with $65 million in cash and the remainder in common stock. Additional payments may be made over the next three years subject to AmeriFee’s financial performance. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 05/10/01)

Proxicom Inc., a Reston-based Internet consulting company, tentatively accepted an acquisition offer from Dimension Data Holdings PLC, South Africa’s largest computer-services firm. Dimension’s offer is worth $427.4 million. Compaq Computer Corp. declined to increase its $327.7 million bid for Proxicom. (The Washington Post, 05/10/01)

SkyOnline de Argentina, S.A., a subsidiary of telecommunications provider SkyOnline, Inc., based in McLean, has acquired Netizen, S.A. , one of Argentina’s leading and fastest growing providers of Internet access and Web development services. (PRNewswire, 05/10/01)

Williams Industries, a Falls Church-based construction-services company, has acquired an additional 28 percent interest in S.I.P. Inc., a Wilmington, Del.-based manufacturer of steel decking used in highway-bridge construction. The latest acquisition brings Williams’ interest to more than 98 percent and moves forward the long-range plan of Williams to consolidate the two companies’ financial results for tax purposes. (PRNewswire, 05/09/01)

Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, an Arlington-based real estate investment trust, has agreed to merge with Archstone Communities, a Denver-based real-estate operating company. The combined entity will operate as Archstone-Smith Trust and use the Smith Residential brand name for its high-rise portfolio. The new company will own 87,456 apartment units, including 4,899 units under construction, and will be headquartered in Denver with divisional offices in Arlington, Irvine, Calif. and Atlanta. (PRNewswire, 05/04/01)

CENIT Bancorp, a Norfolk-based financial institution, has agreed to be acquired by SouthTrust Corp., a regional bank-holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Ala. The merger agreement plans to exchange 1.14 shares of SouthTrust stock for each outstanding share of CENIT stock. (Business Wire, 05/04/01)

AES Corp., an Arlington-based global power company, has won a $23.2 million bid to purchase a 75 percent controlling interest in Rivenoblenergo, a distribution company that serves the Rivno region about 20 kilometers from Kiev. (Press release, 05/03/01)

Emtera Corp., an Arlington-based provider of mobile customer-relationship-management solutions for the retail industry, has acquired Sentio Research Inc. from Palo Alto, Ca.-based Avisent. Sentio provided real-time market-research data to retailers. (Business Wire, 05/02/01)

Smithfield Foods Inc., a processed-meats producer based in Smithfield, has finalized a deal to purchase specialty-foods maker The Smithfield Cos., based in Portsmouth, at a purchase price of $8.50 per share, valued at about $18 million. Smithfield Foods already owns about one-fifth of Smithfield Cos. from stock purchased in 1991. (The Virginian-Pilot, 05/02/01)

Nextel Communications Inc., a Reston-based provider of integrated wireless services, has completed the purchase of assets of Let's Talk Cellular & Wireless Inc. Nextel paid about $32 million for the majority of the company's assets including approximately 200 retail stores, a national distribution center in Dallas and IT infrastructure in Miami. The former Let's Talk Cellular stores will remain open under the Nextel brand. (PRNewswire, 05/01/01)

General Dynamics, a Falls Church-based multinational provider of services in aviation, information systems, shipbuilding and combat systems, has agreed to acquire Fort Worth-based Galaxy Aerospace Company LP for $330 million in cash. Galaxy, a 1997 joint venture between the Hyatt Corp. and Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., also may receive additional payments up to a maximum of $315 million through 2006, contingent upon achieving specific revenue targets. (PRNewswire, 05/01/01)

TowneBank, a Hampton Roads-based financial institution, has acquired Kellam-Eaton-Huey Insurance Agency Inc. based in Virginia Beach. KEH Insurance will be merged into Towne Insurance Agency Inc., a newly formed subsidiary of the bank. The combined operation will operate under the Kellam-Eaton-Huey name and the transaction will be accounted for as a pooling of interests. (Press release, 05/01/01)

Albemarle Corp., a Richmond-based provider of specialty and fine chemical products, has agreed to a $44 million purchase of Martinswerk GmbH, a specialty chemicals company based in Gergheim, Germany. The acquisition will include Martinswerk's manufacturing facilities and headquarters as well as its 50 percent stake in Magnifin Magnesia Produkte GmbH. (PRNewswire, 04/27/01)

Renex Corp., a Manassas-based software company specializing in Web-based emulation products, has been acquired by Seagull, a provider of e-business integration software headquartered in the Netherlands. In the stock-for-stock transaction, Seagull issued 205,250 shares. (Press release, 04/27/01)

DynCorp, a Reston-based technology-services provider, has signed an agreement to merge its state government services subsidiary, DynCorp Management Resources, with California-based TekInsight.com Inc.'s multi-state electronic government and IT services organization. (Business Wire, 04/26/01)

Smithfield Foods Inc., a hog and processed-meats producer based in Smithfield, has agreed to acquire a stake in Pinnacle Foods Inc., a provider of case-ready meat to retail supermarkets in the Northeast. Smithfield will acquire up to 13.5 million shares or 50 percent of the outstanding common shares of Pinnacle at a total purchase price of $6 million as well as provide a $30-million revolving line of credit to the retail meat provider. (PRNewswire, 04/26/01)

Security Design International Inc., an Annandale-based security consulting and services company, has been acquired by Counterpane Internet Security Inc., headquartered in Cupertino, Calif. SDI will be folded into Counterpane's newly formed professional services unit located at its Chantilly security operations center. (The Washington Post, 04/23/01)

eGreenCoffee.com Inc., a Sterling-based online trading platform for raw coffee, has agreed to be acquired by Tradamax Group, a Web-based exchange for the food industry based in Newport Beach, Calif. (The Washington Post, 04/23/01)

Lee County Community Hospital, located in Pennington Gap, received a top bid of $24.9 million for its acquisition by Health Management Associates Inc., a Naples, Fla.-based company that operates 36 non-urban hospitals in 11 states. The county hospital was forced into bankruptcy after being defrauded of millions in a scheme involving former hospital officials, a doctor and a contractor. (The Roanoke Times, 04/19/01)

Smithfield Foods Inc., a hog farming and pork-processing company based in Smithfield, has agreed to buy Souderton, Pa.-based Moyer Packing, the ninth largest beef-packing company in the world with a 1.3-percent market share. (Daily Press, 04/18/01)

Prentiss Properties Trust, based in Dallas, and Brandywine Realty Trust, based in Newtown Square, Pa., have completed their previously announced asset exchange. In the exchange Prentiss acquired all of Brandywine's Northern Virginia assets in exchange for all of its operating assets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware consisting of 1.6 million square feet in 30 office buildings. The Northern Virginia portfolio consists of 657,400 square feet in four office buildings and an interest in a joint venture that owns two additional office buildings with 451,600 square feet. (Press release, 04/10/01)

New Plants and Companies
INNOVATION @ Prince William Technology Park has been selected by ASTROLINK, International LLC, a global broadband wireless service company, as the location for its network operations center. ASTROLINK will invest about $205 million in the new center and could employ as many as 250 people. (Press release, 05/08/01)

Dickenson County Technology Park has been selected as the call –center location for Ft. Worth-based Travelocity.com, a Web site that provides real-time travel reservations. The $2.27 million center will create 500 new jobs. (Press release, 05/04/01)

Sterling Hager, a Watertown, Mass.-based technology public-relations firm, opened a new office in McLean in May 2001. The office will be managed and directed by agency veteran Tony Green and will service small- to mid-sized technology companies. (Press release, 05/01/01)

Corinthian Colleges Inc., a Santa Ana, Ca.-based for-profit post-secondary education company which operates 55 colleges in 19 states, announced plans to open an Arlington campus during the third quarter of fiscal 2002. The Arlington campus is one of four new campuses planned by Corinthian. (PRNewswire, 05/03/01)

Zenith Logistics LLC, a direct distribution services company for the furniture industry, announced plans for a new distribution center in Henry County. Zenith provides distribution services to Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. and will invest $1.2 million in its 630,000-square-foot center that will employ about 70 people. (Press release, 05/02/01)

BB&T Corp., a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based community-banking network with 893 offices, announced plans to build a 50,000-square-foot operations center in Winchester that could employ up to 200 people. The center will open January 2002 and handle operating functions primarily for BB&T's Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. markets. (PRNewswire, 05/02/01)

The Cape Charles Sustainable Technology Park in Northampton County has been selected as the site for the U.S. headquarters of proVENTO International, a Koblenz, Germany-based developer and marketer of wind farms that sells energy to public utilities. The company will invest $7.5 million in the headquarters and six 1.3-megawatt windtowers, creating 25 new jobs. (Press release, 04/26/01)

Leica Microsystems, a Wetzler, Germany-based global designer and producer of high-tech precision optics systems, will locate the world headquarters of its semiconducter division in Fairfax County's Westfields office park. Virginia successfully competed with Texas to win the $1.5 million investment in the 10,000-square-foot headquarters. (Press release, 04/25/01)

Whitehead Consulting LLC, a government-relations and public-affairs services firm based in Richmond, has been founded by D. Calloway Whitehead III. The consulting firm represents and advises businesses, professional associations and other organizations before the Virginia General Assembly, state agencies and local governmental entities. (Press release, 03/28/01)

Deals
The Martin Agency , a Richmond-based ad agency, has been named marketing partner for TLC Laser Eye Centers Inc., headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. TLC operates 58 centers across North America and is the world's largest provider of laser vision correction services. (Press Release, 05/16/01)

Software AG of Reston has executed an agreement with IBM Global Services whereby IBM will add Software AG's E-Business product line to its portfolio and resell the software and services. Software AG Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Software AG, Europe's largest system software provider. (Business Wire, 05/14/01)

AES Corp., a global power company headquartered in Arlington, announced that AES Huntington Beach received its certification from the California Energy Commission to refurbish two gas-fired units which were retired in 1995 prior to AES ownership. The updated facility will add an additional 450 megawatts of generation. (Press Release, 05/14/01)

Metrocall Inc. called off plans to file for bankruptcy protection and merge with WebLink Wireless Inc. Metrocall, a Reston-based paging firm, canceled the merger because WebLink laid off 15 percent of its staff and closed seven field offices. Metrocall stood to benefit from getting WebLink's two-way network, while the company’s superior sales and distribution channels appealed to Dallas-based Weblink. (The Washington Post, 05/12/01)

Live Wire Media Relations LLC , an Alexandria-based boutique media relations firm, has re-signed a full-scale media relations contract with PeopleSoft Inc. of Pleasanton, Cailf. (Press Release, 05/10/01)

Fransmart of Alexandria recently signed agreements with five national restaurant concepts for assistance with franchise development. The concepts are 5 & Diner of Pheonix, Ariz.; The Italian Pie of New Orleans; Zpizza of Southern California; O'Hagan's Irish Pub and Grill, and Moseley's Burgers of Washington, D.C. Fransmart is a global franchise development company dedicated to helping small to mid-size franchise organizations grow through effective franchise sales. (Press Release, 05/10/01)

Infineon Technologies AG, a Munich-based computer-chip maker with a facility in Henrico County, has been awarded $3.5 million in punitive damages by a jury in Richmond’s federal court. The award stems from the jury’s finding that Rambus, Inc. committed fraud against Infineon in its patent-infringement suit of this past summer. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 05/10/01)

Taylor McKenzie, a Leesburg-based telecom consulting and systems integrator, has completed a $5 million contract with ECtel Ltd. for Embratel, one of Brazil’s leading telecommunications companies. Taylor McKenzie will deploy ECtel’s FraudView solution in the Embratel network, a product that provides fraud detection, prevention and management systems in real time. (PRNewswire, 05/08/01)

Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc., a Richmond-based provider of research and development services to the biotech industry, has settled its patent-pending dispute with Applied Biosystems. Under the agreement, Applied Biosystems also dismissed its claim against CBI and will receive a license to use CBI’s patented DNA lane tracking technology for automated sequencing. (PRNewswire, 05/08/01)

PricewaterhouseCoopers, a worldwide accounting firm, has agreed to pay $55 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging it defrauded investors in Microstrategy Inc., a Vienna-based software maker. The suit claimed PwC approved financial reports that inflated the earnings and revenue of Microstrategy, which had settled with the class-action plaintiffs this past fall in an agreement worth $80.5 million. (The Washington Post, 05/08/01)

Huntsinger & Jeffer, a Richmond-based national direct-marketing firm, has been named the agency of record for The African Wildlife Foundation, an international conservation organization based in Washington, D.C. (Press release, 05/07/01)

Fransmart, an Alexandria-based global franchise development company that helps small- to mid-sized franchise organizations grow through franchise sales, has entered a marketing agreement with ChemStation, a Dayton, Ohio-based affiliation of 43 manufacturing centers that provide custom industrial cleaning solutions. (Press release, 05/07/01)

Crawford Public Relations International, a Reston-based communications and consulting company, has been awarded a contract to provide North American public- relations services to Cramer Systems, Ltd., a Bath, U.K.-based supplier of provisioning software to the telecom industry. (Business Wire, 05/07/01)

AES Corp., an Arlington-based global power company, and its subsidiary AES Barka SAOC have secured $348.6 million in financing for a water project in Oman. The plant will supply 427 megawatts of power and 20 million imperial gallons per day of desalinated water. (Business Wire, 05/04/01)

Trigon Healthcare Inc., a Richmond-based health insurer, has agreed to transfer the administration services provided by the employee benefits division of its subsidiary Trigon Administrators Inc. to Ceridian Benefits Services Inc. Ceridian will begin administering Trigon's flexible spending accounts, COBRA and other services by August 1. (Business Wire, 05/02/01)

The International Communications Industries Association Inc., a Fairfax-based international trade association for the audiovisual industry, announced its intent to purchase an 80,000 AV-product database from Pacifiq Technologies. The electronic library of product specifications represents the offerings of over 500 industry manufacturers. Approximately 20 employees will join ICIA from Pacifiq. (PRNewswire, 05/01/01)

Davis Boat Works Inc., a Newport News-based shipyard, agreed to pay $25,000 to settle a complaint by the Environmental Protection Agency that it lacked certain oil-spill safeguards and also will upgrade spill barriers and submit revised emergency and training plans. (The Virginian-Pilot, 05/01/01)

Future Finance Company Inc., a Norfolk-based auto-finance company, agreed to pay a $103,000 settlement stemming from a sexual-harassment lawsuit filed against the company in September on behalf of 11 female employees. (The Virginian-Pilot, 05/01/01)

SRA International, an information technology firm based in Fairfax, and Wayne, Pa.-based Safeguard Scientifics, a publicly traded investment firm, have formed a 50/50 joint venture called SRA Ventures. The venture will be an independent company that will spin off companies from SRA International using the company's data- and text-mining capabilities. Safeguard will provide the funding for the spin-offs and has the first right of refusal to invest in each company. SRA Ventures has plans to spin off two to three companies by year’s end and obtain $5 million in first round funding. (VentureWire, 05/01/01)

Trigon Healthcare Inc., a Richmond-based health insurer, has received an advisement from the Internal Revenue Service allowing the company to deduct its 1997 $175 million payment to the Commonwealth of Virginia as an ordinary and necessary business expense related to the company's conversion to for-profit status in 1997. The deduction will result in a tax refund of about $61 million plus interest. (Press release, 04/29/01)

Blackhawk Industries, a Chesapeake-based distributor of hydration systems, has been sued by CamelBak Products, a manufacturer of hydration systems based in Petaluma, Ca. The suit alleges that Blackhawk, a former CamelBak distributor, is selling systems that infringe on patent and trademark rights of the manufacturer. The CamelBak systems are worn like a backpack and provide hands-free access to a clean water supply. (PRNewswire, 04/30/01)

Greenberg Traurig Consulting Inc., an affiliate of international law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP based in Tysons Corner, has entered an agreement with Washington, D.C.-based InTecTran LLP to facilitate clients' entries into Asian software markets and master-licensing agreements, joint ventures and equity product developments. InTecTran has represented American and Asian firms seeking to introduce technologies into each other's markets since 1976. (Press release, 04/25/01)

Joyner & Company Realtors, headquartered in Richmond, has entered an exclusive partnership with Sotheby's International Realty Partners, a leader in premium luxury residential real estate. Property selected by Joyner will be marketed around the world through Sotheby's extensive international database and inclusion in Domain Magazine. (Press release, 04/24/01)

FedComp Inc., a Fairfax-based provider of data processing and accounting services to credit unions, has entered into a partnership with education-lender Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae's wiredscholar.com, an online information resource for planning and paying for college, will be an anchor tenant of FedComp's new Internet e-business portal, VirtualCu. The alliance will allow participating credit unions to offer their members online access to a wide range of college planning and financing options. (Business Wire, 04/18/01)

Expansions
STG Marketing Communications, Inc., a Fairfax-based full-service marketing communications company, has started a new division focused on providing consulting services for companies intending to market products and services to the public sector. (Business Wire, 05/10/01)

BTG, Inc., an information-systems and technical-services company based in Fairfax, has opened a new office in Calvert County, Md. that will enable the company to expand its service offerings to customers in Southern Maryland. (Business Wire, 05/07/01)

Nomadic Display, a Springfield-based producer of portable and modular exhibit systems, is consolidating several area offices into a 300,000-sq. ft. facility which will house its headquarters, double its manufacturing capacity and triple its showroom space. The move will be completed late this year. (Press release, 05/07/01)

Harbor Bank, headquartered in Newport News, has established a mortgage division along with a business manager division that will focus on receivables financing especially in the business-to-business area. (Press release, 05/04/01)

Augusta County has been awarded a $425,000 grant from the Virginia Investment Partnership program to assist Hershey, Pa.-based Hershey Foods Corporation in adding a new production line to its manufacturing facility there. The $45 million investment by Hershey will create 80 to 100 new jobs. (Press release, 05/03/01)

McKee Foods, the Collegedale, Tenn. producer of Little Debbie snack cakes, will expand its operations in Stuarts Draft and create 200 new jobs by investing $44.8 million to add two new bake lines and increase production capacity. Virginia successfully competed with Tennessee and Arkansas for the investment. (Press release, 05/02/01)

Boehtinger Ingelheim Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Boehtinger Ingelheim Corp. based in Ridgefield, N.J., will invest an additional $20 million in its Petersburg facility. BIC originally announced a $52 million investment and the creation of 104 new jobs on March 9, 2000. (Press release, 05/02/01)

ACT MicroDevices Inc., a manufacturer of high-performance optical subcomponents and modules based in Montgomery County, has been approved to receive $650,000 in financing assistance from the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority. (Press release, 05/01/01)

Air Canada began a daily nonstop flight from Toronto to Norfolk International Airport in June, the first foray of the airline into Norfolk and Norfolk's first direct flight to Canada. (The Virginian-Pilot, 05/01/01)

Teleglobe, a Reston-based provider of global communications and e-business services, has opened a regional office in Hong Kong. A recent Ovum study forecast strong growth throughout the region during the next five years with total bandwidth revenues increasing from $2.68 billion this year to more than $16 billion by 2005. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 04/27/01)

Juniper Networks Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based manufacturer of Internet-data routers, has opened an office in Herndon, its largest yet in Northern Virginia. Eighty employees work at the 48,000-square-foot facility and the company plans to consolidate workers from area satellite offices into the new location. (The Washington Post, 04/24/01)

DuPont, a Wilmington, Del.-based science company, has announced plans to consolidate area warehouse operations in Chesterfield County and will invest $30 million to build the new warehousing and logistics center adjacent to DuPont's James River plant site. Once complete, the complex will house finished and semi-finished products produced at DuPont's nearby Spruance plant and operations currently located in seven facilities in the local area. (Press release, 04/23/01)

Maruchan Virginia Inc., the Japanese-owned ramen noodle manufacturer, will expand its Chesterfield County facility at Airport Industrial Park by purchasing 30 acres adjacent to its current facility. The $31 million project will include new space for warehousing and allow the company to add two production lines in the current warehouse space once its vacated. The company plans to hire 130 new employees in the expansion. (Press release, 04/20/01)

WR Systems, a Fairfax-based information- and engineering-services firm, has opened a new office in Arlington. The company provides a range of technical products, services and support to the Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Army and commercial companies. (Press release, 04/19/01)

Vance International Inc., an Oakton-based integrated-security services firm that provides executive protection, investigations and consulting, has expanded its services to Vance South Africa in Capetown and Johannesburg. (Press release, 04/05/01)

Executive Promotions
Michael C. Cuilik, division president ; Stephen M. Ross, controller at the Manassas division, APAC-Virginia Inc., an asphalt and concrete-paving firm. (PRNewswire, 05/02/01)

Brian Metherell, president of General Telecom, the Fairfax-based international voice switching and exchange company of Verestar Inc., a provider of integrated satellite and fiber network access solutions. (Business Wire, 05/02/01)

Erika T. Davis, senior vice president of human resources, Owens & Minor, a Richmond-based distributor of national name-brand medical and surgical supplies. (PRNewswire, 05/01/01)

George P. Manson Jr., vice president and general counsel, Albemarle Corp., a Richmond-based specialty and fine chemicals company. (PRNewswire, 05/01/01)

Andrew W. P. Kwok, vice president and managing director for the Asia-Pacific area, Teleglobe, a Reston-based provider of global communications. (Business Wire, 04/30/01)

Harry G. Hobbs, CEO, PSINet Inc., an Ashburn-based provider of Internet and e-commerce solutions to businesses. (Business Wire, 04/30/01)

James C. Cherry, to lead Richmond headquarters region of Wachovia's General Banking division covering Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., following the merger of Charlotte, N.C.-based First Union Corp. and Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp. (Press release, 04/27/01)

T. Earl Rogers, president, BB&T Corp.'s Northern Virginia community bank region, to be created under the proposed merger of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T and Winchester-based F&M National Corp. (PRNewswire, 04/27/01)

Mark J. Ferrer, president, Vastera, a Dulles-based provider of global trade-management solutions. (Business Wire, 04/26/01)

Mark A. Smith and Brett A. Wood, vice presidents, Noland Company, a Newport News-based distributor of mechanical equipment and supplies. (Press release, 04/25/01)

Curtis Kimbrell, president of The RoomStore division, Heilig-Myers, a Richmond-based furniture retailer. (PRNewswire, 04/26/01)

Bert K. Mizusawa, president, Innovative Technology Application Inc., a Springfield-based developer of custom multimedia software. (PRNewswire, 04/25/01)

Gino Picasso, president and CEO, Iridium Satellite LLC, a Leesburg-based provider of global mobile satellite voice and data services. (PRNewswire, 04/23/01)

Hank Nothhaft, president and CEO, Smartpipes, a Reston-based provider of managed IP services. (Business Wire, 04/23/01)

Michael Colosi, president of Performance Food Group-Florida, a broadline unit of Richmond-based Performance Food Group, a commercial distributor of food-related products. (Business Wire, 04/20/01)

Bruce R. Sidell, CFO, The Kane Company, a Fairfax-based commercial transportation services company. (Press release, 04/20/01)

Debra B. Lybrand, controller, Goodman & Company, a Norfolk-based accounting firm with offices statewide. (Press release, 04/17/01)

Real Estate
Armada/Hoffler Holding Co., a Chesapeake-based builder and developer, will move its headquarters to the Virginia Beach Town Center, a project that the firm is developing. The firm employs about 200 people and will take 30,000 square feet in the Center's first office tower due to open August 2002. (The Virginian-Pilot, 05/03/01)

The Orr Company, a Vienna-based commercial real estate company, has signed a 10-year lease with Velocita Corp., a nationwide broadband network provider, for 70,151 square feet of office space at 2941 Fairview Park Drive. (PRNewswire, 05/02/01)

Divaris Real Estate Inc., based in Virginia Beach, has signed a lease with EMC Corp., a provider of information storage systems, software and networks headquartered in Hopkinton, Mass., for 14,093 square feet of office space in the Virginia Mutual Building in Glen Allen. (Press release, 04/25/01)

Advantis Real Estate Services Company, headquartered in Atlanta with offices throughout Virginia, has sold 23 acres and two commercial office buildings in the Hampton Roads Center for $8.6 million to Hampton Financial Associates LLC, an affiliate of Harbor Group International. The property, previously owned by TRW, includes a 60,462 -square-foot office building with two stories and a 120,000-square-foot industrial facility on one level. The office building is currently leased by Anthem Alliance, a military HMO based in Chicago, and the industrial building is leased by Measurement Specialties Inc., a sensor manufacturer based in New Jersey. (Press release, 04/25/01)

Stocks
Mohr, Davidow Ventures and Novak Biddle Venture Partners, early-stage venture firms based in McLean, announced a $6.3 million investment in Zagros Networks, a newly formed company out of the University of Maryland developing technology to break through performance bottlenecks of packet switched networks. Zagros will use the funding for product development, hiring and related business operations. (Business Wire, 05/14/01)

Access National Bank, a Chantilly based financial institution, announced a 10 for 1 stock split for all shares of record as of June 15, 2001. The company currently has 254 shareholders of record with no individual shareholder owning more than five percent of the company, which is not currently traded on any public exchange. (Press release, 05/04/01)

Oneworld Software Solutions, an Arlington-based provider of e-business software and services, has received approximately $4 million in its Series D round from return investors. The money will be used to fund the company’s growth and is expected to bring the company to profitability. (VentureWire, 05/04/01)

Emtera Corp., an Arlington-based provider of mobile customer-relationship-management solutions for the retail industry, has completed its initial financing by obtaining $1.2 million from Avisent. An early stage investment vehicle founded by General Atlantic Partners, Avisent focuses exclusively on investing in information-technology, Internet and telecommunications companies. (Business Wire, 05/02/01)

HireStrategy, a Reston-based executive-recruiting firm, has closed a $1.15 million round of financing with Prime Assets LLC, the private equity partner of investment-banking firm The McLean Group LLC. (Business Wire, 05/02/01)

GlobalLearningSystems, a McLean-based provider of enterprise level learning solutions, has secured a $10 million equity commitment led by Hampshire Equity Partners. The funding will be used to complete strategic international acquisitions, and for development of its LearningVista solution as well as ongoing development of product and service offerings. (Business Wire, 05/01/01)

Dynex Capital Inc., a financial services company based in Glen Allen, tendered offers to buy for cash shares of its Series A, B and C Preferred Stock. The company offered to purchase up to 500,000 shares of Series A for $12.24 per share, up to 730,000 of Series B for $12.50 per share and up to 702,700 of Series C for $15.30 per share. The tender offer expireds Friday, June 8, at 5 p.m. (Business Wire, 04/30/01)

XO Communications Inc., a Reston-based telecommunications company, has received $250 million in cash through New York-based investment firm Forstmann Little & Co. The investment firm now owns 22.4 percent of XO, which anticipates having enough funding to operate through the first half of 2003. (The Washington Post, 04/27/01)

Monarch Bank, a Chesapeake-based community bank, launched a public offering to raise $1.5 million. The bank offered 100,000 new shares priced at $15 each and will make 66,666 additional shares available if the first 100,000 shares are fully committed. (The Virginian-Pilot, 04/25/01)

PSINet Inc., an Ashburn-based provider of Internet and information-technology services, has been notified by NASDAQ that the company's securities will be delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market. (Business Wire, 04/23/01)

Divestitures
Chesapeake Corp., a Richmond-based packaging company, has agreed to sell its subsidiary, Chesapeake Display and Packaging Company, to CorrFlex Graphics LLC, a provider of corrugated packaging and displays headquartered in Statesville, N.C. (Press release, 04/23/01)

Winstar Communications, a telecommunications service provider based in New York City, intends to seek a buyer for VisiNet, its Internet service provider based in Newport News. VisiNet was purchased by Winstar in 1999 as one of many acquisitions of regional ISPs in an attempt to build out its network. Winstar filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy mid-April after announcing its failure to pay $75 million in senior debt interest. (Daily Press, 04/19/01)

Contracts
LCC International Inc., a wireless voice and data turn-key technical consulting services, has been selected by China's Unicom Horizon Mobile Communications Corporations Limited to provide design services for their nationwide wireless network. The initial contract is valued at approximately $600,000. (Business Wire, 05/14/01)

BTG Inc. of Fairfax, an information systems and technical services company, leads an industry team awarded a contract for the Department of Defense’s integrated broadcast service program. The contract, with estimated revenue of $60 million over a seven-year period, is for the development phase of IBS which will disseminate tactical battlefield data to military commanders. (Business Wire, 05/14/01)

Anteon Corp., an information technology and engineering solutions company headquartered in Fairfax, has been awarded a contract for logistics, engineering and technical services by the Naval Sea Logistics Center. The contract is valued at $53.8 million over three and a half- years, assuming all options are exercised. (PRNewswire, 05/14/01)

Comsearch, an Ashburn-based firm that designs, deploys and optimizes wireless networks worldwide, entered into an agreement with Cox Communications Inc., to provide engineering audits of C-band receive/only earth station networks that support the cable headends of Cox’s cable television network. The audits enable Cox to complete Federal Communications Commission registration and provide protection of it’s earth station network. (PRNewswire, 05/14/01)

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company has awarded a $19.4 million contract for four 2000 kilo-watt emergency diesel generator sets to the Power Generation Division of Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc., a Houston-based manufacturer, distributor and service provider of industrial and energy related equipment. The generators will provide emergency backup power for the U.S. Navy's CVN-77 Nimitz Class aircraft carrier. (PRNewswire 05/15/01)

InfraCor of Virginia, a Richmond-based subsurface-infrastructure company and subsidiary of InfraCor Inc., has been awarded a $3.5 million contract to construct and install waterline extension and sanitary sewer for Capital One’s new Richmond campus located in West Creek. (Business Wire, 05/10/01)

CACI International Inc., an Arlington-based information-technology and e-business solutions company, has been awarded a 10-year, $17.6 million time-and-materials task order under the General Services Administration contract vehicle. The task order calls for CACI to provide command, control, computers, communications and information support to the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. (PRNewswire, 05/09/01)

Anteon Corp., a Fairfax-based information-technology and engineering solutions company, has won a multiple-award contract of indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity for professional support services to the Naval Sea Systems Command. The contract has a ceiling of $14.5 billion and provides for services in the areas of program management, engineering, logistics and financial management. (Press release, 05/08/01)

Anteon Corporation, an information-technology and engineering solutions company based in Fairfax, has been awarded a five-year contract by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, R. I. The contract is valued at $34.4 million, if all options are exercised, and requires Anteon to provide engineering services for the non-propulsion electronics of Seawolff-class and Virginia-class submarines. (Press release, 05/07/01)

Owens & Minor, a Richmond-based distributor of national name-brand medical and surgical supplies, has signed a five-year agreement with Houston-based Methodist Health Care System, a not-for-profit integrated health-care provider. The new contract has a potential value of $20 million annually. (PRNewswire, 05/02/01)

LCC International, Inc., a McLean-based wireless-voice and data technical consulting services firm, has won a $16 million, one-year contract extension from Click Vodafone. The extension is an addition to the contract awarded to LCC in October 2000 and requires the company to provide deployment and overall project-management services for phase three of the nation-wide Egyptian network. (Press release, 05/01/01)

DynCorp, an international information technology and outsourcing services firm based in Reston, announced that affiliate DynCorp TechServ has been awarded a 10-year, $150-million task-order contract. Under the contract, the DynCorp affiliate will standardize and consolidate the Federal Highway Administration's distributed computing environment. (PRNewswire, 05/01/01)

General Dynamics, a Falls Church-based multinational provider of services in aviation, information systems, shipbuilding and combat systems, has received an order from Executive Jet Inc. for 50 super mid-sized Galaxy aircraft and long-term maintenance and options for 50 more worth approximately $2 billion. Executive Jet, owned by Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is the world's largest operator of private business jets. (PRNewswire, 05/01/01)

General Dynamics, a Falls Church-based multinational provider of services in aviation, information systems, shipbuilding and combat systems, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a $20-million contract by the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command. Under the contract, the company will provide systems technical support for the Abrams tank program at its facilities in Sterling Heights, Mich. (PRNewswire, 04/30/01)

Halifax Corp., an Alexandria-based information-technology provider, has been awarded a $5.6 million contract by a large utility company for the maintenance of several hundred servers and more than 10,000 desktop systems. During the three-year contract, the company will provide all services, labor, parts and tools required to maintain, repair and support the desktop and server environment for over 65 client sites in multiple states. (PRNewswire, 04/30/01)

Politec, a Reston-based global information-technology integration and software development firm, has been awarded a one-year federal contract along with Baltimore-based ViPS, a provider of e-services for the health-care industry. Under the contract that is renewable for up to five years, the two companies will replace the Health Care Financing Administration's manual data-request and -retrieval system with a Web-enabled, front-end database interface. (The Washington Post, 04/30/01)

The Louis Berger Group Inc., a Richmond-based professional services firm, was awarded a five-year contract by the Capital Region Airport Commission for professional architectural and engineering design services at Richmond International Airport. (Press release)

Star Scientific Inc., a Chester-based tobacco producer, has executed a series of multi-year contracts with Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. Under the contracts, B&W will purchase at least 15 million pounds of low-TSNA2 Starcured tobacco leaf annually during the next three years and while have the exclusive right to purchase and sell Star's new, smokeless hard tobacco product. The new product, brand-named ARIVA, has been developed to meet the needs of adult smokers when they are in smoke-free environments and doesn't have the unpleasant aesthetics associated with conventional moist snuff and chewing tobacco. (Press release, 04/27/01)

Maximus, a Reston-based government services firm that provides state and local governments with program management, information-technology and consulting services, has been awarded a three-year contract by the San Diego Unified School District for software and consulting services to maximize its entitlement of federal Medicaid funds. Maximus will be paid on a contingency-fee basis for the amount of new Medicaid revenue its efforts produce to the school district and the company expects the amount to be at least $13 million over the course of the contract. (Business Wire, 04/27/01)

International Launch Services, a McLean-based provider of spacecraft launch services, has been awarded a contract by France-based Alcatel Space for the launch of two vehicles for GE American Communications Inc. in 2002 and 2003. This is the first geo-stationary orbit launch contract awarded directly to a U.S. launch services company by Alcatel Space. (Business Wire, 04/23/01)

WR Systems, a Fairfax-based information-technology and engineering-services firm, has been awarded a multiple-awards contract to provide professional support services for Naval Sea Systems Command. The contract has a five-year base with two five-year renewal options and a ceiling of $14.5 billion to provide NAVSEA program and financial management, engineering services and logistics support. (Press release, 04/19/01)

Hankins and Anderson, PC, a Richmond-based engineering firm, has been awarded a contract by the State Department's Office of Logistics Management to perform professional mechanical-engineering services at foreign embassies worldwide. The contract is for $1 million for the base year with four option years not to exceed $5 million over the five-year contract period. In April, the firm was awarded a similar contract to provide electrical engineering services. (Press release, 04/18/01)

Cutbacks & Closings
Acirca, Inc., an Arlington-based and privately owned developer of certified organic food brands, will relocate its headquarters to New Rochelle, N.Y. in June 2001. (Business Wire, 05/09/01)

Etensity, a technology-consulting and professional-services firm based in Vienna, has laid off 58 employees, primarily from its general and administrative functions. The company cited a softening U.S. economy and decreased demand for its services as reasons for the nearly 23 percent cutback. (VentureWire, 05/09/01)

Streampipe, an Alexandria-based provider of streaming-media services to businesses, has laid off about 20 workers, or nearly 30 percent of its workforce. The company expects to be profitable by the end of summer. (The Washington Post, 05/08/01)

Homebytes.com, an online residential real estate brokerage service, closed down on May 1. (VentureWire, 05/08/01)

Aestix, a Tysons Corner-based e-commerce spin-off of government and defense consulting giant Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc., laid off 26 workers on May 3. (The Washington Post, 05/07/01)

AMF Bowling Inc., a Mechanicsville-based operator of bowling centers and producer of related products, cut 171 jobs in the reorganization of its bowling products business. Forty-eight of the cuts are at the company headquarters and neighboring manufacturing plant with the balance coming mainly from AMF's operations in Europe. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 05/03/01)

XO Communications Inc., a Reston-based telecommunications company, has abandoned its plans to build a 21-city voice and Internet network in Europe, a plan that had made it one of the most aggressive firms in the industry. The company also plans to slow down its U.S. network expansion. (The Washington Post, 04/27/01)

Heilig-Myers Co., the Richmond-based furniture retailer under federal bankruptcy protection, began liquidation sales at its 375 stores nationwide in April. The going-out-of-business sales should end by Aug. 30. The retailer's The RoomStore division, however, will continue to operate. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 04/25/01)

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