Business briefs, April 8

The Rocky

Published April 8, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Uddhab Bhandary

Tom Gorell

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NATIONAL

Washington Mutual gains 29 percent on reported TPG plan

Washington Mutual Inc., the largest U.S. savings and loan, rallied the most in almost 25 years in New York trading as a group led by David Bonderman's TPG Inc. considers a $5 billion investment in the Seattle-based company.

An agreement with the TPG group could be announced within days, said a person familiar with the discussions, who declined to be identified. Washington Mutual, which lost 67 percent of its market value in the past 12 months, needs the funds after reporting more than $3 billion of home-mortgage write-down and loan losses.

Washington Mutual advanced $2.98, or 29 percent, to $13.15 in New York trading, and rose as high as $13.90, a 37 percent gain.

BUYING BY THE CLICK Online spending is expected to rise a robust 17 percent this year, despite a sluggish economy that has bruised many brick-based retailers, according to an annual survey to be released today.

Retail sales online, excluding travel purchases, are set to grow to $204 billion in 2008 from $174.5 billion last year, fueled by sales of apparel, computers and autos, according to a survey conducted by Internet analysis firm Forrester Research for Shop.org, the online arm of the National Retail Federation trade group. That projection is below the 21 percent increase seen in the previous year, but industry officials attribute it to the maturing of the business, not the sluggish economy.

ANOTHER AIRLINE BANKRUPTCY Skybus Airlines is in bankruptcy, becoming the third airline in less than three weeks to fail.

Skybus spokesman Bob Tenenbaum said the low-cost carrier filed papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware Saturday night.

The Columbus, Ohio-based airline declared bankruptcy less than a year after beginning service. Aloha Airlines went bankrupt on March 20 and ATA Airlines followed last week.

RETIREMENT ADVICE IN DEMAND Workers are increasingly looking for their employers to give them access to financial planning and retirement advice, according to a study released Monday.

MetLife's annual employee benefits trend survey found that 49 percent of workers in 2007 were interested in getting advice at their workplace about saving for retirement, up from 38 percent in 2006.

Those expressing interest in overall financial planning rose to 44 percent from 30 percent, the study found.

MOTOROLA, ICAHN SETTLE Motorola Inc. settled its proxy battle with Carl Icahn on Monday, agreeing to back two of the billionaire investor's nominees for its board of directors in exchange for him dropping litigation against the cell phone maker.

The agreement avoids a showdown at the company's upcoming annual meeting for what would have been the second straight year.

NISSAN EXPANDS U.S. BRAND Nissan Motor Co. said Monday it will build and sell light commercial vehicles in the U.S., using its existing work force and factories.

The Japanese automaker said it will enter the U.S. market with three vehicles starting in the first half of 2010, all built at its plant in Canton, Miss.

"We will invest more than $118 million in creating that infrastructure," said Andy Palmer, Nissan's corporate vice president.

CHIPMAKER CUTTING JOBS Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the chipmaker that's posting losses amid competition with Intel Corp., announced plans to cut about 1,650 jobs, roughly 10 percent of its staff. Advanced Micro said sales fell to $1.5 billion.

LOCAL

EU gives green light to Molson Coors, SABMiller venture

European Union regulators approved a joint venture Monday between Molson Coors Brewing Co. and international brewer SABMiller PLC that will market and distribute both companies' beers in the United States. EU approval comes after a preliminary EU review found no competition concerns or any effects on either company's operations in the 27-nation bloc.

Molson Coors Brewing brews Coors Light and Blue Moon among other brands. SABMiller makes Miller Lite and other brews.

The two announced in October that they would form a joint venture called MillerCoors that would market and distribute their beers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

PUC SEEKS COMMENT The Colorado Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing Monday to get comment about Xcel Energy's plan outlining how it intends to meet demand for electricity through 2015.

The hearing will be at 5 p.m. at the Xcel Technical Services Building, 550 15th St., Room 19.

TRI-STATE MULLS NUCLEAR Amid growing criticism about its heavy reliance on coal-fired power, the state's second-largest utility is considering the prospect of building a nuclear power plant in southeastern Colorado.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's board of directors voted recently to have its staff study nuclear as a possibility for the site in Prowers County near Holly. The company secured the site and necessary water rights for a plant that could be coal-fired or nuclear.

KROENKE INVESTMENT Arsenal shareholder Stan Kroenke bought a 50 percent stake in the soccer club's Web site from ITV Plc as he steps up marketing of the club in the U.S. and expands an agreement of cooperation with his Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer team.

Kroenke's Sports Enterprises unit bought the stake in Arsenal Broadband Ltd. for $45.1 million, London-based broadcaster ITV said Monday.

The U.S. billionaire bought a 9.9 percent stake in Arsenal from ITV last year and is the fourth- biggest shareholder with 12.2 percent, Bloomberg data indicate.

GAS BARGAIN IN DELTA Drivers with flex-fuel vehicles may fill up on E85 fuel for 85 cents a gallon from 10 a.m. to noon Friday as Western Convenience Stores celebrates opening an E85 pump at its 1502 Howard St. store in Delta.

Rocky staff and wire reports

THIS JUST IN . . .

* Colorado State University named Tom Gorell vice president of administrative services.

* RNL, an integrated, full-service design firm, added Richard Epstein as senior urban designer/architect and Uddhab Bhandary as geographic information systems specialist in its Denver office.

* National Healthcare Properties Inc., a Boulder commercial real estate firm, hired Scott Smith as vice president.

* Exempla Healthcare promoted Kimberly Peters to practice manager for the Firestone Family and Occupational Medicine practice in the Exempla Physician Network.

* Key Equipment Finance, a provider of equipment financing solutions headquartered in Boulder, appointed Melvin Ong as general manager, Asia Pacific.

* Denver-based Sorrento Networks, a provider of metro optical access solutions, appointed Ralph Tavino as vice president of global services and support, Chris Garcia as vice president of development and Andy Williams as director of operations.

* Blue Mountain Arts, a Boulder-based greeting card company, opened a kiosk at FlatIron Crossing Mall.

* Vision Land Consultants, a civil engineering firm, opened a branch office in Rifle and acquired G&H Consulting Engineers in Granby.

* Montgomery Little promoted Stephen Hensen to a director with the firm.

* Ken Fellman received a 2007 Public Health Champion of the Year award from the Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment.

* Scott Phillips joined the Brokerage Group of Frederick Ross Co., Colorado's largest full-service, independent commercial real estate organization.

* Simon B. Russell joined Colorado Goldfields Inc. as a mining engineer.

* Carin Kutcipal, of Hogan & Hartson in Boulder, joined the board of directors for the Davis Phinney Foundation.

* R. Scott Bunce joined Citystay Hotels as president and chief of operations.

* The El Pomar Foundation elected Elaine Kelton and Heather Carroll to its board of trustees.

* The Visiting Nurse Association, a provider of hospice, home care and wellness services throughout Colorado, hired Kim Robinson as director of human resources.

* The Denver Public Schools Foundation named Kristin Richardson as chairwoman of its board of directors.

* Snell & Wilmer attorneys Brent Anderson, Kevin Hein, James Kilroy, Tim O'Neill, Neil Peck, Andrew Pidcock and Kevin Taylor were named Colorado Super Lawyers by Law & Politics Magazine.

* Gary Dutelle joined The Group Inc.of Loveland as a broker associate/partner.

ECONOMY

Consumers, battered by a credit crunch and prolonged housing slump, significantly slowed their pace of borrowing in February.

The Federal Reserve reported Monday that consumer borrowing rose at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in February, just half of the 4.9 percent increase in January.

The slowdown reflected weaker demand for auto loans and other types of nonrevolving credit, which rose at a rate of 0.4 percent in February, less than the 3.6 percent growth rate in January. Credit card debt rose at a 5.9 percent rate.

Consumers have been moving to put more of their purchases on credit cards as banks have tightened up lending standards for home equity loans in response to the deepening credit crisis.

The 2.4 percent overall rate of increase was the slowest since debt growth had slowed to a 1 percent rate in December.

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