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Indalex and plant sold
Sweden-based The Sapa Group completed its purchase of aluminum extrusion company Indalex on July 31, Sapa said in a press release.
Sapa acquired Indalex’s 11 active plants, including one in the Crestwood Industrial Park, Mountain Top. Sapa said the purchase price was approximately $95 million.
Indalex had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. As part of the purchase agreement, the Justice Department required that Sapa sell one of two North Carolina plants that make aluminum sheathing. Sapa and Indalex are the only U.S. makers of the product, which is used by cable television companies.
Indalex, at one time known as Mideast Aluminum, has been in the industrial park since 1972. The plant underwent an $11 million expansion in 1998. About 170 people were employed there in December after 50 were laid off, down from slightly more than 300 four years ago.
Bonuses cost B of A
Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay a $33 million penalty to settle government charges that it misled investors about Merrill Lynch’s plans to pay bonuses to its executives.
In seeking approval to buy Merrill, Bank of America told investors that Merrill would not pay year-end bonuses without Bank of America’s consent. But the Securities and Exchange Commission said Bank of America had authorized New York-based Merrill to pay up to $5.8 billion in bonuses.
That rendered a statement Bank of America mailed to 283,000 shareholders of both companies about the Merrill deal “materially false and misleading,” the SEC said in a statement.
CIT close to survival
CIT Group Inc. on Monday said it has received enough offers to complete a debt repurchase program.
The embattled commercial lender, which nearly collapsed last month, said that as of Friday nearly 65 percent of $1 billion in bonds due Aug. 17 have been tendered for repurchase. CIT has said failing to complete the offer could result in a bankruptcy filing.
CIT, one of the nation’s largest lenders to small and midsize businesses, said it needs 58 percent of the debt to be tendered for repurchase to complete the deal.
Coal mines to close
Patriot Coal Corp. said Monday it is closing its Samples mines and has told 314 workers they will lose their jobs Oct. 1. The St. Louis-based coal company said the West Virginia complex, which includes two surface mines, produces about 2.5 million tons of coal a year for electric utilities.
The weak economy and low natural gas prices have combined to cut demand for coal, with government figures showing utilities are generating about 6.6 percent less electricity and amassing big stockpiles of coal this year.