THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608090464
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 76 lines
By mid-month, Chesapeake Square Mall in Chesapeake will see a change in ownership and Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach will see a change in management. Youngstown, Ohio-based DeBartolo Realty Corp. and Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. approved the merger agreement creating the largest real estate company in North America. The combined company will be called the Simon DeBartolo Group, and will have a total market capitalization of approximately $7.5 billion. Its portfolio will include 111 regional shopping centers, 66 community centers and six specialty retail centers in 32 states. DeBartolo owns Chesapeake Square Mall. Simon manages Lynnhaven Mall. (Staff) Thirty-year mortgage rates lowest since April
Thirty-year, fixed rate mortgages averaged 7.88 percent this week, down from 8.23 percent last week, according to a national survey released Thursday by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. It was the lowest level since April 4, when rates averaged 7.78 percent. Rates generally have been falling since July 11, when they averaged 8.42 percent, the highest since 8.62 percent in March 1995. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.89 percent, down from 5.98 percent last week. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for those refinancing mortgages, averaged 7.40 percent this week, down from 7.75 percent a week earlier. (AP) Consolidated Foods to supply VA hospitals
The Veterans Administration has awarded Consolidated Foods/Sandler Foods a contract to provide food storage and distribution to its hospitals in five southeastern states that could be worth about $12 million over five years. The Virginia Beach-based food distributor will serve VA hospitals in southern Virginia, western West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Augusta, Ga. The 1-year, $2.4 million contract has options for up to four more years. The award, one of 17 nationwide, effectively privatizes the supply of food to the nation's veterans hospitals. (Staff) 360 Communications to offer service in N.C.
360 Communications Co. said Thursday it will begin offering residential long-distance service this month in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. 360 Communications said it will expand its residential long-distance offering to customers in Alabama, Florida, New Mexico and South Carolina within the next few months. 360 Communications provides wireless voice and data services. (Dow Jones News) Guess? Jeans IPO turns flat
Guess? Inc., the high-profile maker of high-fashion sportswear, made an inauspicious entrance Thursday on Wall Street. The Los Angeles company's initial public stock offering opened flat on the New York Stock Exchange, highlighting the overall malaise in the market for new stock issues, aggravated by Guess' recent labor difficulties. Guess sold nearly 17 percent of its stock to underwriters late Wednesday. The offering had been twice delayed. Guess had to reduce the sale to 7 million shares from an originally planned 9.2 million, and trim the price to $18 a share from original estimates of $21 to $23. On Thursday, it began trading under the symbol GES, but remained stuck at $18 a share in the afternoon, despite heavy volume. (AP) 3 imprisoned for selling faulty artery catheters
Three former executives of a medical-device manufacturer got 18 months in prison Thursday for selling faulty artery-clearing catheters that were blamed for two deaths. U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro handed the maximum sentences to David Prigmore, former executive vice president of C.R. Bard Inc.; John Cvinar, a former division president; and Lee Leichter, a former vice president. The three men were convicted in 1995 of selling medical devices unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration and conspiring to hide potentially deadly flaws. The catheters are thin, flexible tubes that a doctor snakes into heart arteries blocked by fatty deposits. The catheter has a balloon tip that is inflated to squeeze the deposits aside and restore blood flow. Two patients died when the catheters' tips failed to deflate and blocked the flow of blood. In 1993, Bard agreed to pay $61 million, half as a criminal fine and half as a civil settlement. (AP) by CNB