Business briefs: Dynex plans to offer 5 million shares

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: December 14, 2010

VIRGINIA

Dynex plans to offer 5 million shares

Dynex Capital Inc. plans to offer 5 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.

The Henrico County-based real estate investment trust company, which invests in mortgage loans and securities on a leveraged basis, also plans to grant the underwriters an option for 30 days to buy up to an additional 750,000 shares of common stock.

Dynex intends to use the net proceeds to acquire additional investments, consistent with its investment policy, and for general corporate purposes, which may include repayment of maturing obligations, capital expenditures and working capital.

Performance Food acquires Ledyard

Performance Food Group has acquired Ledyard Co., a broadline food-service distribution company in Santa Cruz, Calif. Terms were not disclosed.

Ledyard was created in 1929 as a local distributor of food, equipment and supplies to restaurants and institutions in Central and Northern California. The company employs about 100 people.

"The addition of Ledyard will allow us to increase our presence on the West Coast," said George Holm, President and CEO of Goochland County-based Performance Food Group. "This acquisition brings great opportunities for both organizations."

Virginia timber sales up by $1.4 million

The Virginia Department of Forestry said Monday that timber sales topped $208 million in 2009, an increase of $1.4 million from the previous year.

The increase came despite declines in pine and hardwood harvests. Charles Becker with the Department of Forestry says pine harvests fell by 17 percent to 406 million board feet in 2009. Hardwood harvests dropped by 19.5 percent to 529 million board feet. Becker says it's the lowest volume since 1975.

Elsewhere

•Department store giant Macy's Inc. said Monday that it plans to build a $150 million distribution center and hire 1,900 full- and part-time employees in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The 1.3 million-square-foot facility will fill Internet orders for Macy's in the eastern U.S., the company said. Work is to start next spring; operations are to start in April 2012. It will be built near Martinsburg in Berkeley County, but Macy's has yet to choose a final site.

•JetBlue has been ordered to pay $600,000 for what the government said were violations of rules for handling disabled passengers and disclosing flight information. The Transportation Department said Monday that it acted after getting complaints that JetBlue Airways Corp. didn't provide required help such as wheelchairs, lifts or ramps for disabled passengers.

•U.S. airlines collect more than $4.3 billion in fees for checking baggage and changing tickets so far this year. New data from the Transportation Department show that Delta Air Lines Inc. collected the most, hauling in $1.26 billion in fees so far this year. That's more than the $922 million collected by United Continental Holdings Inc., which is bigger than Delta by traffic.

•Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. said Monday that it will buy laboratory equipment maker Dionex Corp. for $2.1 billion.

•Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is closing its Moscow office but says it is still interested in the Russian market.

•Dell Inc. said it has a deal to buy the data-storage company Compellent Technologies Inc. for $884 million.

•General Electric Co. says it is buying British oil and gas services group Wellstream Holdings PLC for $1.3 billion.

•Continental Airlines says it will let passengers hold a reservation and lock in a quoted ticket price for up to a week — all for a new fee. The offer will give travelers three days or a week extra while they decide whether to buy the ticket or let the reservation expire. Continental said it will charge at least $5 to hold a reservation for three days and at least $9 for a week.