Business Briefs for July 3

VIRGINIA

Court upholds ruling on hiring of W.Va. miners

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court has upheld a decision requiring a subsidiary of Richmond-based Massey Energy Co. to hire union miners at a West Virginia mine.

The ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a 2008 decision requiring Mammoth Coal to offer jobs to 85 miners. The union miners lost their jobs when Mammoth purchased the Kanawha County mine out of bankruptcy in 2004.

A National Labor Relations Board administrative-law judge ruled in late 2007 that Massey had violated the National Labor Relations Act by refusing to hire the miners affiliated with the United Mine Workers.

Ad-spending rise set as Brink's spinoff renamed

The home and commercial security business that Henrico County-based The Brink's Co. spun off last fall is being renamed Broadview Security, a move that entails increasing advertising spending by as much as $120 million.

Texas-based Broadview Security, formerly known as Brink's Home Security, will increase advertising spending by $70 million to $120 million in the next 24 to 36 months. The company normally spends about $40 million yearly on advertising.

Elsewhere in Virginia

• Union employees of Henrico-based MeadWestvaco's paper plant in Covington have approved a new six-year contract proposal. The agreement includes a 16 percent raise over the contract term. The previous contract expired in December 2006.

• Virginia farmers planted a record-low 12,000 acres of peanuts this year, down 50 percent from last year, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Among other Virginia crops, corn production is up 10,000 acres, to 480,000 acres; and soybeans are up 3 percent from last year, to 600,000 acres.

THE NATION

FDIC seeks new rules for potential bank buyers

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposed new guidelines yesterday for potential buyers of failed banks as the government seeks to sell a growing number of closed financial institutions.

The FDIC wants to attract a new class of private equity fund buyers for banks that collapse during the financial crisis, but must provide more transparency than some of those potential investors are accustomed to.

One proposal would require investors to keep the banks they acquire well capitalized at a 15 percent leverage ratio -- or the bank's capital divided by assets-- for at least three years.

Investors also would face limits on their ability to sell assets and lend from the banks they acquire.

Elsewhere

• Two Illinois banks were seized by regulators yesterday, pushing the toll of failed lenders to 47 this year. Seized were John Warner Bank and First State Bank.

• Johnson & Johnson said it will take an 18.4 percent stake in Ireland-based drug developer Elan Corp. with a $1 billion investment. J&J also is acquiring Elan's stake in its Alzheimer's disease treatment partnership with Wyeth, and rolling it into a new J&J company that will be 49.9 percent owned by Elan.

• Best Buy is building a customer-service team that will use Twitter to answer questions about products to help increase sales. Starting July 19, Best Buy's Twelpforce will search Twitter posts to find people seeking information.

• McDonald's Corp. introduced the first new line of hamburgers since 2001 starting yesterday. The three new Angus burgers are one-third of a pound each and priced at about $4.

• Exelon Corp. sweetened its hostile takeover bid for NRG Energy Inc. by 12 percent to $8 billion in stock.

• A federal appeals court granted Dish Network Corp. and EchoStar Corp. a stay on a contempt order that would have forced Dish customers to stop using their digital video recorders while a court battle continues with TiVo Inc. over a patent.

• Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest software maker, plans to cut as many as 1,000 jobs in Europe.

• Nike has signed a 10-year deal with the University of North Carolina to supply athletic footwear, apparel and accessory products to the Tar Heels.

• Boeing Co. delivered 125 commercial jets in the second quarter, one less than the same period in 2008.

• JetAmerica said it's delaying the start of flight operations for a month. The airline cited problems securing landing and takeoff slots at Newark Liberty International Airport and is refunding about $500,000 in credit card purchases by more than 6,400 customers. JetAmerica had planned to offer 34 flights a day starting July 13 to Newark and Minneapolis and to underserved airports in Melbourne, Fla.; Toledo, Ohio; Lansing, Mich.; and South Bend, Ind.

THE WORLD

European Central Bank leaves rate unchanged

LUXEMBOURG -- The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1 percent, preferring to wait and see whether its infusion of credit into the banking system will loosen lending to consumers and businesses.

-- From Staff and Wire Reports