Business Briefs

VIRGINIA

Style Weekly reprints list after printing error

TRENTON, N.J. -- Style Weekly has published a reprint of its 2009 "Power List" after six names were left out of the first issue.

The alternative weekly publication, which covers arts, entertainment and news in the Richmond area, published its annual list of the Richmond area's 75 most powerful people in its July 29 issue.

However, a page containing the individuals ranked No. 20 to No. 25 was left out of the issue. The publication explained in a correction that the omission was the result of a printing error.

Style Weekly this week published a special reprint containing the entire list. The 16-page reprint is an insert in its Aug. 5 issue.

Jason Roop, Style Weekly's editor, said the omission was not the only reason for the reprint. The Power List is one of Style's most popular issues, he said, and the publication wanted to have a special reprint available for a forum it hosted this week.

"The information was online, and we could have just printed a correction, but we know the list is important to a whole lot of people, and we wanted to put it all back out there as a whole," Roop said.

Scott, SBA set to host business-success forum

Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott and the Small Business Administration are hosting a "Small Business 'Success'" forum on Monday.

The event will be held at 8 a.m. at the Imani Intergenerational Center, 1501 Decatur St.

THE NATION

Merck's acquisition of Schering-Plough OK'd

Shareholders of drugmakers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. both overwhelmingly backed a huge tie-up of the New Jersey neighbors yesterday.

The acquisition of smaller Schering-Plough allows Merck, the world's eighth-biggest drugmaker by prescription medicine sales, to leapfrog to No. 2 worldwide, just behind Pfizer Inc.

The new Merck would have about $42.4 billion in annual sales.

The marriage will unite Merck's asthma and allergy treatment Singulair and cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil with Schering-Plough's allergy spray Nasonex and well-known consumer products including the Coppertone sun care line and Dr. Scholl's foot care items.

CIT Group gets $1 billion as part of credit plan

Commercial lender CIT Group Inc., which is trying to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection, said yesterday that it has received the remaining $1 billion available under a $3 billion credit agreement.

The company, which is one of the nation's largest lenders to small and midsize businesses, said it will use a substantial portion of the new borrowing to support its small and middle market customers.

It also suspending preferred dividend payments to improve liquidity and preserve capital during its restructuring.

GM to register stock for potential offering

DETROIT -- General Motors Co. says it aims to register 3.5 billion shares of stock for a potential public offering sometime in 2010, using the proceeds to repay at least part of what it owes the U.S. government and other stakeholders.

GM said that 2.5 billion shares would be common stock and 1 billion would be preferred.

The company is not saying when the shares would be sold.

GM also says that it will not report second-quarter earnings, but will report results for the third quarter and for the nine-month periods.

Elsewhere

• Treasury 10-year yields posted their biggest weekly increase since March 2003. The yield on the 10-year note rose 10 basis points, or 0.10 percentage point, to 3.86 percent. It touched 3.88 percent, the most since June 11.

• Regulators have shut down two banks in Florida, bringing the number of federally insured banks to fail this year to 71. The banks are: First State Bank of Sarasota, Fla., and Venice, Fla.-based Community National Bank of Sarasota County.

• Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's biggest airline operator, is planning to cut more management and administrative jobs, but isn't saying how many.

• Frank DiPascali, the former chief financial officer for disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, is expected to plead guilty to unspecified criminal charges, prosecutors said yesterday. In a letter to a judge, the prosecutors said DiPascali agreed to enter the plea on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.

• General Electric Co., the biggest maker of wind turbines in the U.S., won a key decision in its effort to block Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. from importing rival energy equipment to the U.S. U.S. International Trade Commission Judge said GE's patent rights were violated by Mitsubishi Heavy, Japan's largest heavy-machinery maker.

• Colonial BancGroup said it is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice over alleged accounting irregularities at its mortgage warehouse lending unit. The company said the probe involves one year's worth of financial statements. It intends to cooperate.

• Target Corp. plans to run its own Web site starting in 2011, ending a 10-year deal under which Amazon.com Inc. fills the sites orders and provides customer support. Target will take over building and managing Target.com before the 2011 holiday season, the retailer said.

-- From Staff and Wire Reports