Business news in brief

Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., Burlington, said Friday it was scrapping plans announced two weeks ago to redeem about $400 million worth of its high-interest debt. The clothing-store chain intended to replace the high-interest securities with about $500 million in new debt to be sold at current, lower rates. But it said market conditions had changed since the initial announcement Nov. 3 and pricing for new securities now is less favorable. Ireland's debt problems, which have worsened in the last few weeks, are making investors demand higher prices for all bonds. - Paul Schweizer

More than 80,000 Pennsylvanians will lose their weekly unemployment benefit if Congress does not extend the federally funded portion that ends Dec. 1. The state Department of Labor and Industry estimated this week that 83,000 people would lose the average weekly benefit of about $310 in December if the federal portion expires. For now, the unemployed are eligible for up to 99 weeks of benefits that are capped at $564 a week. But after Nov. 30, only 26 of those weeks remain. The department says about 166,000 additional people would lose their benefits in the January-through-March period. - AP

Cephalon Inc., Fraser, may not block Mylan Inc. and Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. from selling generic versions of the blockbuster sleep-disorder drug Provigil while all sides wait for the patent case to go to trial in April, a high court judge in London ruled, according to Bloomberg News. Barring such sales could cause "greater and more unquantifiable" harm if those companies later win their case, the news service said. - Inquirer staff

Continental Bank Holdings Inc. and First Resource Bank terminated their merger agreement after Continental found out that it would not receive regulatory approval to complete the $8 million deal before the completion date set in the May 12 agreement, the banks said. Privately held Continental, founded in 2005, is based in Plymouth Meeting and has $500 million in assets. First Resource, Exton, also founded in 2005, had $132 million in assets at the end of last year. First Resource shares closed down $1.15, or 22.8 percent, at $3.90. - Harold Brubaker

Topaz Pharmaceuticals Inc. has appointed Bob Radie chief executive officer. The privately held Horsham company said Radie would join the company as it completes Phase 3 testing for a topical cream to treat head lice, and gets ready to submit its first new drug application for it. He most recently was CEO and president of TransMolecular Inc., King of Prussia, which is working on cancer diagnostics and treatment. Topaz said in a release that Thomas Beck, the interim CEO, would return to his role of chief medical officer. - Roslyn Rudolph

Print-shop and mail-room employees at Vertis Communications in Chalfont voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Conference of Graphic Communications. The vote, which would affect 400 workers, was held Thursday, with the final count 210 in favor of the Teamsters, 150 opposed, the union said. Vertis Communications is part of Vertis Holdings Inc. The Baltimore-based company said Friday that it had filed for bankruptcy, reorganizing under Chapter 11. The company said it expected to come out of bankruptcy within two months. - Jane M. Von Bergen

In a case that has implications for home-health workers caring for an aging population, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled this week that home-health-care aides are governed by Pennsylvania's Minimum Wage Act, and thus are entitled to overtime. Bayada Nurses Inc., Moorestown, had argued that the aides, who are hired and paid by Bayada, don't qualify for overtime because they work in clients' homes and therefore fall under the law's domestic-services exemption. However, the decision said, the law says the "householder" must be the employer for work done at the house. No one was available for comment at Bayada on Friday afternoon. - Jane M. Von Bergen

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. canceled its initial public offering Friday, folding its hand for now on a risky bet on returning to the stock market just three years after it went private. The Las Vegas company, with properties in Atlantic City and Chester, was expected to price the offering on Thursday and begin trading on the Nasdaq this week. Harrah's had said it would raise as much as $531 million for casino projects and to help with its heavy debt burden. It has been a rough time for the industry, as have people cut back on gambling and opted to save their money instead. - AP

China ordered its banks to hold back more money as reserves in a new move to curb lending and rising inflation. The order was the second reserve increase in two weeks. Economists say the flood of money coursing through the economy from China's stimulus spending and heavy bank lending were key factors in pushing inflation to a 25-month high of 4.4 percent in October. - AP

Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to pay $100 million to Citigroup Inc. to settle a dispute related to its acquisition of Wachovia Corp. in October 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. Wachovia was teetering on the brink of collapse from bad real estate loans when it initially agreed to be bought by Citigroup in a deal supported by the U.S. government. Days later, Wells Fargo swooped in with a sweeter deal and snatched Wachovia away from Citigroup. An irate Citi sued Wells soon thereafter, leading to the settlement announced Friday. - AP

Allied Irish Banks says it has lost $18 billion, or 17 percent, of its total deposit base since June in the latest evidence of cash flight from Ireland's debt-crippled banking sector. The Dublin bank said in a trading statement that institutions and businesses accounted for most of the lost deposit business. It said the European Central Bank and the Irish Central Bank had provided short-term loans to cover the shortfall in cash but provided no figures. Allied Irish plans to sell $9.05 billion next month in new shares, an offer likely to have only one buyer, the government. The sale would take the government's stake from 18 percent to more than 90 percent. - AP

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed requiring hedge funds and private-equity funds to submit to inspections and new disclosure requirements, aiming to expand oversight as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. SEC commissioners voted, 4-1, to approve a preliminary rule requiring most hedge-fund managers, who now operate with little government scrutiny, to register with the SEC. Dodd-Frank specified that hedge funds managing more than $150 million in assets be subject to SEC oversight. Smaller funds, venture capital funds, and foreign funds wouldn't have to register. - Bloomberg News