IN THE REGION
Charming's sale complete
Ascena Retail Group Inc. has completed its buyout of Lane Bryant owner Charming Shoppes Inc. and is taking steps to shed parts of the acquired business that it doesn't want. Ascena said in May that it was buying Charming Shoppes, of Bensalem, for about $890 million. The deal gives Ascena access to the large-size women's clothing market with Lane Bryant and Catherines Plus Sizes stores. But Ascena said Friday that it planned to close Charming Shoppes' remaining Fashion Bug operations by early next year and that it may sell Charming's direct-marketing business, Figi's. — AP
Rutgers, Penn receive funding
Rutgers University and the University of Pennsylvania were among 81 winners in the second round of Health Care Innovation Awards under the Affordable Care Act. The Rutgers Center for State Health Policy will receive $14.3 million over three years to expand care-management programs developed by the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers for high-cost, high-need, low-income populations to four other cities, including Allentown. Besides the Camden Coalition, Rutgers is also partnering with the Center for Health Care Strategies in Hamilton, N.J. Two University of Pennsylvania awards totaled $9.2 million. One project will test ways to ensure that patients with coronary artery disease properly take their medications after discharge. The other will test a comprehensive set of home-care services for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with advanced cancer, with the goal of avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations. — Harold Brubaker
Delta seeks to press down prices
Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to become a seller in the U.S. jet fuel market and push prices lower after acquiring a refinery near Philadelphia, the airline's chief executive officer, Richard Anderson, said. The company's Monroe Energy L.L.C. subsidiary bought the 185,000-barrel-a-day Trainer plant for $150 million on April 30. The Trainer refinery will produce 52,000 barrels a day of jet fuel, according to slides published in an April 30 8-K filing by the company. — Bloomberg News
ResCap rejects Berkshire bid
Residential Capital L.L.C. rejected an offer from Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the holding company run by billionaire Warren Buffett, to be the initial bidder in a proposed auction of ResCap's most-valuable assets. ResCap has operations in Fort Washington. ResCap asked the judge overseeing its bankruptcy to name a Fortress Investment Group L.L.C. affiliate and Ally Financial Inc. as the so-called stalking-horse bidders for separate auctions, according to court papers filed Thursday in Manhattan. Fortress' bid "will likely remain the highest and best offer for the debtors' servicing platform," ResCap said in its filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. — Bloomberg News