Business news in brief

The sale of Revel Casino Hotel remains "in flux," an attorney for the shuttered Atlantic City casino said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Camden. The topic of the hearing was how much ACR Energy Partners L.L.C. will be paid for services provided since Revel filed for bankruptcy in June. Brookfield Asset Management said last month that it was abandoning its agreement to pay $110 million for Revel because it could not reach a deal with ACR bondholders owed $118.6 million. However, it's not clear that the deal is dead. - Harold Brubaker

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, which has Philadelphia-area facilities, said it would keep several brand-name products sold in North America and Europe after testing the market to see if they could be sold for a sufficient amount of cash. The "established" products group includes medications that are still for sale, but no longer have market exclusivity because patents have expired, and therefore they generate less profit than in the past. Examples include the heartburn drugs Tagamet and Zantac, the migraine medicine Imitrex, and the antidepressant Paxil. - David Sell

Women's wear retailer Deb Stores Holding L.L.C. joined past clothing chains including Loehmann's Inc. and Coldwater Creek Inc. in filing for bankruptcy, saying a shortage of capital left it with "old, tired stores." The Philadelphia-based operator of Deb Shops sought Chapter 11 protection Thursday in Wilmington, with plans to close some stores and sell inventory if it can't find a buyer for the business. The company specializes in juniors "fast fashion" and offers moderately priced clothing, accessories, and shoes for young women. As of Sept. 30, it had 295 locations, according to court filings. - Bloomberg News

A Wilmington man, Arthur Robinson, was sentenced to 56 months in prison for credit card fraud, prompting U.S. District Judge Sue L. Robinson to describe him as "relentlessly dishonest." According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Robinson made large purchases after applying for multiple credit cards using false information and false identities. He sued banks trying to collect the large bills he accrued and applied to the Social Security Administration claiming identity theft, according to prosecutors. - Inquirer staff

Philadelphia-based Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., which went public in August after being spun off by the DuPont Co., said it had third-quarter net sales of $1.1 billion, an increase of 3.2 percent compared with what the unit had in the same period of 2013. The company reported a net loss of $18.3 million, according to the report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. - Inquirer staff

Sanofi's head of diabetes medicine sales, Bob Rossilli, has left the company, weeks after the drugmaker fired its CEO, Chris Viehbacher, and said revenue from its best-selling insulin will be flat next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Separately, Sanofi was sued in New Jersey court by a former paralegal, Diane Ponte, who worked in Bridgewater. Ponte claimed she was fired after complaining the drugmaker illegally paid $34 million in kickbacks to induce physicians, hospitals, and pharmacies to switch to its diabetes drugs. A Sanofi spokesman confirmed Rossilli's departure. A spokeswoman said Ponte's allegation was without merit. - Bloomberg News

Uber Technologies Inc. has completed the next stage of its funding, garnering $1.2 billion to boost its international expansion. The mobile car-booking company said it raised the money at a $40 billion valuation, more than doubling its $17 billion valuation in June and bolstering its rank as the most highly valued U.S. technology start-up. Uber has now raised more than $2.5 billion since its 2009 inception. - Bloomberg News

Sears Holdings, which also owns Kmart stores, said it has accelerated store closings, reduced inventory and shaved advertising costs, but losses continued to widen at the once-mighty department store chain. The company lost $548 million during the three months that ended Nov. 1, its 10th consecutive quarterly loss. The company said it has closed or is in the process of closing 235 stores by the end of the year, mostly Kmart locations, far more than the 130 it announced in August. The company has more than 1,830 stores. A call to Sears seeking information on new closings in the Philadelphia region was not returned. - Chicago Tribune

Barnes & Noble Inc. will buy back Microsoft Corp.'s stake in its struggling Nook business, which posted a loss that pulled down the U.S. bookstore chain's second-quarter results. Barnes & Noble said the agreement will make it easier to split off the money-losing Nook division, a move pushed for by investors for years. The deal provides Microsoft with an exit from a struggling business as the software maker works to streamline its own operations. - Bloomberg News