Skip to content
Business
Link copied to clipboard

Business news in brief

In the Region

Judge OKs A.C.-Revel tax deal

The federal judge in Camden overseeing Revel AC Inc.'s bankruptcy case approved a settlement under which the City of Atlantic City will accept at $26 million payment for Revel's 2014 property-tax liability of $32.5 million. Wells Fargo, which has been Revel's primary lender during bankruptcy, agreed to pay the $26 million. To cover the payment, Wells Fargo agreed to lend Revel $21 million. The remainder of the payment will come from cash on hand, according to a court filing. - Harold Brubaker

Schorsch resigns from boards

AR Capital cofounder Nicholas S. Schorsch, who grew up in Jenkintown, has resigned from the boards of directors of 13 companies affiliated with the real estate enterprise amid concerns over accounting issues. Two of the 13 companies in the group are publicly traded. Bloomberg reported that the departures come two weeks after Schorsch resigned as chairman of American Realty Capital Properties Inc., a publicly traded owner of more than 4,000 U.S. buildings, which in October disclosed that it had accounting errors that were intentionally concealed. - Inquirer staff

Teva pares drug pipeline

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it would regain rights to a cancer drug candidate and $27 million from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which is no longer interested in the compound. Custirsen is being studied in clinical trials for treatment for prostate and lung cancers. The companies' original deal was signed in 2009. Teva is based in Israel and has operations in the Philadelphia region. Teva has been looking for ways to cut costs and narrow its focus to branded and generic drugs that might produce better profits. - David Sell

York's BAE unit gets Army deal

BAE Systems' manufacturing plant in West Manchester Township, Pa., will play a major role in a multiyear contract the Army awarded the company to develop and produce a replacement for an armored personnel vehicle that dates back to the Vietnam era. The contract for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) is worth as much as $1.2 billion, with the initial phase valued at $383 million, BAE said. The local plant will build 29 AMPVs and deliver them to the Army during the first half of 2017 under the initial phase of the contract. BAE is then scheduled to begin production of an additional 289 vehicles over three years starting in January 2019. All 289 vehicles will be built in West Manchester Township. - York (Pa.) Daily Record

Westinghouse supplies Ukraine

Westinghouse Electric Co., the U.S. nuclear power-plant builder owned by Toshiba Corp., agreed to provide fuel to Ukraine's state-owned reactor operator Energoatom to replace supplies from Russia. Westinghouse will "significantly" increase fuel deliveries to Ukrainian nuclear plants through 2020. Westinghouse in based in Cranberry Township in Western Pennsylvania. Ukraine gets about 44 percent of its power from nuclear facilities, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the country has historically relied on Russia to supply the fuel. The nation's economy likely shrank by an estimated 7.5 percent this year amid a separatist conflict and Russia's takeover of Crimea. - Bloomberg News

Elsewhere

Consumer confidence rises

The Conference Board said Tuesday its consumer confidence index climbed to 92.6 this month from a revised 91 in November. Consumers registered a more favorable view of current economic conditions; 17.1 percent said jobs were plentiful, up from 16.2 percent in November. Just 19.6 percent said business conditions were bad, down from 21.8 percent last month. However, expectations for the near future fell slightly. Compared to November, fewer consumers in December said they planned to buy a home or a car in the next six months. - Associated Press

White Castle goes veggie

White Castle, longtime purveyor of meat, grease, and onions, has decided to let veggie lovers in on the action. The Ohio-based fast-food chain is now offering a Veggie Slider. It's being rolled out in 400 restaurants around the country, though the company is calling it a limited engagement. According to the company, the new tiny sandwich - which sells for 99 cents - is "chock full of vegetables like carrots, zucchini, peas, spinach, broccoli, and more." The sandwich apparently did well in testing during a pilot run in New York and New Jersey. - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

'Pom' trademark dispute

A federal appeals court has sided with juice maker POM Wonderful in a lawsuit over another beverage company's use of the term "pom." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower-court ruling that denied POM Wonderful's request for a preliminary injunction against Portland, Ore.-based Pur Beverages. POM Wonderful argues that Pur's use of "pom" on a pomegranate energy drink is a violation of POM Wonderful's trademarks. A lower court said POM Wonderful was unlikely to succeed in the case and denied the company's request to stop Pur from selling the drink. The Ninth Circuit disagreed, so the lower court must review the injunction. - AP