Business news in brief

A New York Life Insurance Co. real estate unit has purchased the 299,634-square-foot Home Depot Plaza in Clifton Heights, the company said in a release on Tuesday. The Delaware County shopping center is at Baltimore Pike and Bishop Avenue. Seller and purchase price were not disclosed. - Jacob Adelman

Aqua America Inc., the publicly traded Bryn Mawr water and waste-water utility, said it completed acquisitions in Virginia and Pennsylvania, bringing total acquisitions for 2015 to 16. The 16 deals added 10,588 customer connections to the Aqua America's subscriber base. The latest deals were $2.4 million for the Captain's Cove Utility Co. in Accomack County, Va., and $231,000 for the Robin Hood Lakes Water Co. in Polk Township, Monroe County. - Bob Fernandez

Berwyn's Triumph Group Inc. appointed Daniel J. Crowley chief executive officer, ending a search since April for a new leader for the aerospace parts producer.  Crowley, who was president of two Raytheon Co. business units and is a former Lockheed Martin Corp. executive, was chosen after an "extensive search" by the board, Triumph said in a statement. Crowley, 52, replaces Richard Ill, the founder of Triumph who came out of retirement to take over the company after Jeffry Frisby resigned in April. The company's stock soared 19 percent, or $6.56, to $40.98. - Bloomberg News

The Philadelphia Cricket Club paid $600,000 for the St. Martin's golf course property in Chestnut Hill as part of a deal that protects the land from future development, the Natural Lands Trust conservation group said in a statement. The club closed on the nearly 41-acre property Dec. 17, according to the Media-based Lands Trust, which is empowered to preserve the property for open-space recreational use under the sales agreement. The property was sold to the club by the families of Quita Woodward Horan and George Woodward III, whose forebears had owned the land since the 1880s. - Jacob Adelman

Consumer confidence rebounded more than forecast in December as Americans grew more optimistic about the current state of the economy and job market. The Conference Board's sentiment index climbed to 96.5 from a revised November reading of 92.6 that was higher than previously estimated, the New York-based private research group said. The combination of a strong labor market and cheap fuel costs have buoyed household finances, giving consumers the wherewithal to purchase everything from cars to clothing and holiday gifts. - Bloomberg News

Fast-food giant Subway says it will use all cage-free eggs by 2025, joining other fast-food restaurants planning to make the transition amid pressure from consumers and animal welfare organizations, the fast-food chain said. Subway, based in Milford, Conn., already started to use cage-free eggs in some markets across the U.S. and Canada. The timeline announcement comes amid a new ad campaign for Subway, focusing on the freshness of the chain's food. McDonald's, Taco Bell, KFC, Dunkin' Donuts, Panera and other restaurant chains also have made promises to move to cage-free eggs within the next decade. - Chicago Tribune

Online retail giant Amazon may be considering expanding air cargo operations in Europe as well as the United States, according to published reports. The company has chartered a Boeing 737 to fly between Poland, the United Kingdom and Germany for the last six weeks to ferry cargo between its warehouses those countries, London's Evening Standard has reported. Cargo-industry executives have previously said that Amazon was negotiating to lease 20 Boeing 767 jets for its own air-delivery service. - Seattle Times

U.S. steelmakers battered by plunging prices have been quick to blame a flood of cheap Chinese shipments. But with imports nearing four-year lows, another culprit is emerging: the energy collapse. A result of the energy collapse for steel consumption is that inventories held by steel and energy companies take longer to deplete as demand for steel pipes and drill bits falls, exacerbating the decline in consumption, said Timna Tanners, an analyst with Bank of America Corp. - Bloomberg News