Venoco planning to raise $230 million in stock sale
Venoco Inc., a Denver-based oil and gas company, intends to raise $230 million in one of the state’s first scheduled initial stock sales of 2006.
Venoco plans to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lehman Brothers and Harris Nesbitt will underwrite the sale, the filing showed.
The company, founded in 1992 by Timothy Marquez, did not disclose the number and price of the shares to be offered.
The company plans to use half the proceeds to finance mergers and acquisitions, primarily oil and natural-gas properties in California. The remaining proceeds will go to Marquez and his family foundation.
In November, Venoco reported a net loss of $1.8 million for the third quarter. That’s off from net income of $6.9 million in 2004’s third quarter. Marquez, a Denver resident and the company’s chairman and chief executive, earned his bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 1980.
Marquez and his wife, Bernadette, in November pledged $10 million to the school to build a new petroleum-engineering building.
DENVER
Colo. verdicts against Goodyear upheld
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a pair of verdicts against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Juries had previously found Goodyear 50 percent liable for damage caused by faulty heating hoses in Colorado homes.
Goodyear appealed the two decisions in which it was required to pay $10 million and $8 million. The court also reinstated $400,000 in damages for two plaintiffs and ordered new trials for two other plaintiffs whose claims had been rejected.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE
Company weighs Silverthorne project
Greenwood Village-based Alberta Development Partners is considering building a 100,000- square-foot retail development on 11.4 acres in Silverthorne.
The company is seeking city approval to relocate a road out of a landslide path to accommodate the project, which is still in the early planning phases. The project is between Wildernest Road and Buffalo Mountain Road near Adams Avenue.
LITTLETON
Gold producer wants to raise $66 million
Golden Star Resources, which produces gold primarily in Ghana and West Africa, intends to raise $66 million by offering 29.2 million common shares.
The company, whose shares trade on the American Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange, priced its shares at $2.39. The offering’s proceeds will finance the expansion of existing mining projects and general corporate purposes, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
DENVER
Hotel occupancy, rates continue to rise
Occupancy rates and average room rates at hotels in Denver and across the state continued to rise in November, compared with the same month last year, according to the latest Rocky Mountain Lodging Report released Wednesday.
In the metro area, occupancy rates rose by 2.5 percentage points last month, to 65.7 percent. Average room rates jumped $7.31, to $91.55. Statewide, occupancy rates rose by 2.4 percentage points, to 61.1 percent. Room rates increased $8.34, to $103.63.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE
EMS closes offering of 8.1 million shares
Emergency Medical Services Corp. announced Wednesday that it closed its initial public offering of 8.1 million shares of common stock at $14 per share.
The company received $105.5 million in net proceeds before transaction costs. The stock, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, closed Wednesday at $12.85, down 15 cents.
PUEBLO
Xcel breaks ground on plant expansion
Xcel Energy broke ground Wednesday for a third unit at the Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo.
The $1.3 billion coal-fired generating unit was approved last year by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
Telecom nets pact with Justice Dept.
Time Warner Telecom announced Wednesday it won a multiyear contract to deliver voice and data services to the Justice Department’s National Training Center in Columbia, N.C.
CHICAGO
United parent reports $187 million Nov. loss
United Airlines’ parent company reported a $187 million net loss Wednesday for November, citing continuing reorganization charges and high fuel costs as its three-year bankruptcy overhaul draws to a finish.
The deficit more than doubled the $87.5 million net loss of a year earlier.
In signs its restructuring is starting to pay off, however, UAL Corp. said it had an $8.9 million operating profit and lower operating costs than a year earlier despite higher fuel prices.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
AMC, Loews clear merger with feds
AMC Entertainment Inc. and Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. reached an agreement with the Justice Department and certain U.S. states to sell 10 movie theaters as part of the companies’ plan to combine.
AMC and Loews, the second- and third-largest movie chains, announced in June that they planned to merge their businesses. The transaction will probably be completed in the first quarter.
SEATTLE
Jury rejects bias claim against Boeing
Boeing Co., the world’s biggest aircraft maker, didn’t discriminate against black salaried employees in promotions, a jury found, rejecting a claim filed on behalf of about 4,000 workers.
The class-action lawsuit claimed Chicago-based Boeing, starting in 1994, denied promotions, discouraged blacks from applying for higher positions and failed to enforce company anti-discrimination policies.
SAN ANTONIO
Clear Channel concert spinoff completed
Clear Channel Communications Inc., the biggest U.S. radio broadcaster, completed the spinoff of its concert division, which will be called Live Nation.
Investors will receive one share of Live Nation for every eight shares of Clear Channel.
