Denver – Venoco Inc., a Denver-based oil-and-gas exploration company, on Tuesday set its planned initial public offering at 12.5 million shares at an estimated $19 to $21 per share.
The company said it is selling 10 million shares and stockholders are selling an additional 2.5 million shares, according to an amended filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Venoco intends to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VQ.
Venoco said in the filing it expects to receive $184.5 million from its sale of shares. It will use the funds to repay debt.
Additional business news briefs:
DOUGLAS COUNTY
Time Warner finishes deal for Mo. telecom
Time Warner Telecom Inc., a Douglas County-based provider of voice- and data-networking solutions for businesses, announced Tuesday it has completed its acquisition of O’Fallon, Mo.-based Xspedius Communications LLC. The deal was originally announced in July.
Time Warner Telecom paid $216 million in cash and issued 18.2 million shares of stock to acquire the company. Based on Time Warner Telecom’s closing price of $19.94 a share Tuesday, the deal is valued at $578.9 million.
NEW YORK
Lawsuit costs mount for Adelphia founders
As a January showdown between Greenwood Village- based Adelphia Communications Corp. and Deloitte & Touche LLP nears, members of the cable provider’s founding family are seeking another $600,000 disbursement to offset their defense costs.
Members of the Rigas family have been named as defendants in Adelphia’s lawsuit against its former auditor Deloitte & Touche.
PHILADELPHIA
Comcast settles suit by paying $44 million
Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable-television company, has agreed to pay $44 million to settle litigation by former shareholders of Arapahoe County-based Tele-Communications Inc.
The settlement, which is subject to court approval, will lead to the dismissal of a number of class-action lawsuits related to AT&T Corp.’s purchase of Tele-Communications Inc., Comcast said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. Comcast inherited the lawsuits in 2001, when it agreed to buy AT&T Broadband.
NORTHGLENN
Woodley’s plans store in former Mervyn’s
Woodley’s Fine Furniture will open a new store in part of the former Mervyn’s in Northglenn Marketplace shopping center.
The retailer will occupy 40,000 square feet on the store’s second floor and 8,000 square feet on the first floor. As previously announced, Circuit City will occupy the remaining portion of the first floor. Circuit City will open in February, and Woodley’s expects to open in March.
DENVER
Painted Bench sold, closed for renovation
The Painted Bench Restaurant, 400 East 20th Ave. in Denver’s uptown neighborhood, has been sold.
Owners Bill Rohs, Stephen Rohs and Tom Carley intend to pursue other ventures. New owner Leigh Jones plans to close the restaurant briefly to perform minor renovations.
SAN DIEGO
Copley weighs sale of Ohio, Ill. papers
The Copley Press Inc., parent company of The San Diego Union-Tribune, said Tuesday it was exploring selling its seven newspapers in Ohio and Illinois.
The decision came amid further contraction in the newspaper business and tax debt related to the death of former chairman and chief executive Helen K. Copley in 2004.
MINNEAPOLIS
UnitedHealth fighting claim of bond default
UnitedHealth Group Inc. asked a federal court to block a hedge fund’s claim that it has defaulted on some of its bonds.
Whitebox Advisors is claiming UnitedHealth is in default because it missed filing its audited second-quarter results with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
If UnitedHealth was found to be in default, it would have to pay back $850 million in bonds 30 years early.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
H&R Block to clarify tax-refund loans
H&R Block Inc. on Tuesday announced it will change its refund-anticipation loan program to make sure customers fully understand it and how their debts could affect the loan.
The changes to the program in which H&R Block lends customers the money they expect to receive from a tax refund comes two months after a federal judge approved a $39 million settlement in a long-running class-action lawsuit.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn.
Former Cendant exec convicted of fraud
Walter Forbes, former chairman of Cendant Corp., was convicted at a third criminal trial for his role in an accounting fraud that caused the company’s market value to drop by $14 billion in one day in 1998.
Jurors convicted Forbes, 63, of conspiracy and two counts of false reporting. He was acquitted of securities fraud.
Forbes was accused of overstating income by $252 million at CUC International Inc., the company that merged with HFS Inc. in 1997 to create Cendant.
