GE rehydrating Algeria's capital

Jeff Garwood, who runs

General Electric's Water & Process Technologies

from its world headquarters in Trevose, plans to spend the day today with Algeria's president, Abdelazia Bouteflika, pouring the Mediterranean Sea into his capital city's parched pipes through GE's new $250 million Hamma desalinization plant.

The plant, equipped with massive sand filters, chemically treated membranes, high-pressure pumps, and electric turbines run by recycled brine, is financed by $200 million from the U.S.-backed Overseas Private Investment Co.

On his way to Philadelphia International Airport on Friday, Garwood said the plant could purify 53 million gallons a day - enough to irrigate two million Algiers homes in the city's crowded suburbs, where water service has been intermittent.

He said cleaner membranes and better pumps enabled the plant to burn a lot less energy than pioneer models developed in the 1970s by

DuPont Co.

, Wilmington.

Two years ago, Algeria ordered five plants from five contractors. GE Hamma is the first to go online. Garwood wants to ring the world's oceans with similar plants - and technology from Trevose.

What Citi wants:

Last year,

Citigroup

spent more than $200 million - nearly eight times revenue - for Conshohocken prepaid-payment-card purveyor

eCount

, according to investor sources. It paid an even higher multiple last month for electronic-payment system

PayQuik

, Bala Cynwyd.

"We very rarely buy companies just because of the technology," said Paul Galant, who approved both deals as head of

Citi Global Transaction Services

. "We have a lot of programmers at GTS. We can turn anyone's platform into the latest and greatest.

"We buy companies because there is a level of culture and subject-matter expertise that accelerates our ability to bring good solutions to clients." He puts eCount founder Matt Gillen and PayQuik chief Bhairav Trivedi on that short list.

"We're not predisposed to Pennsylvania," Galant concluded. "We don't really care where these companies are. But maybe there's a certain element of culture, a sense of urgency that may be culturally based, in your area."

No deal at Aramark:

Plans to sell

Aramark Corp.'s

Market Street building have been shelved.

"The credit markets aren't there. We can't get the returns we want, so we're going to hold that building," said Joseph S. Martz, executive director of the

Philadelphia Board of City Trusts,

the tower's owner, whose $1 billion investment portfolio funds Girard College, Wills Eye Hospital, and dozens of smaller charities.

In the fall, a report by the trusts' real estate consultant,

NorthMarq Capital Advisers

, urged directors to consider selling the Aramark tower. The board could "more than double" returns, compared with spending the $11 million to spruce up the place.

But what worked last fall will not work now, Martz said. "The market changed that quickly."

When the bank says no:

"When banks tighten up, our business gets better," said Rocco Perate, chief executive officer of small-business-lender

Preferred Capital L.L.C.

, which lent $25 million last year to firms that could not get cheaper bank loans.

Investors in Preferred, of Wilmington, and its predecessors "about doubled their money" when they cashed out last year, four years after investing $1.5 million, said Michael Foreman of

FB Capital

, one of the investors.

Perate said investors also included lawyers Steve Cozen, Patrick O'Connor and Michael Heller of the

Cozen & O'Connor

law firm, and Ira Lubert of

Independence Capital

. "It was a great investment for all involved," said Heller, "and it was also great for Rocco Perate, who now has a bigger company."

Card capital:

Electronic-payment and loan provider

Swift Financial

, Wilmington, plans to boost its staff to 125 from 62 by the end of this year, says Ed Harycki, the

MBNA Corp.

veteran who started the Wilmington firm last year.

Swift this week raised $20 million in new funding from Sutter Hill Ventures, Palo Alto, Calif.; Village Ventures, Williamstown, Mass.; and

Permit Capital L.L.C.

, West Conshohocken, headed by former Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners executive Fabio Terlevich. Sutter and Village invested an additional $6.5 million last year.

Swift uses check-readers built by

Unisys Corp.

, of Blue Bell, and other companies to help small-business clients move their money electronically. It also has a deal with

Marshall & Illsley Corp.

, the tech-oriented bank in Wisconsin, to set up loans and bank accounts for clients.

Wall Street South:

Goldman Sachs, UBS Securities, Lehman Bros. and Deutsche Bank all have branches in the upper floors of the

Mellon Bank Center

, 1735 Market St.

Mellon and

Blackstone Group's

nearby

Verizon Tower

have become "the financial capital of Philadelphia," said David J. Campoli, regional manager for Mellon owner

HRPT Property Trust

.

Both were built with extra corners, which means more of the corner offices bankers and brokers love, said Glenn Blumenfeld, partner in

Tactix Real Estate Advisors L.L.C.

, of Radnor, which represents corporate tenants.

Campoli said the Wall Street influx had helped lift suite rents. "They are asking over $30," Blumenfeld said.