Business news in brief

In the Region

Sovereign sells 156.25 million shares at $8 each

Sovereign Bancorp Inc., Philadelphia, priced its public offering of 156.25 million shares of common stock at $8 each. The sale, scheduled to close Friday, is expected to raise net proceeds of $1.21 billion for the bank with 750 branches in the Northeast and $82 billion in assets. In addition, Sovereign said Monday that it planned to sell $500 million in notes. Analysts said the money should be enough to cover anticipated losses in Sovereign's loan portfolio. Sovereign lost $1.3 billion last year on write-downs, loan losses and other expenses related to the credit and economic downturns. The company eliminated its quarterly dividend in January to help compensate for the losses. Sovereign's shares closed up 42 cents, or 5.13 percent, at $8.60 on the New York Stock Exchange. - Harold Brubaker

Tropicana appeals loss of casino license to panel

Tropicana Entertainment L.L.C., the company that was stripped in December of its casino license to operate the Tropicana casino in Atlantic City presented oral arguments yesterday in its appeal of the decision by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The company filed the notice of appeal in December, after the commission's decision, and an appeal brief in March. The Tropicana, in the heart of the Boardwalk, has continued to operate under a state-appointed conservator, who is also overseeing the sale of the casino. Such a sale can be settled only after an appeal by the former owner is decided. Judges hearing the appeal yesterday gave no timetable on when their ruling would be issued. - Suzette Parmley

Tyco to sell radio components to British firm

Tyco Electronics Ltd. said it would sell its radio-frequency components and subsystem business to Cobham Defense Electronic Systems Corp. of Britain for $425 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Tyco, which is based in Bermuda, has operations in Berwyn. The company said it would focus more on its core operations. The unit designs and sells products such as amplifiers, antennas and transistors. Company shares closed down 24 cents at $38.09. - Linda Loyd

Shapes/Arch hires consultant for firm's auction

Shapes/Arch Holdings L.L.C., Pennsauken, has hired J. Scott Victor of NatCity Investments Inc., West Conshohocken, as sales consultant to oversee the auction of the company, an aluminum-parts-maker for homes and vehicles that employs more than 1,000 workers in Pennsauken and Bensalem. Shapes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, citing lower sales and higher import costs. A plan filed May 12 would pay unsecured creditors, including Alcan Inc., PSE&G, UPS Inc. and others, 10 percent to 14 percent of the $38 million Shapes owes. The bid deadline is June 25. Versa Capital Management Inc., Philadelphia, H.I.G. Capital Partners L.L.C., Miami, and Sun Capital Partners Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., have expressed interest in buying Shapes. - Joseph N. DiStefano

Luminent Mortgage Capital posts big income gain

Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc., a Philadelphia company that invests in mortgage-related securities, reported first-quarter net income of $128.2 million, up from $14.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Luminent, which is converting from a real estate investment trust into a publicly traded partnership, attributed the gain in net income to a decline in the value of its debt, based on fair-value accounting rules. Luminent, which trades over-the-counter, closed yesterday at 21 cents per share. At the end of last year, Luminent had $4.72 billion of assets. - Harold Brubaker

Kenexa reports 1st-quarter rise in revenue, profit

First-quarter revenue and profit rose at Kenexa Corp., the Wayne human-resources software and research company. Its shares closed up $1.86, or 10.01 percent, at $20.45. Revenue was $48.2 million, up from $42.2 million in the year-earlier first quarter. Net earnings were $4.8 million, or 20 cents a diluted share, up from $4.7 million, or 19 cents a diluted share. The increased earnings per share partly reflect the company's stock-buyback program. In February, Kenexa announced plans to buy back three million shares, and bought 764,000 during the quarter, spending $24.6 million in cash. The company also acquired Quorum International, a London company that provides recruitment outsourcing to multinational companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. - Jane M. Von Bergen

Oracle Corp. buying AdminServer of Chester

AdminServer Inc., Chester, is being purchased by business-software-maker Oracle Corp. The supplier of insurance-policy software will become a business unit of Oracle. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal, which they expect to close in the first half of 2008. - AP

Kensey Nash selling its endovascular business

Medical-device-maker Kensey Nash Corp., Exton, said it was selling its endovascular business to Colorado-based Spectranetics Corp. for about $24 million. Kensey Nash will receive royalties on future sales of some of its devices after Spectranetics starts manufacturing them, the company said in a release. The sale is expected to close by June 30. Shares of Kensey Nash closed up 59 cents at $29.60. - Roslyn Rudolph

Elsewhere

'Spam King' loses $234 million ruling to MySpace

The online hangout MySpace has won a $234 million judgment over junk messages sent to its members in what is believed to be the largest antispam award ever. A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled against a notorious "Spam King," Sanford Wallace, and his partner, Walter Rines, after the two failed to show up at a court hearing, MySpace told the Associated Press. Wallace earned the monikers "Spam King" and "Spamford" as head of a company that sent as many as 30 million junk e-mails a day in the 1990s. He left that company, Cyber Promotions, after lawsuits from Internet service providers such as AOL, only to reemerge in a spyware case that led to a $4 million federal judgment against him in 2006. The judgment is a big victory for MySpace, although service providers often have a tough time collecting such awards. - AP

Italian company to buy N.J. firm with area ties

Italian aerospace and defense company Finmeccanica S.p.A. will buy Parsippany, N.J., military contractor DRS Technologies Inc. for $4 billion, giving it a prominent position in the American defense market. Both companies have operations in the Philadelphia region: Northeast Philadelphia-based Agusta Aerospace Corp. is part of a joint venture involving Finmeccanica. DRS, a supplier of computers and other equipment for U.S. military and intelligence operations, has operations in Wyndmoor, Montgomery County. - AP

Airbus sees new delays in delivery of A380

Airbus S.A.S. announced new delays on deliveries of the superjumbo A380, already almost two years late, saying the company is behind schedule in switching to automated production. The setback deals a blow to Airbus' hopes of putting the woes of its flagship superjumbo project behind it, and risks financial penalties from customers. Airbus said in a statement that it would deliver 12 planes in 2008 instead of 13, and 21 planes in 2009 instead of 25. Executives will talk to customers about deliveries for 2010 - originally foreseen at 45 - in the coming weeks. - AP