Business news in brief

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit rating on Crown Holdings Inc. to BB from BB-plus because of the amount of debt the Philadelphia food and beverage can manufacturer took on to buy Spanish rival Mivisa Envases S.A.U. for $1.62 billion. The ratings agency said Crown's outlook was stable. Crown, with 147 plants in 40 countries, had $8.7 billion in revenue last year. - Harold Brubaker

The CEO of drugmaker Pfizer Inc. is telling the governors of Delaware and Maryland that it is premature to speculate about the potential jobs impact of a merger with British rival AstraZeneca P.L.C. Govs. Jack Markell of Delaware and Martin O'Malley of Maryland sent a joint letter to Ian Read last week expressing concerns about the possible acquisition. The company employs about 2,600 people in Delaware and 3,100 in Maryland. In separate replies dated Monday, Read said Pfizer appreciates the work done by AstraZeneca in the two states. But he said it was too early to discuss specific effects of an AstraZeneca acquisition. AstraZeneca has repeatedly rebuffed acquisition offers by Pfizer since January. - AP

Student loan giant Sallie Mae has reached a $60 million settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations that it charged members of the military excessive interest on their student loans. The deal settles a government lawsuit that asserted that Sallie violated the rights of service members by imposing interest rates above the 6 percent permitted by federal law and by improperly seeking default judgments against them. Separately, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. also announced a $30 million settlement arising from allegations that the company maximized consumer late fees. Federal officials estimate that roughly 60,000 service members will be eligible for compensation as part of the settlement. Sallie Mae spun off its loan servicing operation on April 30 into a separate entity known as Navient Corp., based in Wilmington. - AP

Spark Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on gene therapy, this week signed an agreement for a headquarters in West Philadelphia. Spark, spun out of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in October with $50 million in capital, will build out a 28,000-square-foot facility at 3737 Market St. to house its business operations, clinical research and development, and manufacturing. Spark anticipates moving into its new headquarters and expanding to 50 full-time employees by the end of 2014. - Erin E. Arvedlund

Merck & Co. will receive at least $600 million in a deal with Japanese drugmaker Santen Pharmaceutical Co. for the purchase of Merck eye care products in several markets. The Whitehouse Station, N.J., drugmaker said the deal was another step in its push to sharpen its commercial focus. Merck also recently announced that it had agreed to sell its consumer health business to Germany's Bayer AG for $14.2 billion. That includes Claritin allergy pills, Coppertone sun-care line, and Dr. Scholl's foot-care products. - AP

The 37-story Market Street office tower 1818 Beneficial Bank Place is for sale, said owner Sovereign Capital Management Group Inc., of San Diego. The building has one million square feet of space and was renamed last year when Beneficial Mutual Bancorp moved into four floors of the tower. Retailer Five Below and chemical maker Chemtura Corp. are also among the tenants. Sovereign, which bought the building in 2012, did not name an asking price. - Inquirer staff

Officials say the number of victims seeking relief for fraud committed by Madoff Securities is much larger - and with much larger losses - than previously thought. The U.S. Department of Justice official in charge of administering the Madoff Victim Fund said the fund had received more than 51,700 claims from investors in 119 countries with losses of more than $40 billion. The fund plans to distribute just over $4 billion in assets forfeited in the Madoff case. - AP

U.S. retail sales growth slowed in April, with consumers shopping less online and cutting back on purchases of furniture and electronics. The Commerce Department said seasonally adjusted retail sales rose just 0.1 percent last month, after surging 1.5 percent in March following a harsh winter that had curtailed shopping. Several economists said the April figures might have been depressed because of seasonal adjustments connected to a late Easter. - AP

The IRS will not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate regulations it sought to impose on hundreds of thousands of paid tax preparers. The rules would have required many tax preparers to take continuing education courses and pass a competency exam. A federal judge and an appellate court in Washington tossed the rules out. The IRS let pass a deadline to seek Supreme Court review of the appellate court's ruling. - AP