Trubion IPO might snag up to $69 million

Trubion Pharmaceuticals said Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it hopes to raise up to $69 million in its initial public offering.

The Seattle biotech company, which filed preliminary IPO documents in June, specified for the first time that it plans to sell 4.6 million shares at $13 to $15 a share. The underwriters are Morgan Stanley, Banc of America Securities, Pacific Growth Equities and Lazard Capital Markets.

Another Northwest biotech company, Light Sciences Oncology, is scheduled to complete its IPO as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg News.

Last week, Trubion said it had begun a 280-patient clinical trial of its leading drug candidate against rheumatoid arthritis, and received an $8 million milestone payment from its collaborator, Wyeth.

Antitrust fine from EU appealed

Microsoft appealed a European Union antitrust fine of 280.5 million euros ($358 million).

The European Commission, the EU's antitrust authority in Brussels, on July 12 penalized Microsoft for flouting an order to license information to rivals on how Windows communicates over a network. The penalty came on top of a 497 million euro fine levied on the company in March 2004.

"Microsoft announced in July that it would appeal the fine for noncompliance," Tom Brookes, a Microsoft spokesman said in an e-mailed statement. He said the deadline for appealing was Monday.

The appeal was filed with the European Court of First Instance.

FAA won't delay worker drug tests

About 300 airline-maintenance contractors must begin testing workers for drugs and alcohol starting Oct. 10, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, rejecting a delay request.

The FAA ruled in January that tests must be extended to smaller companies that subcontract airline-maintenance work affecting safety. The agency later delayed the rule's start date to Oct. 10 from April, saying there was confusion about which companies had to comply.

A trade group for 690 maintenance companies, including Boeing, asked last month for a delay of nine more months. The agency rejected the request in a decision made public Friday.

The trade group in March asked a federal appeals court to block the rule. The case is pending.

Antitrust Act violations alleged

Kirkland-based Digeo filed a lawsuit last week in federal court claiming that Los Angeles-based Gemstar-TV Guide International violated federal and state antitrust laws.

Both companies develop the interactive program guides used in cable systems.

Digeo said it was being pressured to license Gemstar's entire patent portfolio rather than the subset of patents it had originally wanted. Gemstar hasn't responded in court yet to the lawsuit.

U.S. producers want accord implemented

U.S. lumber producers warned Monday that a delay in implementing a softwood-lumber accord with Canada may scuttle the pact altogether, as Canadian companies use the extension to export "extraordinary" amounts of lumber.

Canada and the U.S. agreed last week to delay the start date by a month, to Nov. 1, after a request from the British Columbia Lumber Trade Council. Canada should now act to cancel the delay, possibly by enforcing the agreement retroactively, the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports said Monday in a statement.

" Lumber has fallen to its lowest prices in more than three years on speculation Canadian suppliers are boosting shipments to the U.S. ahead of the accord's implementation.

Saskatchewan mills cutting back

Weyerhaeuser, the world's largest lumber company, said it will fire about 300 employees as it reduces production at two Saskatchewan mills.

Workers at Carrot River and Hudson Bay are being given 90 days' notice, Weyerhaeuser said Monday. The shutdown at the mills will start Jan. 3, according to the statement.

Softwood plywood and softwood lumber studs, both used in home construction, are made at Hudson Bay and Carrot River, respectively, Weyerhaeuser said.

The prices of lumber and other wooden building materials are falling because of slower home construction in the U.S.

Weyerhaeuser has been selling assets and cutting jobs after a $580 million first-quarter loss.

The Hudson Bay mill will lose 183 workers, and 116 will leave the Carrot River sawmill, according to the statement.

Harrah's Entertainment

$15 billion offered for casino operator

Harrah's Entertainment received a $15.05 billion offer from two private-equity firms in what would be the biggest deal ever for a casino operator and the fifth-largest leveraged buyout in history.

Harrah's said Monday that Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group are offering $81 per share in cash, a 22 percent premium to Harrah's closing stock price Friday.

Harrah's shares surged $9.25, or nearly 14 percent, to close at $75.68 on Monday.

Harrah's said it had not committed to the deal, but it established a special committee of independent directors to review the offer and retained UBS Securities as an adviser.

The company did not respond to calls for comment.

Faster Web rollout slower than planned

Cingular Wireless won't complete the introduction of its fastest Internet service in the largest U.S. markets by the end of the year as planned.

The nation's largest mobile-phone company expects to cover three-fourths of the top 100 markets this year and the rest in early 2007, said spokesman Ritch Blasi.

Cingular is expected to announce today it completed the integration of AT&T Wireless Services, the Redmond company it bought in 2004.

The upgraded network uses 3G, or third-generation, technology to let users check e-mail, browse the Web and watch TV on phones and laptops. Cingular's 3G network covers about 44 major cities now, Blasi said.

Cingular may still have all of the top 100 markets on its new network by the end of the year, but testing can take two to four weeks before service goes live.

Cingular bought AT&T Wireless to double the size of its network, improve service quality and reduce customer turnover, or churn.

Gasoline prices continue falling

Retail gasoline prices across the U.S. tumbled for the eighth week in a row, a government survey showed Monday, as ample supplies continued to ease worries about world oil production.

Nationwide, the average pump price for self-serve regular fell to $2.31 a gallon Monday, down 6.8 cents in the previous seven days, according to the Energy Department's weekly gas-price survey.

Since early August, the retail average has plummeted 72.8 cents a gallon nationwide.

Oil prices, which make up half the cost of gasoline, dived after hitting a peak closing price above $77 a barrel in mid-July. Futures prices have settled below $64 for two weeks; on Monday, the price of U.S. light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $1.88 to $61.03 a barrel.

Analysts also say the recent price break stems in part from refiners trimming their profit margins after months of unusually high earnings.

Semiconductor sales set record

Semiconductor sales worldwide surged to a monthly record of $20.5 billion in August, fueled by higher demand for memory chips used in PCs and mobile gadgets such as cellphones and digital cameras, an industry group reported Monday.

The figure was more than 10 percent higher than the $18.6 billion reported in August 2005, and a slight increase from the $20.1 billion reported in July, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said.

Merrill Lynch merger completed

BlackRock and the money-management arm of Merrill Lynch said Monday that they've completed their previously announced merger, a combination that creates one of the world's largest investment-management firms, with more than $1 trillion in assets.

BlackRock agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in February. Merrill gets a 49.8 percent stake in the combined company.

Compiled from Seattle Times business staff, Bloomberg News, The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times