99 workers to be laid off in Kent

Cincinnati-based Ampac is closing the Kent factory it bought from New Jersey-based Sealed Air and will lay off about 99 employees by the end of March, plant manager Scott Burger said.

Equipment will be moved to Cincinnati, he said. The factory makes special types of plastic bags, including tamper-evident bags for transporting items such as money.

Getty Images

Financial report delayed by probe

Getty Images has delayed filing an annual financial report, citing a continuing investigation of past stock-option grants.

The internal inquiry began in November, when the company was notified of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its grant-making practices, Seattle-based Getty said Friday in a regulatory filing.

Some investors in $265 million of Getty debt told the company Feb. 21 that they hold it in default because of late financial reports, a claim Getty disputes. Getty said it would file the annual report as soon as practicable after completing the internal investigation.

The company, a provider of pictures for advertising and publishing, is one of at least 200 companies that have reported internal or regulatory reviews of options grants.

Nike

Tennessee site bought for plant

Nike, the world's largest athletic-shoe maker, said it has agreed to buy 125 acres of land in Memphis, Tenn., to build a new central-distribution center.

Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., also signed a $27.6 million sale-leaseback agreement on its Wilsonville, Ore., distribution facility, which it will continue to use through 2008 while the new facility is being built, Nike spokesman Vada Manager said.

The new distribution facility will consolidate Nike's two U.S. footwear-distribution centers in Oregon and Tennessee into a single location, Manager said. Nike said in September it plans to shut those two centers to save $200 million over 20 years.

TXU

SEC says investors got illegal profits

Federal regulators charged Friday that unknown investors pocketed more than $5.3 million in illegal profits from insider trading before Texas electric utility TXU announced it had agreed to be sold for $32 billion.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawyers in Fort Worth filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Chicago seeking restitution and civil fines against unknown defendants who bought options on TXU shares last week.

The SEC said the options allowed the defendants to buy shares ranging from $57.50 to $62.50. The shares jumped to $67.93 Monday, when TXU announced its sale.

Compiled from Seattle Times staff and Bloomberg News