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3 area companies get venture funding

By wire services
Published October 25, 2005

Three Tampa Bay area companies were among 20 in the state and 714 nationwide to receive venture funding in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Tampa's Persystent Technology Corp. received the largest investment, $7-million; Lifestyle Family Fitness of St. Petersburg signed a deal for $5.5-million; and Acclaris LLC of Tampa got $1.25-million. Total private investing in Florida companies during the latest quarter was $158.7-million, or more than half the total amount of venture capital that came into the state in 2004. Nationwide, $5.3-billion was invested in the third quarter, reflecting a steadily improving venture market. Data on venture capital, known as the MoneyTree survey, is compiled quarterly by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.

Gasoline prices fall 25 cents in 2 weeks

Retail gas prices across the nation fell an average of 25 cents in the past two weeks as refineries in the Gulf Coast steadily resumed production, according to a survey released Sunday. The weighted average price for all three grades declined to $2.69 a gallon on Friday, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country. Self-serve regular averaged $2.66 a gallon nationwide, mid grade was $2.76 and premium was $2.86.

Media veteran named chairman of MGM

SBS Broadcasting founder Harry E. Sloan was named chairman and chief executive officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Sloan, 55, also has headed Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and New World Entertainment. Most recently, he was executive chairman of European media company SBS, which he founded in 1990. The sale of the company for about $2.6-billion was completed this month.

New Times Media to buy Village Voice

New Times Media, the nation's largest publisher of alternative weekly newspapers, is buying the owner of the Village Voice, creating a company with 17 weekly publications with a combined circulation of 1.8-million. The new company will keep the Village Voice name but will be run by the two top executives of New Times Media, a Phoenix-based company with 11 newspapers.

T-bill rates rise

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest levels since the spring of 2001. The Treasury Department auctioned $19-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.850 percent, up from 3.785 percent last week. An additional $17-billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 4.065 percent, up from 4.015 percent last week.

[Last modified October 25, 2005, 23:08:11]