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Branson ready for life after virgin venture

By Times Wires
Published September 18, 2007

Richard Branson, the brash British billionaire, is selling his interest in Virgin Megastores to concentrate his corporate energies on transportation and renewable energy. Branson sold the 125 Virgin music and video stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland to a management group that will rename them Zavvi Entertainment. A prelude to Branson's move came last month when he sold the 11 megastores in the United States, including one at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista to Related Companies, a New York real estate company. Prices were not disclosed. Branson launched his first music store in 1971 when he was 16, but in recent years big changes emanating from the Internet triggered big losses at the megastores.

NEW ORLEANS

State Farm settles 103 Katrina cases

State Farm Insurance Cos. has settled with 103 policyholders in Mississippi who challenged the company's refusal to cover damage to their homes from Hurricane Katrina, a lawyer for the homeowners said Monday. Terms of the settlement are confidential, said attorney Chip Merlin, whose law firm represents all 103 policyholders. The deal proves that "small individuals can stand up to large insurance companies and still have a resolution that's acceptable to them," Merlin said. State Farm was Mississippi's largest homeowner insurer when Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005, damaging or destroying tens of thousands of homes in the state. Thousands of property owners have sued State Farm and other insurers for refusing to cover storm damage. The companies, which say their policies cover damage from wind but not rising water, have settled hundreds of the cases over the past two years. State Farm still faces 1,949 lawsuits over Katrina damage, spokesman Fraser Engerman said.

WASHINGTON

T-bill rates rise

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest levels in two weeks. The Treasury Department auctioned $18-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.050 percent, up from 3.800 percent last week. Another $13-billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 4.130 percent, up from 4.020 percent last week.

[Last modified September 18, 2007, 01:09:38]