Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc., an Olney-based financial institution, has announced the completion of its acquisition of Fairfax Va.,-based Potomac Bank of Virginia.
Potomac Bank will become a new division of Sandy Spring Bank that will keep the Potomac Name. G. Lawrence Warren, president of Potomac Bank will retain the same position after the merger, stated a release.
Shareholders of Potomac were given the option of receiving either $21.75 in cash per share or .6143 of a share of Sandy Spring.
“This acquisition provides us with a solid platform for growth in the attractive Northern Virginia market,” Hunter R. Hollar, president and chief executive officer of Sandy Spring Bancorp said in a release. “The Potomac Division adds an experienced commercial banking group, 5 retail offices … and a good group of people who have operated in a culture similar to ours.”
Local universities earn NASA grants
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded several grants to local institutions.
Grants were given out as part of NASA?s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, part of the Fundamental Aeronautics Program, a release stated.
The University of Maryland at College Park received $310,001 for work on high speed single and coaxial rotors, $250,390 for research about acoustic design tool development and $178,527 for an optics based method regarding helicopter guidance.
Universities Space Research Association in Columbia was presented with $128,000 for work in electron microscopy.
Lastly, the United States Naval Academy was awarded $93,000 for research in pulsed jets flying in low-pressure turbine conditions.
The purpose of the Fundamental Aeronautics Program is to foster the development and expansion of aeronautics and its knowledge base across America.
Investment firm to buyback shares
T.Rowe Price?s board of directors has approved a 15-million share increase in the company?s effort to repurchase common shares. The authorization brought the Baltimore-based company?s total buyback authorization to 18.8 million shares, a brief stated.
In a separate move, T.Rowe Price upped its stake in XM Satellite Radio to 26.3 million shares, with about 8.6 percent of shares outstanding, a common stock ownership report filed with the SEC confirmed.
As of Friday, shares of T.Rowe Price were trading at $49.49, down 24 cents, or .48 percent.
WRIT posts 4th quarter, year-end results
Rockville-based Washington Real Estate Investment Trust saw a decrease in yearly net income, due to a $37 million gain on property disposal and higher fees associated with owning more properties.
The company earned $38.7 million in net income for 2006, or 88 cents per share, as compared to $77.6 million, or $1.84 per diluted share in 2005.
In 2006 WRIT bought 14 properties for a total of $303 million and raised over $350 million of capital, a brief stated.
As of Friday, shares of WRIT were trading at $42.18, down 92 cents, or 2.13 percent.
COPT reports 2006 activities
Share holders of Corporate Office Properties Trust, a Columbia-based real estate investment trust, earned a total return of 46 percent for 2006, the sixth highest among all publicly trade office REITs.
Yearly earnings per share increased 9.5 percent, diluted to 69 cents, from 63 cents per share in 2005.
But fourth quarter EPS were 8 cents, as compared with 16 cents for the previous year?s quarter, a release indicated.
During the year, COPT placed 793,000 square feet of development projects into service, leasing 94.6 percent of them by the end of the year.
The trust acquired 500 of the 591 acres at Fort Ritchie, the former U.S. Army base, for $5 million. The rest of the site will be acquired this year, and can support 1.7 million square feet of office development and 673 residential units.
As of Friday, shares of COPT were trading at $54.50, down 61 cents, or 1.11 percent.
