Joint Venture

Radnor energy company Penn Virginia Resource Partners L.P. on Monday announced $380 million in new pipelines serving Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers, continuing its expansion in Pennsylvania's booming shale-gas region. PVR, which has rapidly transformed itself from a coal company to a natural-gas pipeline company, said it has entered into long-term agreements to extend its Lycoming County system to collect and process gas from the wells of four gas drillers, including some of the biggest producers in northern Pennsylvania.

Commercial real estate operator Brandywine Realty Trust, Radnor, said it formed a joint venture with Current Creek Investments L.L.C. to invest in properties in the Washington area. Brandywine is contributing three office properties valued at $156 million to the venture. Both partners also have allocated $75 million in equity "to pursue additional office property investments" in the Washington region, Brandywine said in a statement. Current Creek is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allstate Insurance Co.    - Reid Kanaley

Yeadon hopes to enter into a joint venture with Darby Borough for trash pickup and recycling. Last month, Yeadon received a bid from Nu-Way Trash Removal Corp. of Primos, a local subidiary of Waste Management Inc., for the collection of refuse and recyclable items in both boroughs. "We will get a better price because two boroughs are in it together," borough manager Daniel Fox said during a Yeadon Council meeting Thursday. The recycling pickups would begin April 1. The two boroughs' combined cost for the nine-month contract would be $129,500.

Sunoco Inc. may have found the rescuer for its sprawling South Philadelphia refinery. The Philadelphia company announced Monday that it has entered into exclusive talks with the Carlyle Group, a large private-equity manager with legendary political connections, to run the plant as a joint venture. The refinery, the largest on the East Coast, is Sunoco's last operating fuel-manufacturing plant. Sunoco, which has promised to shut down the 335,000-barrel-per-day refinery this summer if it is unable to find a buyer, would contribute the refinery assets in exchange for a nonoperating minority interest in the joint venture.

United States Health Care Systems Inc., which Thursday reported record earnings, yesterday said that it would create a health maintenance organization in a joint venture with Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The company, based in Blue Bell, said that the two organizations had agreed in principle to form a new HMO that will serve northeastern Pennsylvania, an area now dominated by Blue Cross. The insurance plan has about 650,000 members, including about 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries, in the area.

The Binswanger real estate group is teaming up with a Mexican firm that helped pioneer the maquiladoras industrial parks to help U.S., European and Japanese businesses set up shop in Mexico and Central America. The joint venture between the Philadelphia commercial real estate firm and Grupo Bermudez, of Juarez, Mexico, will provide a full range of real estate services to foreign companies from the Rio Grande south into Colombia and Venezuela. "As the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

HIDDEN CREEK Glassboro, Gloucester County (609) 881-0777 There is something warm and affiliated about Hidden Creek in Glassboro. Most of the houses are twins, sharing one nicely insulated wall, and the whole 268-unit project is being produced by a joint venture. While New Jersey and Texas may not normally be considered to have a lot in common, one obvious exception is that developers in both states like to build houses that sell well. So Johnston Development of San Antonio, Texas, shook hands with Polamar of Allentown, N.J., and, with the permission of Glassboro planners, turned 105 acres on Mullica Hill Road into Hidden Creek.

Sunoco Inc., which has promised to shut down its Philadelphia refinery this summer if it is unable to find a buyer, announced Monday that it has entered into exclusive talks with The Carlyle Group, a private-equity manager, about operating the plant as a joint venture. If a deal were to be consummated, Sunoco would contribute the refinery assets in exchange for a nonoperating minority interest in the joint venture. The Philadelphia company, which has expressed a desire to exit the refining business completely, would have no ongoing capital obligations for the refinery.

Pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. has formed a joint venture headquartered in Amsterdam to manage health care with a goal of lowering costs for chronically ill patients in Europe. Medco Celesio B.V., the joint venture with German pharmacy company Celesio AG, received regulatory approval earlier this month and will open operations there. The intent is to have the joint venture eventually operating throughout Europe, as well as in Switzerland and Norway. The venture's goal is to coordinate filling of patient prescriptions with pharmacies' patient consulting and in-home nursing care, an effort to battle an aging population that does not always follow up on dosing and other medical instructions, the companies said.

Teleflex Inc., of Plymouth Meeting, yesterday announced a joint venture with GE Aircraft Engines to repair commercial aircraft components. The companies expect the partnership to bring in sales of $50 million next year - or about a quarter of the global market for the repair of engine-fan blades and compressor airfoils. Sermatech International, a subsidiary of Teleflex, will own 51 percent of the joint venture. The new company, Airfoil Technologies International LLC, is expected to begin operations by the end of this year.

Sunoco Inc. may have found the rescuer for its sprawling South Philadelphia refinery. The Philadelphia company announced Monday that it has entered into exclusive talks with the Carlyle Group, a large private-equity manager with legendary political connections, to run the plant as a joint venture. The refinery, the largest on the East Coast, is Sunoco's last operating fuel-manufacturing plant. Sunoco, which has promised to shut down the 335,000-barrel-per-day refinery this summer if it is unable to find a buyer, would contribute the refinery assets in exchange for a nonoperating minority interest in the joint venture.

Sunoco Inc., which has promised to shut down its Philadelphia refinery this summer if it is unable to find a buyer, announced Monday that it has entered into exclusive talks with The Carlyle Group, a private-equity manager, about operating the plant as a joint venture. If a deal were to be consummated, Sunoco would contribute the refinery assets in exchange for a nonoperating minority interest in the joint venture. The Philadelphia company, which has expressed a desire to exit the refining business completely, would have no ongoing capital obligations for the refinery.

In the Region GlaxoSmith cancer drug approved A panel of cancer experts overwhelmingly backed the approval of a GlaxoSmithKline drug for a rare type of tumor, noting there are few other treatment options for patients. The Food and Drug Administration panel voted 11-2 that the benefits of the pill Votrient outweigh its side effects, even when considering that it did not significantly prolong life for patients with soft tissue sarcomas. The vote in favor of GlaxoSmith, which has significant operations in the area, is not binding, but the agency usually follows its recommendations.

NEW YORK - After a customer backlash, Verizon Wireless on Friday dropped a plan to start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit or debit cards. In a statement on its website Friday, the company said "customer feedback" prompted the decision to drop the "convenience fee" it wanted to introduce on Jan. 15. The FCC had already announced that it would be looking into the proposed fee. "On behalf of American consumers, we're concerned about Verizon's actions and are looking into the matter," an FCC official said in an e-mailed statement only minutes before news broke of the plan to abandon the proposed fee. Verizon wanted to steer people to electronic check payments, which are cheaper, and automatic credit card payments, which are more reliable.

Commercial real estate operator Brandywine Realty Trust, Radnor, said it formed a joint venture with Current Creek Investments L.L.C. to invest in properties in the Washington area. Brandywine is contributing three office properties valued at $156 million to the venture. Both partners also have allocated $75 million in equity "to pursue additional office property investments" in the Washington region, Brandywine said in a statement. Current Creek is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allstate Insurance Co.    - Reid Kanaley

Attracted by the affluence of the country's growing middle class, Cigna Corp. announced that it would team up with an Indian conglomerate to sell health insurance in India. Cigna's partner in the joint venture is the sprawling TTK Group - known in India for selling items as diverse as condoms, lipstick, and pressure cookers. "For health insurance, for private insurance, India is very underpenetrated, only 4 percent," said Michael Ross, senior vice president for marketing at Cigna International.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which is headquartered in Israel but has operations in North Wales, said it has joined consumer products giant Proctor & Gamble in a joint venture called PGT Healthcare. Based in Geneva, the new firm will operate in "essentially all markets outside of North America," and develop new over-the-counter brands for North America. Meanwhile, Teva said Wednesday that it might introduce an unnamed "important undisclosed generic product," later this year.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). External things have never defined you. Some say what's inside defines you, but that doesn't quite fit now, either. You're much bigger than your thoughts and feelings. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Organizing yourself well is a talent. You'll leave the house knowing that you are prepared for every important occurrence. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You will do something nice just because it feels good to do it. You probably won't give a thought as to what this will do for your karma, so the major karmic boost that results will be an unexpected bonus.

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., owner of two casino hotels in Atlantic City, is about to enter a partnership with another firm to offer online gambling. Trump Entertainment has "determined that such a joint venture represents the most advantageous way for the company to participate in opportunities in online gaming at minimal cost to the company," according to an Oct. 14 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump Entertainment would own 10 percent of the new venture.