$50.9M NYC foreclosure hits Nigerian
The owner of a $50.9 million Manhattan condo that is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction next month is Kolawole "Kola" Aluko, a Nigerian businessman accused in court filings of defrauding that country's government.
Nigerian officials have attempted to freeze Aluko's assets, including a full-floor penthouse at Midtown's One57 skyscraper, as part of a wider investigation. Aluko and others are accused of pocketing $1.8 billion meant for government coffers and spending it on luxury goods around the globe, court filings in that country show.
Foreclosure proceedings were started in January on Aluko's apartment on the 79th story of One57, which would be the costliest ever residential seizure in New York City. The 6,240-square-foot condo was bought in 2014 by a shell company listed in New York City public records as One57 79 Inc., whose sole shareholder is Earnshaw Associates Ltd. Earnshaw was set up by Aluko in the British Virgin Islands, according to the Panama Papers, a trove of documents leaked in 2016 to expose offshore tax evasion, which cite him as a shareholder and beneficiary.
-- Bloomberg News
Blue Apron pares IPO share-price range
NEW YORK -- Blue Apron, the meal-kit delivery company, has lowered the expected sales price of its shares by as much as 40 percent, a sign that the company may be having trouble attracting investors.
The price chop Wednesday comes as competition to deliver groceries heats up. E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. is expected to shake up the industry after announcing plans to buy organic grocer Whole Foods earlier this month.
Blue Apron now expects its initial public offering to be between $10 and $11 per share, down from its forecast a week ago between $15 and $17.
The New York company and its many competitors, including HelloFresh and Plated, ship boxes to customer's doorsteps with all the raw ingredients needed to make home-cooked meals. Blue Apron says it has 1 million customers.
-- The Associated Press
Three Mile Island gives closing notice
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The owners of the Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant have formally notified regulators and a regional power grid operator of their previously announced intentions to close the plant.
Exelon Corp. sent a letter June 20 to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission saying the plant would be shut down around Sept. 30, 2019, because of "severe economic challenges."
Exelon criticized electrical grid operator PJM Interconnection in a May 30 letter to the company saying PJM has not adapted to changes in the energy market. It said market rules don't value the "clean, resilient" electricity provided by the plant.
The plant was the site of the United States' worst commercial nuclear power accident, a 1979 partial core meltdown of one reactor. The other reactor is still in use.
-- The Associated Press
Pending U.S. home sales decline in May
WASHINGTON -- Americans signed fewer contracts to buy homes in May, the third-straight monthly decline and evidence that a shortage of homes for sale has suppressed home buying.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its pending home sales index fell 0.8 percent in May to 108.5. That's down from 109.4 in April and 111.3 in March. The index has slipped 1.7 percent over the past 12 months.
Would-be buyers are facing higher prices and fewer options. Sales listings have plunged 8.4 percent over the past 12 months to 1.96 million. The median sales price in May rose 5.8 percent from a year ago to $252,800.
Pending sales contracts are a barometer of future purchases. A sale is typically completed a month or two after a contract is signed.
The measure of signed contracts in May fell in the Northeast, South and West. It remained unchanged in the Midwest.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 06/29/2017