Vote will decide Grow Group fateGrow Group Inc. said...

Vote will decide Grow Group fate

Grow Group Inc. said yesterday it will let shareholders decide whether they want the company to be acquired by Sherwin-Williams Co. or Imperial Chemical Industries PLC.

On May 8, Sherwin-Williams offered $320 million, or $19.50 a share, to buy the paint and chemicals company. Nine days earlier, Grow had said it entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by London-based ICI, the maker of Glidden paints, for $290 million, or $18.10 a share.

Shares of New York-based Grow rose 87.5 cents, to $21.

Criimi Mae income drops 30%

Rockville-based Criimi Mae yesterday reported tax basis income of nearly $9 million for the first three months of this year, a 30 percent decline from the same period a year ago. The real estate investment trust specializing in apartment mortgages attributed the decline to higher interest rates and lower net capital gains from the sale of its mortgages. On a net income basis, Criimi Mae reported earnings of $4.9 million, a roughly 50 percent drop from a year earlier. Its shares closed at $8 yesterday, down 37.5 cents.

Strigl will head phone venture

Bell Atlantic Corp. and Nynex Corp. said yesterday that Dennis F. Strigl, 49, who currently serves as chief executive and president of Bell Atlantic Mobile, has been named to head the two Bell companies' joint venture in wireless phone services.

Cynthia J. White, the 44-year-old chief operating officer and executive vice president of Nynex Mobile, will become chief operating officer of the joint venture. Nynex and Bell Atlantic combined their cellular telephone services last June to form a $1.2 billion nationwide company.

Gasoline prices at 3-year high

Gasoline surged to its highest price in almost three years yesterday as a spate of refinery problems in the United States keeps supplies low heading into the summer driving season.

Exxon Corp.'s unexpected shutdown Sunday of a gasoline-making unit at its Baytown, Texas, refinery capped a string of refinery problems during the past month, from fires at refineries in Ohio, Texas and New Jersey, to floods in Louisiana.

Unleaded gasoline for June delivery rose 1.4 cents to 66.30 cents a gallon.

Manekin to head local CB office

CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. yesterday named Richard P. Manekin to head the firm's Baltimore office, replacing Steven H. Gassaway. Mr. Gassaway last week was promoted to take over CB Commercial's office in North Carolina. Mr. Manekin, 49, whose titles will be senior vice president and managing officer, joined the Los Angeles-based firm in January after nearly 25 years with the Manekin Corp.