Acquire

The city Board of Estimates postponed voting on a plan to acquire a building near Maryland General Hospital yesterday after owners of a deli there said their business would be ruined. The board was considering a measure to give the mayor and City Council authority to acquire property at 890 Linden Ave. so that Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard could be widened. Owners of Linden Deli, Yong An and his brother-in-law, Yong Kim, paid about $480,000 for the building and the business 11 years ago, their attorney, John C. Murphy, told the board.

Baltimore design firm Chambers, which specializes in the planning, architecture and interior design of private clubs, announced Friday that it has acquired a rival based in Texas. CCI Club Design will be changing its name to Chambers but will continue its Dallas operations, according to a statement from Chambers. Chambers will remain headquartered in Baltimore, the statement said, and no one will lose their job because of the acquisition. "Once friendly competitors, we're now combining the tremendous talents of both firms to enhance the services we provide to our clients within the private club industry," said Rick Snellinger, president and CEO of Chambers.

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees made an expected move to bolster their pitching yesterday, acquiring veteran left-hander Frank Tanana from the New York Mets.With a staff hampered by injuries and inexperience, general manager Gene Michael felt a sense of urgency to make a move. In exchange, the Mets received minor-league pitcher Kenny Greer, a right-hander who was 9-4 with a 4.42 ERA and six saves in 46 relief appearances for Triple-A Columbus.Tanana, who was 7-15 (4.48 ERA) with the Mets, will start tomorrow afternoon against Boston.

Baltimore-based technology company Barcoding Inc. said Wednesday it has acquired Lake Zurich, Ill.,-based Miles Technologies Inc. for an undisclosed amount in a move to increase its presence in the central United States. The Baltimore company sells bar-coding equipment and other devices. Miles, which has offices in St. Louis and the Chicago market, provides barcode and radio frequency identification equipment used to track products and locate individuals. The company, which has 14 employees, also develops software for warehouse tracking and management.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. said it will acquire control of Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. in a $141.5 million stock swap, expanding its reach in home entertainment programming.Blockbuster, the world's largest home-video retailer, will acquire 48.2 percent of the Los Angeles-based production and distribution company by issuing 7.6 million shares to Spelling's parent, American Financial Corp.The agreement, expected to close in several weeks, will make American Financial, a Cincinnati holding company controlled by investor Carl Lindner, the third-biggest shareholder in Blockbuster.

Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. announced on Sept. 2, 1948, that the state would acquire the beachfront property that would later become Sandy Point State Park. The vote to acquire the Chesapeake Bay parcel was considered so critical that the governor and comptroller held an emergency meeting of the Board of Public Works in Ocean City, with the state treasurer phoning in his vote from Baltimore. The scenic property, encompassing more than 500 acres, was offered to the state by the owner, William H. Labrot.

Provident Bankshares Corp., the Baltimore-based parent of Provident Bank, will acquire Harbor Federal Bancorp Inc. of Towson in a deal valued at roughly $32 million, the two banks announced yesterday. The acquisition will bring Provident new depositors in such key markets as Baltimore, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County, and fits in with the bank's expansion strategy. "I didn't expect it, but I'm not surprised -- they clearly want to get bigger," said Claus W. Hirsch, a banking analyst who follows Provident for Corinthian Partners, a New York City brokerage house.

Duratek Inc., a radioactive and hazardous waste management company based in Columbia, said yesterday that it has agreed to be acquired for nearly $400 million by a private Salt Lake City company in the same business. The acquirer, EnergySolutions, is a private company that was created this month from three entities involved in different aspects of the nuclear energy waste handling and disposal and technical services business. Duratek would help it continue to grow, the company said. A Duratek official said that the company provides complementary services, and its location near Washington decision-makers means that the employees and office are likely to be kept on as part of the new company.

Crestar Financial Corp. said yesterday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the deposits, customer accounts and select loans of 10 Mellon Bank branches in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties.The acquisition will initially bring to Crestar about $220 million in deposits and 17,400 customer households.Crestar did not disclose the purchase price.The move is the latest effort by Richmond, Va.-based Crestar to expand its Maryland operations. The $18.3 billion-asset banking company agreed Wednesday to acquire the Ryland Funding Group, the wholesale mortgage banking operation of Columbia-based Ryland Group Inc.'s mortgage subsidiary.

Plan to expand HCC hits snag Howard Community College suffered a setback, though perhaps a temporary one, when a divided Planning Board refused to endorse its plans to acquire and expand the historic Belmont mansion and conference center in Elkridge. Mary Ellen Duncan, the president of the college, said safeguards are adequate to protect the character of the sprawling estate and minimize the intrusion on neighborhood residents, but she acknowledged that the issue has become acrimonious and added, "This is not a battle that we'll fight to the death."

Catcher Chris Snyder, whom the Orioles acquired Sunday from the Los Angeles Angels in a deal for minor league right-hander Rob Delaney, was at Safeco Field on Monday, but he has not been activated. The Orioles wanted to give Snyder a day to get acclimated, but they also are waiting on more information about injured reserve catcher Taylor Teagarden (dislocated left thumb), who will see a hand specialist on Tuesday. The initial prognosis for Teagarden's return is three to four weeks, but if it ends up being two months, the club could move Teagarden from the 15-day to 60-day DL. That way they would not have to make a corresponding move to add Snyder to the 40-man roster.

The Orioles have attempted to bolster their lack of catching depth by sending minor league right-hander Rob Delaney to the Los Angeles Angels organization for veteran catcher Chris Snyder. Snyder, 32, will meet the team in Seattle on Tuesday and presumably will take over the back-up catching void created when Taylor Teagarden dislocated his left thumb Saturday. The Orioles recalled Luis Exposito for Sunday's game - he did not play -- but now it is likely he will lose his place on the big league roster Tuesday with the pending arrival of Snyder, a veteran of parts of nine major league seasons.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s shopping spree continued Thursday with the announcement of a $373.3 million deal that extends its television reach to a third of U.S. viewing households. Sinclair will gain 20 additional stations in eight markets by acquiring Seattle-based Fisher Communications Inc. The purchase extends Sinclair's push into new areas, giving the Hunt Valley television station owner access to key markets such as Seattle and Portland, Sinclair CEO David Smith said.

Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore Inc. announced Thursday that it had agreed to acquire Advance Bank, another Baltimore-based institution. A sale price hasn't been determined and will be based on which Advance assets regulators say MECU can acquire, said Dorothea Stierhoff, senior public relations manager with MECU. MECU, a state-chartered credit union, and Advance Bank, a mutual savings bank, are each owned by their depositors. MECU has about $1.2 billion in assets and nine locations.

Howard Bank has agreed to buy Cecil Bank's branch at 3 W. Bel Air Ave. in Aberdeen, the institutions announced Monday. Under the deal, Howard Bank, based in Ellicott City, will acquire at least $38 million in loans and $37.9 million in deposits from Cecil Bank. That's about 10 percent of Cecil Bank's deposits. "It was a fit for both of us," said Mary Halsey, Cecil's CEO. "They were looking to expand; we were looking to head back into Cecil County, where are roots are. " Howard Bank's CEO, Mary Ann Scully, said in a statement that the bank had been growing beyond its Howard County roots, and the branch acquisition will mark its entry into Harford County.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles have acquired right-handed reliever Scott Proctor from the Giants for cash considerations and will assign him to Triple-A Norfolk. The 36-year-old Proctor is 18-16 with a 4.78 ERA in seven major league seasons. He recorded back-to-back seasons of sub 3.70 ERAs while pitching with the Yankees and Dodgers in 2006 and 2007. The Orioles first scouted Proctor last season when he pitched in South Korea for the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization, where he went 4-4 with a 1.79 ERA and 35 saves in 57 games.

The Board of Public Works approved a controversial proposal yesterday to provide about $600,000 in state and federal funds to acquire a Frostburg rail depot, which houses a failed restaurant owned by a friend of House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr.The three-member board also gave the state Department of General Services the green light to go to court to seek condemnation of the 2,229-acre Chapman's Landing tract in Charles County to preserve it from a...

The New England Patriots must feel certain Tom Brady's injured knee will be fine next season. After putting the franchise tag on Matt Cassel as insurance for their two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, the Patriots shipped Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday. The Chiefs gave up the 34th pick in the April draft for both players. The Chiefs have the third overall selection after a franchise-worst 2-14 season. In yielding their second-round draft choice, they acquire a reliable 12-year veteran linebacker and a proven young quarterback.

The belly laugh of the past week came from Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden's comment, "You can get a gun quicker than an apple or an orange in my community" ("Senate OKs bill to curb firearms," March 1). He should have added "if you are one of our neighborhood criminals who steal their guns or buy or borrow them from other criminals. " What hyperbole and an outright lie. From my own experience, buying a pistol in Maryland legally is not easy and requires jumping through many hoops. Criminals don't use shotguns or long rifles except in the movies.