Merger

Hannah Cho's recent article ("O'Malley praises Exelon-CEG deal," Dec. 16) reported on a far superior merger agreement between Exelon Corp. and Constellation Energy Group than previous arrangements. Between 1999 and 2009, electricity prices across Maryland doubled, hurting businesses and families across the state. And although prices have fallen in the last two years, it is clear that we not only need the $100 credit that the Exelon-CEG merger will provide, but also a permanent rate relief solution.

Legg Mason Inc. has lost two key employees of its Legg Mason Capital Management, including portfolio manager Mary Chris Gay. Gay, manager of an overseas version of the subsidiary's well-known Value Trust fund, and Randy Befumo, head of research at Legg Mason Capital Management, left May 15 and are "pursuing other opportunities," said spokeswoman Mary Athridge. Sam Peters, manager of the Value Trust fund in the United States, last week replaced Gay as manager of the Value Fund that is modeled after the Value Trust.

Thanks to competition between AirTran and Southwest Airlines, you can choose from more than a dozen daily flights from Baltimore to Orlando, Fla. A little more than $200 — less if you catch a sale — gets you to Disney World and back. The market works — but only as long as regulators set rules to keep it strong. And if the government doesn't do just that by intervening in Southwest's proposed acquisition of AirTran, watch fares from Baltimore to Orlando and many other places take off like a Boeing 737. "Travelers in Baltimore could potentially really feel the loss of competition there," says Diana Moss, a vice president at the American Antitrust Institute in Washington who closely follows airlines.

While the University of Maryland won't be able to reap most of the rewards of joining the Big Ten athletic conference until the move becomes official in July 2014, it will start benefiting from its academic counterpart — the Committee on Institutional Cooperation — this year. Officials from the university and the CIC met this week in College Park to start hammering out the details in preparation for this July, when Maryland and Rutgers University are set to join the 13-member cooperative, which includes the 12 Big Ten schools plus the University of Chicago.

At a glance General Growth Properties •Owns or manages more than 200 regional malls in 43 states •Owns planned community developments and commercial office buildings •Portfolio totals about 200 million square feet of retail space with more than 24,000 stores nationwide. •Headquartered in Chicago •Tuesday closing stock price $12.02 per share, up nearly 28 percent, on over-the-counter Pink OTC Markets Inc. Simon Property Group •Largest public real estate company in the U.S. •Owns or has an interest in 382 properties including regional malls, outlet centers, The Mills centers, community/lifestyle centers and international properties •Owns or has interest in 261 million square feet of space.

The state's consumer advocate on utility matters continues to push for additional concessions to make the Constellation-Exelon merger more palatable to consumers. The Maryland Office of People's Counsel said in a brief filed Monday that the two energy giants have not demonstrated that the proposed $7.9 billion merger is in the public's interest and would not harm customers of Baltimore Gas and Electric, Constellation's regulated utility. The People's Counsel also said the companies' settlement with Gov. Martin O'Malley and the state did not allay its concerns.

The Illinois Attorney General's Office has renewed its request to federal energy regulators for a hearing on Constellation Energy Group's plan to sell itself to Chicago-based Exelon Corp. In a brief filed Tuesday, Attorney General Lisa Madigan said the $7.9 billion deal would raise rates for customers of Exelon's ComEd utility, citing testimony by the company's executives during regulatory hearings before the Maryland Public Service Commission. The Illinois attorney general's office is among several groups that have objected to the deal on the grounds that the combined company would have two much control of electricity prices on the grid that serves much of the mid-Atlantic region.

Marylanders may comment on the merger between Constellation Energy Group and Chicago-based Exelon Corp. at hearings scheduled in Bel Air, Baltimore and Annapolis. The Maryland Public Service Commission will entertain public comment at hearings in the Rotunda of Town Hall of Bel Air on Nov. 29, the Wohlman Assembly Hall of the War Memorial Building in Baltimore on Dec. 1 and the Joint Committee Hearing Room of the Department of Legislative Services Building in Annapolis on Dec. 5. All the hearings are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Residents may also send written comments to the commissioners by Dec. 9. Signed comments should be addressed to David J. Collins, Executive Secretary, Maryland Public Service Commission, William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 St. Paul St., 16th Floor, Baltimore 21202.

Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association officials have opted not to pursue a merger with the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference that would have created an exceptionally strong football conference including the top private and parochial school programs in the Baltimore-Washington area. Rick Diggs, executive director of the MIAA, said Thursday morning that the decision was made during the annual MIAA athletic directors' three-day workshop. "We just decided at our meeting yesterday that we're not going to pursue the merger any longer," Diggs said.

An uneducated consumer is a utility company's greatest asset. Given that, Maryland customers of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. should pay very close attention to a series of obscure hearings that quietly kicked off yesterday in Baltimore. And - so that consumers can get fully educated - the schedule for these hearings ought to proceed at a much slower pace than planned right now. The hearings - before the state Public Service Commission - will probe plans of BGE's parent company, Constellation Energy, to merge with the Florida Power and Light Group.

Jefferson Bancorp Inc., parent of Lutherville-based Bay Bank, said Monday it had completed its acquisition of Carrollton Bancorp, the holding company of Columbia-based Carrollton Bank. The $25 million stock-cash deal included the repayment of $9.1 million from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a federal program created more than four years ago to support banks during the financial crisis. The combined bank operations have total assets of about $480 million and a dozen branches. Under the merged operations, Carrollton's former 10 branches - from Anne Arundel County to Harford County - now bear the name of Bay Bank.

Valorie Cooley was "in a really bad place" a year ago, with a broken furnace and past-due heating bills she couldn't pay. Now her Baltimore home has a new furnace and a raft of energy-efficient improvements - including insulation in the attic and caulking around the windows - that pulled her Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. bill down to a level she can afford. All coordinated by city government. That's one example of how Baltimore agencies have attacked energy costs in recent years - their own as well as residents' and businesses'.

It's the billion-dollar question for Maryland banks: Do they need at least that much in assets to survive? "Who knows what the magic number is? A billion, $1.5 billion, $750 million?" said Ronald Paul, chairman of Eagle Bancorp, parent of the second-largest Maryland-based bank, with $2.96 billion in assets. "I can tell you it is getting harder and harder for the smaller bank. " Banks of all sizes are feeling more pressure. Profits are squeezed by historically low interest rates meant to spur borrowing, yet loan demand still remains soft.

Exelon Corp. will pay $692,000 - including $151,000 to Maryland regulators - to settle alleged violations of a Justice Department agreement that had allowed the company to acquire Baltimore's Constellation Energy Group. The Justice Department said Thursday that Exelon - to not raise market prices for electricity - was required to make electricity-sale bids at or below cost from 22 of its generating plants while waiting to sell three plants in Maryland after the merger. Instead, some of its bids were above cost, the agency said.

The man tapped Thursday as the CEO of the soon-to-be created University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center is known for his work in oncology, but for the last few years has been working toward a career on the administrative side of the hospital business. Radiation oncologist Dr. Mohan Suntha will take over as president and CEO of the Towson hospital Dec. 1, when the University of Maryland Medical System is expected to complete its acquisition of St. Joseph Medical Center from Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives.

The $113.5 million that Exelon Corp. agreed to make available for innovative projects — a condition of regulatory approval for its purchase of Constellation Energy in Baltimore — was awarded Thursday to groups planning to help low-income customers, small businesses and others lower their energy bills. Exelon's Maryland regulator, the Public Service Commission, decided how to distribute the money after receiving 98 proposals. Baltimore will receive the largest single piece of the fund — nearly $53 million will go to the city government for projects to permanently lower energy bills through energy efficiency work such as weatherization, upgrades and lower-usage education.

Plans for merging Baltimore's public institutions of higher education have a way of rising, phoenix-like, from the ashes of their predecessors. The idea keeps getting shot down because schools have powerful constituencies that don't want to see their alma mater's identity diluted, and because school administrators have a powerful incentive to protect their turf. It keeps floating back up because the current chaotic situation cries out for a more rational allocation of scarce state resources.

Exelon Corp. and Constellation Energy Group have reached an agreement with Electricite de France, a large Constellation shareholder, for the French utility to withdraw its opposition to a proposed merger between the companies. The terms of the agreement address Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, a joint venture between Constellation and EDF that owns and operates three nuclear facilities with generating units in Maryland and New York. No payment was made by either party associated with the agreement, which reaffirms the terms of the joint venture.

Two small thrifts founded many decades ago to cater to Baltimore's immigrant population could merge as early as the end of November following approval Monday by a federal regulator. Kopernik Federal Bank in Fells Point and Hull Federal Savings Bank in Locust Point each have one office, and both will remain open and operate under the Kopernik name after the merger. The marriage of these two institutions — opened a combined 189 years — is just another sign of the difficulties of small financial institutions, banking analysts said.