Briefcase

Dix Corp. awarded crane contract at dam

Dix Corp. of Spokane has been awarded an $11 million contract to update six cranes at Grand Coulee Dam.

The work for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the dam’s operator, will include modifications to two gantry cranes on top of the dam.

In the third powerhouse, which was completed in 1974, Dix will remove operator controls and associated electrical equipment and wiring on three bridge cranes and one gantry crane.

At least one, used to lift components of the powerhouse’s huge turbines, was made by R.A. Hanson Co. of Spokane.

The company will also design and install new control systems.

“Upgrading this heavy-lifting equipment is essential for the safe and continuous operation of this major facility,” Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor said.

Work is expected to start in April and conclude in November 2012.

Bert Caldwell

$2.7 billion recouped in Ally Financial sale

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department said Wednesday it has sold trust preferred securities the government held in Ally Financial for $2.7 billion, the latest step in its efforts to recoup the costs of the $700 billion financial bailout.

The department also hopes to get back more taxpayer money through an initial public offering of the former General Motors finance arm.

The government owns most of the company through its holdings of $5.9 billion of preferred stock and 74 percent of the company’s common stock. The public stock offering is expected to occur in the second half of this year.

Ally Financial received $17.2 billion in government support during the financial crisis. It has not paid back any of that support, although it has made $2.19 billion in dividend and interest payments.

The sale of the $2.7 billion in trust-preferred securities is scheduled to close Monday. A trust-preferred security is an investment that has characteristics of both a stock and a bond.

Associated Press

MetLife stock sale to cut AIG’s bill

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department said Wednesday that a sale of MetLife Inc. stock by American International Group Inc. brought in $6.3 billion, which will go toward repaying a portion of the taxpayer bailout of the insurance company.

Treasury said that the $6.3 billion in gross proceeds from the sale would be used to redeem part of Treasury’s $18.2 billion investment in preferred equity shares in AIG.

AIG offered 146.8 million shares of its holdings in MetLife for sale and the stock sold at $43.25 a share.

Associated Press