Briefcase

King beverage to buy Seattle beer distributor

Spokane-based King Beverage Inc. plans to buy a beer wholesaler in the Seattle area in a transaction that will double the Spokane company’s size.

Both King Beverage and Renton, Wash.-based K&L Distributors employ about 215 people, according to attorney John Payne, who represents King Beverage, reported the Seattle Times.

Payne said King Beverage will take applications and interview K&L employees.

Dan Levine, owner of K&L, said the transaction will also roughly double King Beverage’s annual distribution to 11 million to 12 million cases, according to the Seattle Times.

King Beverage, previously called B&B Distributors, distributes Anheuser-Busch products such as Budweiser beer. It has been expanding for the last decade, news archives show, acquiring distributorships in Yakima and the Tri-Cities, Ellensburg, Walla Walla, Pullman, Clarkston and Lewiston.

Staff report

2 at auto dealer charged with evading sales tax

The owner of a Spokane car dealership and her son were charged Tuesday with felony theft and filing false tax statements to get out of paying about $180,000 worth of sales taxes for Alpine Auto Wholesale.

Linda L. Reed, 68, and Marc E. Reed, 44, were charged by the Financial Crimes Unit of the Washington state attorney general’s office at the request of the state Department of Revenue.

According to court records, the Reeds admitted that they had not paid the sales taxes but were “going to get caught up later.” They face up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $20,000, according to a news release.

Thomas Clouse

Netflix stock plummets to 20-month low

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix stock’s free fall accelerated Tuesday as the shares reached a 20-month low amid intensifying concerns about the video subscription service’s ability to overcome public relations problems and competitive pressures.

The latest in a wave of share sell-offs followed Netflix Inc.’s decision to raise $400 million from investors by issuing debt and selling 2.86 million shares of its slumping stock.

Associated Press

Trading suspension can’t stop Egypt market slide

CAIRO – Egypt’s benchmark index plunged on Tuesday, with a temporary suspension of trading failing to cool a frenzy of selling by investors panicked by escalating violence and protests in the capital that have thrust the nation into its worst political crisis since former President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

The EGX30 index closed 4.78 percent lower, or at 3,676 points, continuing its slide after trading was suspended for nearly an hour on the Egyptian Exchange.

The slide in the market Tuesday was the third consecutive day of declines, and reflected the worries about the country’s political future as thousands gathered in central Cairo protesting against the country’s military rulers.

Associated Press