GNC exec gets pay boost
Pittsburgh vitamin retailer GNC Corp. has signed Chairman Robert J. DiNicola to a new three-year employment contract, raising his base salary to $750,000 from $535,000. In addition to potential performance bonuses, Mr. DiNicola continues to be eligible for a $1 million cash bonus if the company completes an initial public offering or is sold in a deal that gives private investment group Apollo Management a 25 percent return on its investment in GNC.

Nova restarts Ontario plant
Nova Chemicals Corp. said yesterday that on Thursday it resumed ethylene production at a plant in Corunna, Ontario, after a three-month shutdown caused in part by equipment problems. Nova, which has its headquarters in Moon, closed the Corunna plant in September. The company said on Dec. 1 that the shutdown would reduce fourth-quarter net income by $60 million to $70 million. Nova shares closed up 81 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $34.49.

Jobless benefits going up
As of Jan. 1, the maximum weekly unemployment benefit for laid-off workers rises to $497 from $478 in 2005, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. The maximum weekly benefit for workers injured on the job after Jan. 1 will increase to $745 from $716 in 2005. At the same time, the 2.3 percent reduction in unemployment compensation, mandated by the Legislature to keep the UC Trust Fund solvent, will trim the maximum weekly unemployment benefit to $485 from $497.

Arcelor raises bid for Dofasco
Steel producer Arcelor SA yesterday raised its hostile bid to acquire Dofasco Inc. to about $4.2 billion, sweetening the offer in an attempt to outbid Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG for Canada's biggest steelmaker. Arcelor offered $54.10 per share in an all-cash offer, better than the $52.80 bid by ThyssenKrupp last month and up from its own earlier offer of $48.40. ThyssenKrupp said it would examine the new offer on the table and decide on how to proceed. A spokesman declined to say whether the company would make a counterbid.

Albertson's goes off the block
Shares of Albertson's Inc. plunged yesterday after the supermarket chain said it was no longer considering a sale of the entire company. CVS Corp., a Rhode Island-based company that has more than 5,400 retail and specialty pharmacy stores nationwide, and other potential suitors reportedly withdrew from talks on Thursday. Albertson's stock fell $2.74, or 12 percent, to close at $20.54 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Also in business ...
Mylan Laboratories said it received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Zonisamide, the generic version of Dainippon Pharmaceutical's Zonegran capsules. The drug is used to control seizures ... Monroeville developer Sampson Morris Group purchased a 225,000-square-foot warehouse in Sharpsburg from International Paper Co. for $3,540,000 ... United Airlines submitted a bid to buy an unspecified chunk of the assets of FLYi Inc., a former United regional carrier whose attempt to reinvent itself as discount airline Independence Air ended in failure last month. United asked a judge to authorize it to purchase FLYi assets at an auction that could occur as early as Jan. 3 ... Four months after it put itself up for sale, clothing company Tommy Hilfiger Corp. agreed to accept a $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, cash bid from Apax Partners, a private investment company.