A Washington County developer formally took control of the State Office Building, Downtown, Monday, closing on the purchase of the 16-story structure with plans to redevelop it. River Vue Associates LP, an affiliate of Millcraft Industries, paid $4.61 million for the 52-year-old building perched at the entrance to the Golden Triangle. Lucas Piatt, Millcraft executive vice president, would not divulge the company's plans for the building, which has been vacated by the state. In the past, Mr. Piatt has said the building would be redeveloped for "mixed adaptive reuse," perhaps for condos, apartments or hotel rooms, along with retail space. He also has said some office space could remain. Mr. Piatt said Millcraft hoped to start the renovation by late spring and have in completed sometime in 2011.

Two Strip District businesses, grocery delivery service Good Apples and natural foods grocer Right By Nature, have merged to create a 60-employee company based in the grocer's space at 23rd and Smallman streets. The Good Apples service eventually will switch to the Right By Nature name. Good Apples specializes in serving companies whose employees order produce and other grocery products for delivery to their workplace. Good Apples serves 300 companies in the Pittsburgh-to-Harrisburg region and fills about 8,000 orders a month, according to a company official. The merger is meant to allow the delivery service to expand its deli items, prepared foods and meats, while the grocer can increase midweek demand for its products.

American International Group Inc. agreed to sell an Asian life insurance unit with 20 million customers to Prudential Plc for $35.5 billion in the company's biggest divestiture since it was bailed out by the U.S. government. Prudential, Britain's biggest insurer, will pay $25 billion in cash and $10.5 billion in stock and other securities for AIA Group Ltd. Prudential's purchase is CEO Tidjane Thiam's first since he took over five months ago, and is the biggest announced by any company worldwide this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. "A sale to Prudential enables AIG to realize value on a faster track to repay U.S. taxpayers," AIG CEO Robert Benmosche said in a statement. AIG still owes nearly $130 billion in government bailout funds.

PNC Financial Services Group is handing out bonuses to the majority of its 56,000 employees this month under its Chairman's Award program. Full-time employees making less than $100,000 who were with PNC on or before Dec. 1, 2009, are to receive $1,000. Part-timers are to get $500. "Virtually all businesses and markets have met or exceeded their sales and customer satisfaction goals," CEO Jim Rohr noted in an online video message announcing the bonuses to employees last week, which will total about $40 million. PNC last made Chairman's Award payouts in December 2006.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Monday it has rejected demands by shareholders to investigate the Wall Street bank's compensation practices. Shareholder lawsuits filed recently in New York and Delaware charge that Goldman's compensation levels in 2009 were too high, Goldman said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The lawsuits seek to recover some of the pay and force the bank to adopt pay reforms. In its filing, Goldman said it was cooperating with inquiries from government agencies and regulators about its pay practices but wouldn't grant shareholders' demand for an internal probe or wider pay reforms.

Dish Network Corp. lifted fourth-quarter revenue by attracting budget-conscious customers with aggressive promotions. The nation's second-largest satellite TV operator added 249,000 net subscribers during the quarter but reported a 17.5 percent drop in net income. Dish said Monday that it earned $179 million, or 40 cents per share, in the quarter compared with $217 million, or 48 cents per share, in the prior year's quarter. The results exceeded the 32 cents per share in earnings that analysts had been expecting on average, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue rose by 1.4 percent to $2.96 billion, just slightly ahead of the $2.94 billion expected by analysts.

K&L Gates will open a new office in Warsaw, Poland, on March 15. It will be the law firm's 36th office and the third new international office it has opened in 2010 following the launch of offices in Tokyo and Moscow in January. The office will have approximately 30 lawyers who formerly staffed a Warsaw office for Hogan & Hartson, a Washington, D.C.-based firm. Pittsburgh-based K&L has about 1,800 lawyers worldwide.

Via Oncology, a cancer treatment management company and subsidiary of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is collaborating with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and an outpatient facility in Cherry Hill, N.J., to provide guidance for physicians on cancer treatments through its Web-based Via Oncology Pathways. UPMC officials say they expect other centers in the Horizon network to adopt Pathways, which is based on research by UPMC oncologists to help determine the most effective, least toxic and most cost-effective cancer treatments.

A U.S. District Court judge has issued a temporary order barring an Internet services company from illegally cramming unauthorized charges onto consumer and small business telephone bills. The Federal Trade Commission, which sought the order, is suing Inc21 and its affiliates for billing people from $12.95 to $39.95 for Web site design services, Internet directory listings and other services without their consent.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn's decision to step down at the end of June gives President Barack Obama a chance to put a bigger imprint on the central bank. His departure will open up a third seat on the seven-member Federal Reserve board in Washington. Board members are picked by the president and must be confirmed by the Senate.

The Rivers Casino has hired Todd Moyer as its general manager. Mr. Moyer has more than 20 years of experience in the gambling industry. Before joining the Rivers Casino, Mr. Moyer was the general manager of the Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, Iowa. He succeeds Ed Fasulo, who retired in January. Mr. Moyer is a graduate of Shippensburg University. ... S&T Bank, Indiana, Pa., promoted Mark Kochvar to chief financial officer. Mr. Kochvar, who joined the bank in 1992, had been treasurer.

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