Sep. 7--Electric motor-maker Baldor Electric Co. announced Tuesday that it had bought a Canadian power transmission parts company.

Fort Smith, Ark.-based Baldor said it finished the deal to buy Poulies Maska last week.

Poulies Maska designs and manufactures components for electric transmission lines.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Poulies Maska, which will now go by the name Baldor Maska, had revenue of about $33 million in 2007, Baldor officials said. The deal includes a 5-acre, 110,000-square-foot factory in Quebec and another plant in China. Poulies Maska has about 180 employees, mostly in Canada.

Baldor doesn't plan to consolidate Poulies Maska or merge it with its factory in Arkansas, Long said.

South Towne Plaza sold for $5.1 million

South Towne Plaza, a shopping center on 71st Street near U.S. 169, has been sold for $5.15 million,

according to representatives of Sperry Van Ness Oklahoma.

Veritas Development, a Tulsa company, purchased the property from Jerry R. Gordon Developments Inc., the local developer that built and operates RiverWalk Crossing in Jenks, said Andy Burnett of Sperry Van Ness.

The 24,229-square-foot South Towne Plaza building netted a sale price of $212 per square foot.

South Towne Plaza is completely occupied, with tenants including AT&T, China Buffet, Express Personnel, Jamba Juice and Supercuts.

ONG offers annual price lock-in

Customers of Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. now have their annual opportunity to test the direction of the energy market by deciding whether to join the utility's fixed-price plan.

The company announced Wednesday that its program price will be $11.048 per dekatherm for a 12-month period from Nov. 1 until Oct. 31, 2009. Customers who decide to sign up can lock in that price through the winter months and beyond.

The announcement marks the seventh year that ONG has offered the fixed-price plan. The utility does not guarantee fixed-price customers that they will see a savings from the program.

The fixed-price plan is not a big risk for ONG, because the company already purchased its winter supply through futures contracts, ONG spokesman Don Sherry said. A small percentage of customers do sign up, but most choose to float with the company's regular system.

Delays clearing for development

Final roadblocks facing the developer of RiverWalk Crossing's second phase may be cleared within a month.

The project, in the works for at least three years, has been delayed by financing issues, said Andy Burnett of Sperry Van Ness, the real estate agency for the vastly popular retail development along the Arkansas River in Jenks.

Developer Jerry Gordon has obtained a loan from American National Bank of Texas, but lenders are slow to release money amid the nation's tight-credit economic climate, Burnett said.

Despite the delay, everything is in place for the 125,000-square foot addition. Lewis & Clark Outfitters, an upscale outdoors and sporting goods store, remains the anchor tenant, Burnett said, and the second phase is 70 percent leased.

Bank wants to see SemGroup trades

The agent bank among SemGroup's creditors sided Friday with the U.S. Trustee in calling for a bankruptcy judge to appoint an examiner who will investigate oil futures trading by the collapsed Tulsa energy company.

Bank of America's motion follows a request by U.S. Trustee Roberta A. DeAngelis last month. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon is scheduled hear the motion Wednesday in Wilmington, Del.

SemGroup filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 22 after reporting that it lost $2.4 billion on failed oil futures positions. The company went into credit default and quit paying pre-bankruptcy oil suppliers, according to reports.

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