York County-based Graham Packaging Company Inc. plans to offer a $350 million initial public offering of common stock and will reorganize its corporate structure, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Graham has not set a date for the IPO, according to the filing.

Prior to the IPO, GPC Capital Corp. II, a subsidiary of Graham Packaging Holdings Co., will exchange all of its newly issued common stock for partnership shares in the holding company, GPC said in the regulatory filing.

As part of the reorganization, Graham Packaging Holdings will be liquidated and GPC Capital -- which had no operations prior to the IPO announcement -- will change its name to Graham Packaging Company Inc., according to the company.

The new company will be the parent of Graham Packaging Co., the Springettsbury Township-based manufacturer of plastic bottles for food, automotive and household products.

The IPO follows closely on the heals of Texas-based Hicks Acquisition Company I Inc. backing away from a deal with Graham Packaging that would have taken the company public.

New York-based private equity firm The Blackstone Group owns about 81 percent of Graham Packaging Holdings. Blackstone is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BX.

Graham Packaging Holdings late yesterday reported net income of $12.8 million in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, a 124 percent increase from the year-ago quarter. Sales were down about $70 million for the quarter, but Graham saved nearly $90 million on raw materials, according to the company.

The state collected $3.5 billion in general fund revenues last month, which was $19.5 million, or 0.6 percent, less than estimated.

The state collected $8.8 billion in general fund revenues in the fiscal year-to-date through October, which is $160.2 million, or 1.8 percent, below estimate, according to the state Department of Revenue. The fiscal year starts July 1. 

October sales tax revenues were $696.6 million, or $37 million less than anticipated, according to department. 

The state collected $719.9 million in personal income taxes, which was $13.7 million above estimate. Corporation tax revenues also were above estimate in October. The state collected $116.6 million in corporation taxes, which was $500,000 more than anticipated, according to the department.

Cumberland County-based Harsco Corp. today announced it received a multiple-year, $50 million contract for cleanup of a steel factory in Alabama, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-led project.

The Harsco contract is for metal recovery and recycling of steel-making byproducts in Gadsden, Ala., according to the company.

The site is the former Gulf States Steel facility that filed for bankruptcy in 1999, according to Harsco. Its work at the site is scheduled to begin in January and create 20 jobs in Gadsden.

Harsco provides services and products to the nonresidential construction, energy, metals production, mining and railway industries.

Harsco, based in Wormleysburg, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HSC.

York-based P.H. Glatfelter today reported third-quarter earnings of $46 million, or $1 per diluted share, compared with earnings of $21.7 million, or 47 cents per diluted share in the year-ago period.

Analysts estimated earnings per share of 23 cents, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Third-quarter income fell to $13.1 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, after excluding $32.9 million worth of after-tax benefits from alternative fuel mixture credits and $2.4 million associated with a timberland installment sale, according to a company statement.

Net sales in the specialty-paper segment dropped 6.4 percent and net sales in the composite-fibers segment dropped 11.5 percent in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

Shares of the specialty-paper maker are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GLT.

BUSINESS: Buffett's Berkshire buying Burlington Northern RR
Click here to read the full story.

U.S.: Buses, subways halted by Philly transit strike
Click here to read the full story.

WORLD: N. Korea claims to expand arsenal of atomic bombs
Click here to read the full story.

OUT OF THE ORDINARY: Ohio woman hopes trick-or-treater may find ring
Click here to read the full story.

Motorola Droid: First impressions

My demo Motorola Droid was sitting on my desk when I arrived to work this morning.

Click here to continue reading and to comment.