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Owens & Minor to change name on Dec. 31

Henrico County-based logistics and supply company announced Thursday that it plans to change its name to , effective Dec. 31.

The name will only impact the parent corporation, not subsidiary companies. The change, the company said, is “intended to better reflect the company’s strategic direction and future organizational focus as a leader in the home-based care market.”

The company, which did not immediately return requests for further comment, will continue to operate its Apria and Byram health care brands.

“The renaming of our organization is another milestone in the strategic transformation of our company as a leading, pure-play home-based care business that puts the patient first while consistently delivering long-term profitable growth,” President and CEO Edward A. Pesicka said in a statement. “Our commitment to providing the highest-quality offerings to patients throughout the country remains unchanged. By becoming Accendra Health, we mark the next exciting chapter in our evolution as a company.”

Due to the name change, the company will change its stock ticker symbol to “ACH.” The company’s common stock is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the new name and ticker symbol on Jan. 2, 2026, the same date Accendra will launch a new website and URL.

In October, Owens & Minor announced plans to sell its largest business segment, Products & Healthcare Services, for $375 million to Platinum Equity, a California private equity firm. The move made Owens & Minor substantially smaller. And in June, Owens & Minor backed out of a $1.36 billion deal to buy Rotech Healthcare Holdings, a Florida home-based health care business. As a result of the termination of the acquisition, Owens & Minor paid a cash termination fee of $80 million.

Owens & Minor reported $10.7 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue, up from $10.3 billion in 2023.

Performance Food Group announces Jan. 1 CEO transition

SUMMARY: 

  • Scott McPherson will become CEO of on Jan. 1, 2026.
  • George Holm will move to executive chairman after leading PFG since 2008.
  • McPherson will also join the company’s board as part of the transition.

Performance Food Group CEO George Holm will transition to the role of executive chair of the -based food supplier’s board effective Jan. 1, with PFG President and Chief Operating Officer Scott McPherson succeeding him as CEO.

Known for overseeing Performance Food Group’s transition to a publicly traded company, Holm, 70, has led PFG since 2008 when the Blackstone Group and Wellspring Capital Management purchased the company in a $1.4 billion deal, merging it with a subsidiary of Vistar, for which Holm served as president and CEO.

McPherson, 55, will also be appointed to PFG’s board in January, according to a Thursday announcement.

As executive chair, Holm will continue to work closely with McPherson on , customer relationships and overseeing the company’s strategic direction.

“With a strong team, a clear strategic vision, and positive business momentum, now is the right time to implement our succession plan and the next phase of leadership for the company,” Holm said in a news release. “Having worked closely with Scott, I have seen firsthand how he prioritizes and customers, bringing a relentless pursuit of value creation. I believe the future of PFG is bright under Scott’s leadership, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside him and the rest of the board in my new role as executive chair.”

McPherson, who joined PFG in 2024 as chief field operations officer, became PFG’s president and COO in January. As chief field operations officer, he oversaw the company’s primary business segments: Performance Foodservice, a Goochland-based foodservice distributor; Core-Mark, a Texas-based distributor to the convenience retail industry in North America; and Vistar, a Colorado-based candy, snack and beverage distributor.

Prior to that, McPherson served in a broad range of executive roles at Core-Mark, including chief operating officer, president and CEO.

According to PFG, McPherson, who earned an MBA from the University of Portland, is known for his expertise in supply chain management and divisional operations and for his commitment to cultivating a collaborative company culture.

“This leadership transition is the result of thorough and thoughtful multiyear succession planning by our board and supports the strategy unveiled at PFG’s 2025 Investor Day earlier this year,” Manuel A. Fernandez, lead independent director of the PFG board, said in a statement. “Scott is a proven leader with a deep understanding of PFG and, in his current role as COO, was a key architect in the development of our strategic objectives. We are confident that he is the right person to succeed George as CEO and take PFG into its next chapter of success.”

During Holm’s tenure, PFG went public in 2015. He became board chair in 2019. In fiscal 2025, Holm earned about $11.7 million in total compensation.

Prior to joining PFG, Holm was president and CEO of Vistar, which he founded in 2002. Over the course of a four-decade career, Holm served in leadership positions with Alliant Foodservice, US Foods, and Sysco Corp. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Grand Canyon University in Arizona.

“On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank George for his countless contributions to PFG and for being a visionary leader,” Fernandez stated. “During his tenure, George guided PFG from private ownership to being a publicly traded company, growing it significantly and building the foundation that has established PFG as a leading food and foodservice distributor in the United States.”

In November, PFG and US Foods announced they would be terminating talks on a proposed merger. Had the two companies merged, it would have created the nation’s largest food service distributor, with roughly $100 billion in combined revenue.

With more than 150 locations, PFG has about 43,000 employees. The PFG family of companies market and deliver quality food and products to more than 300,000 locations including restaurants, businesses, schools and facilities.

 

Tito’s again leads Virginia ABC spirits sales

SUMMARY: 

  • topped sales for eighth straight year at $75M
  • Six of the top 10 fastest-growing brands at Virginia ABC stores were tequilas.
  • Vodka was again best-selling category

Virginians continue to gravitate toward vodka crafted in old-fashioned pot stills.

Tito’s Handmade Vodka far and away led sales at stores this year, the agency announced Thursday, marking its eighth consecutive year at the top.

The spirit generated $75 million in sales in fiscal 2025, about the same as in fiscal 2024.

The second-highest seller at Virginia ABC stores was Hennessy VS cognac, which sold more than $32 million. Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 came in third with more than $27 million. With $22 million in sales, Jim Beam bourbon ranked fourth. Patrón Silver tequila saw more than $20 million in fiscal 2025 sales in Virginia ABC stores.

Rounding out the top 10 were: Jameson Irish Whiskey ($20 million); Maker’s Mark bourbon ($19 million); Lunazul Tequila Blanco ($18 million); Grey Goose vodka ($17.6 million) and Woodford Reserve bourbon ($17.3 million).

Six of the top 10 fastest-growing brands at Virginia ABC stores in fiscal 2025 were tequilas. Teremana Reposado Tequila had $14 million in sales this year, up from $9.2 million last year. Canadian whiskey also had a big year, with Crown Royal Blackberry Flavored Whisky growing by $4.4 million from fiscal 2024.

Hennessy VS cognac saw the largest overall decline in sales. It dropped by $6 million compared to fiscal 2024. Patrón Silver tequila saw a $5.4 million decrease in sales. While it had the highest sales in Virginia’s ABC stores in fiscal 2025, Tito’s declined by $236,017 from fiscal 2024.

The best-selling categories at Virginia ABC in fiscal 2025 matched those in fiscal 2024. Vodka was the top seller with 1.6 million cases sold, the same as last year. Tequila grew to 1.1 million cases, an increase from fiscal 2024’s 996,000 cases sold. Straight bourbon whiskey came in third with 800,181 cases sold. ABC stores sold 406,326 cases of rum and 526,040 cases of cordials. Ready-to-drink cocktails showed 9.5% growth in volume.

Virginia ABC carries nearly 400 Virginia-distilled spirits. Bowman Brothers Virginia Straight Bourbon saw $2.4 million in sales in fiscal 2025, an increase over last year’s $2.2 million. John J. Bowman Virginia Straight Bourbon reached $1.8 million in sales, an increase from $1.1 million last year. Richmond-based Cirrus Vodka sales totaled $1.7 million in fiscal 2025, while Isaac Bowman Port Barrel Finished Whiskey reached $787,546 in sales. Waterman Spirits Perfect Crush saw $606,377 in sales.

New items popular with customers at Virginia ABC stores included the spirits-based versions of BuzzBallz ready-to-drink cocktails ($2.4 million in sales). Fireball Blazin’ Apple whiskey sold $1.2 million.

In fiscal 2025, Virginia ABC collaborated with distillers and suppliers to increase the supply of sought-after whiskeys and bourbons, yielding an increase in sales. Sales of Buffalo Trace bourbon, now available on-shelf at all stores, grew by $1.4 million. Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked bourbon, a new product, brought in more than $500,000 of sales.

The profits Virginia ABC collects from distilled at ABC stores and taxes collected on beer and wine sales go to the state. Since its establishment in 1934, Virginia ABC has contributed $13.9 billion to the commonwealth’s general fund.

Developer proposes Henrico industrial park after resistance to data centers

After resistance to a data center campus in eastern , a developer appears to be pivoting to an proposal.

Plans filed with the county last week for the 195-acre site on 2248 Darbytown Road show seven industrial buildings totaling more than 1.82 million square feet. The buildings for the proposed Airport West Industrial Campus are of varying sizes, with the largest occupying 635,400 square feet.

Wagner Urban Logistics, alternatively known as Centra Logistics, previously sought to put eight 231,603-square-foot on the eastern site that sits near the Fareva and Mondelez International properties.

The application was filed in April, entering the county planning process. But, in June, the Henrico Board of Supervisors adopted an amendment creating new data center regulations. Hyperscale data center projects are no longer a by-right use in the county and now must get provisional use permits.

Wagner Urban Logistics applied for a provisional use permit. Henrico’s planning commission recommended denying the application in September, and the company later withdrew it.

The developer then pursued a vested rights claim. Under Virginia , a landowner’s rights are vested in a land use and unaffected by subsequent zoning ordinances under certain conditions. R. Joseph “Joe” Emerson, the county’s planning director, denied the claim in a letter dated Dec. 10. Emerson and the county attorney determined that Wagner didn’t meet the conditions for vested rights under the Code of Virginia, according to the letter, citing a lack of “a significant affirmative governmental act” and a lack of reliance on good faith from such an act.

The letter also said the Code of Virginia provision for vested rights applies to landowners. At the time, Fareva Richmond was the landowner, not Wagner.

Wagner has the right to appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals within 30 days of the determination. Andrew Condlin, an attorney for the company, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The Darbytown Road site is zoned for industrial use. The county planning director has 60 days, with a few exceptions, to act on a plan of development once a complete application is submitted.

Darbytown Road LLC purchased the site for $13.5 million on Nov. 14 from Fareva Richmond, part of French pharmaceutical, industrial and cosmetics company Fareva.

Trump signs order to ease US marijuana regulations, sparking industry hopes

Summary

  • Trump ordered the attorney general to move toward reclassifying marijuana
  • Shift could reshape the and expand medical research
  • Marijuana would remain illegal federally under a patchwork of state laws
  • Cannabis stocks jumped as investors welcomed the policy change

WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) – U.S. President on Thursday signed an order directing the loosening of on marijuana, a move that could further reverse decades of tough-on-weed policy.

Trump’s order instructs the attorney general to quickly move ahead with reclassifying marijuana. If that happens, the psychoactive plant would be listed alongside common painkillers, ketamine and testosterone as a less dangerous drug.

Such a decision would represent one of the most significant federal changes to in decades. It could reshape the cannabis industry, unlock billions in research funding and open doors long closed to banks and investors. The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, welcomed the move, while dozens of lawmakers in Trump’s own Republican Party blasted the decision.

TRUMP SAYS SOME PATIENTS NEED ACCESS TO THE DRUG

Marijuana will still remain illegal federally and subject to a patchwork of local laws across the country, Trump said. Some industry experts said congressional action was still needed to create more stable regulation.

“We have begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain for decades,” Trump told reporters at the White House. But the teetotaling president also said that controlled substances are risky and that experimentation was of no interest to him.

“I don’t want it, okay,” he said. “I’m not gonna be taking it. But a lot of people do want it. A lot of people need it.”

Senior administration officials said the primary purpose of the order was to increase medical research of marijuana and related products to understand their risks and potential for treatment. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to allow some beneficiaries to use hemp-derived CBD products as soon as April.

Dozens of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate wrote to Trump on Thursday, pleading with him not to sign the order.

“Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug will send the wrong message to America’s children, enable drug cartels, and make our roads more dangerous,” they said.

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the world and the United States. Nearly one in five U.S. residents use it a year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Millions of Americans have been arrested for possession of the drug, even while growing businesses listed on stock exchanges sell cannabis-related products.

Prosecutors, police and judges could take a lighter touch toward criminal prosecutions in response to growing acceptance.

EASING DRUG REGULATIONS

The Drug Enforcement Administration has to review the recommendation to list marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act and will decide on the reclassification. The issue has been bogged down in bureaucratic process at the agency.

Under the act, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I substance like heroin, ecstasy and peyote. That classification indicates it has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use. Schedule III drugs are seen as less addictive and as carrying legitimate medical uses.

Even under a reclassification, marijuana would still be treated as a controlled substance on a federal level and its use subject to tight restrictions and criminal penalties.

A patchwork of laws exists at the local level, from states where use and possession are fully to states where they are fully illegal. Since California first allowed medicinal use of marijuana in 1996, a 30-year trend has moved toward loosening regulation.

CANNABIS STOCKS HAVE GAINED VALUE

Stocks of cannabis-related companies gained on the news from Washington. U.S.-listed shares of Tilray, Aurora Cannabis, SNDL and Canopy Growth gained between 6% and 12% in afternoon trading.

Funding remains one of the biggest challenges for cannabis producers, as federal restrictions keep most banks and institutional investors out of the sector, forcing pot producers to turn to costly loans or alternative lenders. A black market also thrives because of the high costs of doing business.

“This shift marks an important step toward greater regulatory clarity and institutional acceptance of cannabis worldwide,” said a spokesperson for Organigram Global, a cannabis company

Most Americans tell pollsters they favor full legalization. During his 2021-2025 term in office, Democratic former President Joe Biden issued a blanket pardon for most federal marijuana possession charges and kickstarted the review of marijuana’s status. After that review, the Department of Health and Human Services recommended moving marijuana to Schedule III classification.

Trump has honed a reputation as a -and-order Republican, bombing alleged drug traffickers in international waters and deploying military into cities to combat crime, efforts that have drawn legal scrutiny. But he has also bucked tradition to reward favored groups and individuals, including pardoning several who were convicted of federal violations related to drugs.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Mariam E Sunny, Diana Jones, Nivedita Balu and Nolan McCaskill; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Lisa Shumaker and Nick Zieminski)

 

 

Wall St closes higher fueled by tech rally, soft inflation data

Summary

  • Major U.S. indexes rose after cooler data lifted rate-cut expectations
  • Nasdaq jumped more than 1%, led by gains in chip and AI-related stocks
  • Micron surged 10% on a strong forecast tied to AI demand
  • Consumer discretionary stocks led sector gains on the S&P 500

Dec 18 (Reuters) – ‘s main indexes closed higher on Thursday as a soft inflation report fed expectations for interest rate cuts by the , while chipmaker Micron’s blowout forecast signaled strong AI demand.

The Consumer Price Index report showed that consumer prices increased less than expected in the year to November. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish month-to-month CPI changes after the 43-day shutdown of the government prevented the collection of October data.

“The constructive … starts to ease pressure on policymakers further to potentially get more comfortable cutting rates next year,” said Bill Merz, head of capital markets research at U.S. Bank’s Asset Management Group. “We’ll want to see follow-through next month to ensure there wasn’t too much noise from the shutdown.”

The three major indexes rebounded from three-week lows, and the Russell 2000 index, tracking rate-sensitive smallcaps, also advanced 0.8%.

A jobless claims report showed new applications fell last week, reversing the prior week’s surge and suggesting labor market conditions remained stable in December. Earlier this week, an official jobs report showed U.S. job growth rebounded in November and the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%.

Traders now see a 58% chance for a dovish policy move by the Fed in March, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.88 points, or 0.14%, to 47,951.85, the S&P 500 gained 53.33 points, or 0.79%, to 6,774.76 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 313.04 points, or 1.38%, to 23,006.36.

Six of the 11 S&P sectors gained, led by consumer discretionary stocks, which rose 1.78%.

Lululemon surged 3.5% on a report that activist investor Elliott has acquired more than a $1 billion stake in the athletic-wear company. Starbucks also rallied 4.9%.

Among tech stocks, jumped 10.2% after the company forecast quarterly profit at nearly double what analysts were expecting on strong -related demand.

Other memory companies including SanDisk and Western Digital also surged, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index climbed 2.6%.

Companies’ massive debt-backed spending on developing AI technology and uncertainty about how they plan to monetize it have plagued risk-taking this quarter.

Oracle rose 0.9%, recovering from a fall on Wednesday when funding plans for a Stargate data center sparked a broad equities selloff.

& Technology jumped 41% after the company and company said they have agreed to combine in an all-stock deal valued at more than $6 billion.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.9-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 216 new highs and 105 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,892 stocks rose and 1,773 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.63-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 112 new highs and 178 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 16.89 billion shares, compared with the 16.96 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York and Johann M Cherian and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)

 

 

Trump Media bets on fusion energy with $6 billion TAE deal

Summary

  • agreed to a $6 billion all-stock merger with fusion firm
  • Deal targets rising power demand from AI and hyperscalers
  • Trump Media shares jumped 35% following the merger announcement
  • Companies plan to pursue the world’s first utility-scale plant

Dec 18 (Reuters) – U.S. President is getting into the fusion power business through a $6 billion merger of his social media firm and Google-backed TAE Technologies, announced just days after industry leaders met with U.S. Energy Department representatives to urge federal funding.

The all-stock deal announced on Thursday is an ambitious bet on the power boom spurred by data-centers and adds to the Trump family’s growing roster of diverse ventures from cryptocurrency to holdings and mobile services.

After his return to office this year, Trump’s close relatives have pursued ventures leveraging his political power and policy shifts. The Trump family has, for instance, amassed billions in crypto-related wealth as Trump throws his support behind digital financial assets. Greater support from the federal government could potentially boost the value of this investment, as well.

The news put a charge into shares of the money-losing Trump Media on Thursday, sending them up 35%. The stock, popular with retail traders, had lost more than 70% of its value over the last 12 months following a big surge during the 2024 campaign.

“At face value, this is a Barbenheimer mashup. Trump Media gets a dramatic new growth story tied to the AI power crunch and data-center (hyperscaler) electricity demand, while TAE gets a fast lane to being publicly traded via an all stock merger valued above $6 billion,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, partner and chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors.

EFFORTS IN FUSION

The growing electricity needs of the technology industry have in recent months revived interest in nuclear power, including restarting fully shuttered reactors, expanding existing plants and signing contracts for future small modular reactors.

Despite decades of global efforts, , often seen as a cleaner and reliable power source, has yet to produce a commercially viable reactor.

Shareholders of both companies will own about 50% of the combined entity after the deal closes in mid-2026. Trump Media and Technology Group will be the holding company for businesses including Truth Social platform, TAE Power Solutions, and TAE Life Sciences.

Trump has 114 million shares in Trump Media, roughly 40% of the company. In the new merger, his ownership stake would be roughly 20%. The company, which mainly generates revenue from advertising on the Truth Social platform, has consistently clocked losses since its inception, including a loss of $54.8 million in its September-end quarter.

Thursday’s rally was a salve for some retail investors who have watched the stock’s price fizzle for most of 2025. Chad Nedohin, an Edmonton-based pastor and mechanical engineer in the , leads one of the largest Trump Media retail investor groups on Truth Social, which has more than 190,000 followers.

Up until the past year, Nedohin had been one of Truth Social’s most influential hype men – but has been frustrated as the stock slumped all year. “I can’t sit here and just be excited about a stock that’s done nothing but stupid stuff until today,” he said. “But today was awesome, I think it’s a brilliant move.”

WAVE OF THE FUTURE?

Companies and physicists at national laboratories have been trying for decades to foster fusion reactions, in which light atoms are forced together under extreme temperatures to release huge amounts of energy, a process that fuels the sun.

Big hurdles to commercialize fusion include getting more energy out of a reaction than what goes into it and developing plants that can withstand streams of fusion reactions to power the grid.

TAE CEO Michl Binderbauer and other fusion company leaders met with U.S. Energy Department officials this month, weeks after the department formed its first ever fusion office.

Trump Media agreed to provide up to $200 million in cash to TAE at signing and $100 million more upon initial filing of the registration. The deal has been approved by the companies’ boards.

The companies plan to build the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant beginning next year. Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said in a brief, eight-minute investor call that the companies plan to “quickly seek approvals” after the deal closes, with siting for the plant expected to begin by 2026 end.

He will be co-CEO of the new company, along with Binderbauer. The two, along with Donald Trump Jr., will sit on the merged company’s board.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia and Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru, Timothy Gardner in Washington DC and Michelle Conlin in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Arun Koyyur, David Gaffen, Nick Zieminski and Chizu Nomiyama )

 

Another massive data center campus proposed in Prince William

A Warrenton-based lobbying and communications firm has filed an early planning application tied to a massive, proposed data center campus in western to be called the Dulles South Innovation Center.

LSI 360, also known as LSI Communications, hopes to designate 1,930 acres of land in the Gainesville Magisterial District for industrial use to allow for data center, substation and other supporting uses on the property. Currently, most of the land is low-density residential development on land zoned for agricultural use.

The firm on Tuesday filed for a cultural resource assessment, a process many governments require in early planning to identify whether a property eyed for development contains historic, cultural or archaeological resources.

More information on the project was not immediately available. A Prince William county spokesperson described the cultural resource assessment filing as a “pre-application” and that the county has not received an application for the development itself.  She said the planning office’s cultural resources staff will conduct a search of existing databases and historic maps and review any cultural resources studies that may have been done in the project area to determine if a cultural resources survey would be required as part of the application submission. The county anticipates that the assessment will be completed mid-January 2026.

Applicant Kelly Bleichner, representing LSI 360, and attorney Lee Gleason with Cooley, who is also listed in the application, did not immediately return requests for comment.

Numerous media outlets have described LSI Communications as a lobbying firm that advised residents involved with land sales to advance the controversial project, which remains in limbo. The project would have added as many as 23 million square feet of on 2,100 acres near Manassas National Battlefield Park and generated an estimated $500 million in local tax revenue over the next two decades.

In December 2023, county supervisors approved rezonings covering about 1,800 acres, but the decision was challenged in court by 12 Gainesville residents who banded together as the Oak Valley Homeowners Association.

In August, Prince William Circuit Judge Kimberly A. Irving ruled in favor of the homeowners, saying that the 2023 vote was void because the county did not comply with the state and county’s advertising policies, which required sufficient public notice of the rezoning vote.

Booz Allen CFO leaving in February

Booz Allen Hamilton’s chief financial officer is leaving the company for a role at S&P Global.

Matthew Calderone, Booz Allen and executive vice president, notified the -based government contractor on Dec. 11 that he would resign Feb. 1, 2026.

Kristine Martin Anderson, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Booz Allen, will assume Calderone’s duties on an interim basis. The company has begun its search for its next permanent CFO, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated Monday.

S&P Global announced Calderone’s hiring on Tuesday. He will join the company as CFO of its Mobility business by March 1, 2026. The Mobility business is spinning off from S&P Global to be a standalone public company.

Calderone will report to Bill Eager, president of S&P Global Mobility and CEO-designate of the future spinoff.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Matt as our incoming CFO,” Eager said in a statement. “His leadership and public company experience will be essential as we continue building the financial and operational foundation for Mobility as an independent company.”

S&P Global expects to finish separating the Mobility business sometime between April and October.

Calderone has worked for Booz Allen for more than 20 years cumulatively, interrupted by a three-year stint at Boston Consulting Group after seven years at Booz Allen, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was most recently the government contractor’s chief strategy officer, where he developed a growth strategy and built and led the company’s corporate development team.

Virginia casinos post $82.45M in November revenues

SUMMARY:

  • Virginia earned $82.45 million in November, up 29.7% from last year’s $63.67 million
  • Norfolk’s generated $1.42 million in its first month
  • November taxes from casino adjusted revenues totaled about $18.89 million

November gaming revenues at Virginia’s three permanent casinos and Norfolk’s new temporary casino totaled $82.45 million, according to Virginia Lottery data released Dec. 15.

Norfolk’s temporary Interim Gaming Hall, which opened Nov. 7, reported adjusted gaming revenue (wagers minus winnings) of $1.42 million during its first 23 days of business. All of that came from its roughly 132 slots, as the temporary casino doesn’t have table games. A permanent $750 million Norfolk casino, being developed by Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, is anticipated to open in 2027.

Opened in December 2024, Virginia’s newest permanent casino, Caesars Virginia in , reported the largest adjusted gaming revenue for the month: approximately $33.7 million. Of that, $23.69 million came from its 1,478 slots, and the remaining roughly $10.02 million came from its 100 table games.

, which opened as Virginia’s first permanent casino in January 2023, generated $19.29 million from its 1,409 slots and $6.48 million from its 84 table games, for a total AGR of nearly $25.77 million in November.

Last month, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino reported almost $21.56 million in AGR, with roughly $16.83 million of that coming from its 1,370 slots and about $4.73 million coming from its 73 table games. The Bristol casino’s temporary facility opened in July 2022, making it the first operating casino in Virginia. The permanent opened in November 2024.

November’s total AGR for Virginia casinos is up about 0.39% from October’s AGR of $82.1 million and up 29.7% from November 2024’s $63.57 million.

Virginia assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue. For the month of November, taxes from casino AGRs totaled almost $18.89 million.

Under Virginia law, 6% of a casino operator’s AGR goes to its host locality until the operator passes $200 million in AGR for the year, at which point the host locality’s tax rate rises to 7%. If an operator passes $400 million in AGR in the calendar year, that rises to 8%.

For November, Danville received 7% of Caesars Virginia’s AGR, amounting to $2.36 million. Portsmouth received 7% of the Rivers Casino Portsmouth‘s AGR, netting $1.8 million. For the Bristol casino, 7% of its adjusted gaming revenue — about $1.5 million last month — goes to the Regional Improvement Commission, which the General Assembly established to distribute Bristol casino tax funds throughout Southwest Virginia.

The Problem Treatment and Support Fund receives 0.8% of total taxes — approximately $151,143 last month. The Family and Children’s Trust Fund, which funds family violence prevention and treatment programs, receives 0.2% of the monthly total, which was approximately $37,786 in November. The Interim Gaming Hall will give $14,126 (1% of the monthly total) to the Virginia Indigenous People’s Trust Fund, state legislation that directs 1% of gaming proceeds from any tribe-operated casino to be given to a fund to assist the other Virginia tribes that are federally recognized. The remaining $12,932,426 million in taxes goes to the state’s Gaming Proceeds Fund.

The planned Norfolk casino isn’t the only permanent casino on the horizon. In Petersburg, Baltimore-based The Cordish Cos. and Virginia Beach developer Bruce Smith Enterprise broke ground in March on the $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia, slated to open in 2027. A temporary Petersburg casino is expected to open on Jan. 22 2026.