From wire reports

Mesa bids for routes of takeover target

Mesa Air Group Inc., which flies commuter routes for larger carriers, said it will negotiate with UAL Corp.'s United Airlines to take over flights handled by Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings Inc.

Phoenix-based Mesa also said it will pursue its $512 million takeover offer for Atlantic Coast, which rejected the bid Thursday. Mesa is asking Atlantic Coast shareholders to vote on a new slate of directors who would support the proposal.

In talking with United, Mesa is trying to take advantage of a dispute between Atlantic Coast and UAL over contract rates as United, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, tries to lower costs.

The expected loss of the United contract has prompted Atlantic Coast executives to turn the company into a low-fare carrier operating out of Dulles International Airport, located in Virginia near Washington.

A Mesa purchase would create the largest regional airline in the United States with more than 300 aircraft and routes covering most of the country.

Bankrupt steel maker receives buyout offer

FAIRLAWN, Ohio - Steelmaker Republic Engineered Products, which this month filed for bankruptcy protection, has received a buyout offer of more than $225 million from an arm of the private investment firm Perry Strategic Capital.

Republic, which has 2,350 workers, is reviewing the offer, but would like to get court approval by December and complete the sale by the end of the year, spokesman John Willoughby said Friday.

Delphi lays off 214 at northeast Ohio facility

WARREN, Ohio - More than 200 hourly workers not protected by a special labor agreement at Delphi Packard Electric Systems on Friday were told they were being laid off indefinitely, a company spokesman said.

The 214-employee layoff takes effect on Monday, company spokesman Doug Hoy said.

International Union of Electrical Workers-Communication Workers of America Local 717 bargainers told members in a leaflet Thursday about the impending layoff.

BP plant wrapping up maintenance project

BP Plc, the third-largest crude-oil refiner in the United States, expects to complete planned maintenance at its Whiting, Ind., refinery by late November, spokesman Scott Dean said.

The company scaled back processing at the Whiting facility, BP's second-largest U.S. refinery, at the beginning of this month to retool and replace worn parts in three refining units, Dean said. The maintenance project cost $40 million.

The work includes the first "major" maintenance since 1991 for the largest of the refinery's two catalytic cracking units, Dean said. The two units can each process more than 100,000 barrels of petroleum components a day.

Dean declined to provide more specifics on the maintenance or on how much the refinery's production is being reduced during the maintenance. "We continue to supply our customers," he said.