business

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said state agencies will lend $26.5 million to the Mesabi Nugget plant on the Iron Range. He signed a $16.5 million loan from the Iron Range Resources Board in Eveleth, Minn., on Thursday and said the project will also get $10 million from the Department of Employment and Economic Development. The plant is a joint venture of Steel Dynamics Inc. of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Kobe Steel of Japan. The plan is for Steel Dynamics to build and operate the $235 million plant in Hoyt Lakes, with technical help from Kobe Steel. Steel Dynamics Chairman and CEO Keith Busse said the plant should be built by early 2009 and start operating in the second quarter of that year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Merrill Corp. withdraws planned IPO

Merrill Corp. of St. Paul withdrew its planned initial public offering because of "adverse market conditions," the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The provider of outsourced document and data management services had registered its IPO in February 2006 to sell up to $253 million of common stock. Deutsche Bank Securities, Credit Suisse and Piper Jaffray were listed as underwriters for the IPO.

DOW JONES NEWS SERVICE

Kohl's plans $2.5 billion stock buyback

Kohl's Corp. plans to spend $2.5 billion buying back shares over the next three years, adding debt as it rewards equity investors and prompting a credit-rating cut by Standard & Poor's. The buyback will be paid for with loans and cash, the fourth-largest U.S. department-store chain said. Richard Jaffe, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in New York, estimated Kohl's would issue about $700 million in debt to pay for the plan. Kohl's said it's prepared for ratings companies to downgrade its creditworthiness, saying a one-step cut in the ranking would be "appropriate." Kohl's is based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., near Milwaukee.

BLOOMBERG NEWS