Staff reports

Omnicare purchases pharmaceutical outfit

Covington-based institutional pharmacy management company Omnicare Inc. said Tuesday it would buy the pharmaceutical business of Sun Healthcare Group Inc. of Irvine, Calif., for as much as $90 million.

The business, called SunScript Pharmacy Corp., is based in Albuquerque, N.M., and provides pharmacy services to 43,000 beds in 19 states.

Omnicare, which already serves 935,000 beds in 47 states, said it expects the new acquisition to generate $180 million in new revenue annually. Friday, the company completed a financial restructuring and new stock offering worth just over $1 billion.

Omnicare's stock closed at $33.25, up 61 cents.

Delta aims to reduce 'turn time' of planes

Delta Air Lines on Tuesday announced plans to begin cutting the time between when a plane lands and when it takes off again, called the "turn time."

The Atlanta-based airline, which operates its second-largest hub locally, said it would begin the new program on July 1 at the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., airport.

Airline officials said the tighter turns would mean one fewer plane would be needed for the 14 daily flights at that city.

The airline had already said it would try to use lessons learned from its new low-cost subsidiary Song and apply them to the main line to make it more efficient.

Delta officials would not say when the new turnaround procedures could be in place at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.