Business briefs for June 21, 2004

Monday, June 21, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

LV firm trading on AMEX

Las Vegas-based beverage maker American Water Star Inc. on Friday began trading its stock on the American Stock Exchange.

It was a step up from the company's previous OTC Bulletin Board trading status.

American Water Star, which now trades under the AMW ticker symbol, has about 15 Las Vegas employees and an additional 150 employees at bottling plants in Florida, Arizona, Mississippi and Hawaii.

The stock closed on Friday at $1.19 per share. The company's 52-week range has a low of 19 cents and a high of $2.40 following an April announcement that it reached a distribution deal with Wal-Mart.

LV contracting conference set

Southern Nevada small business owners can learn about federal and state government contracting opportunities at an economic development conference featuring several government agencies on Wednesday.

The Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Fannie Mae are co-sponsoring the free conference that runs from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Texas Station Conference Center, 2101 Texas Star Lane.

For more information or to register, contact Bernie Yergeau at (702) 388-6373 or by e-mail at bernard]C.]Yergeau@hud.gov.

VODKA DEAL:

Bacardi Ltd., the world's biggest maker of rum, said it agreed to buy Sidney Frank Importing Co.'s Grey Goose vodka business to expand in the United States. Terms weren't disclosed. Bermuda-based Bacardi was negotiating to buy Grey Goose for more than $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.