Biddeford’s GWI Inc. buying Midcoast Internet Solutions

BIDDEFORD – GWI Inc. of Biddeford says it has a deal to buy Rockland-based Midcoast Internet Solutions, adding 2,495 business and residential customers from Bath to Belfast, as well as fixed wireless broadband service. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Midcoast Internet Solutions, which has $1.6 million in annual revenue, was founded in April 1995 by Jason Philbrook. The company offers services to residential and business clients such as high-speed Internet, digital phone and Web hosting. Philbrook will stay with the combined company, GWI said.

Midcoast was one of the first companies on the East Coast to install broadband connections via fixed wireless technologies. It offers innovative wireless-to-fiber solutions for many residents of Maine’s islands.

While there are likely to be savings of 10 to 15 percent in overhead, no job losses are expected. The combined firm will have 81 employees.

GWI will keep Midcoast’s office location in Rockland. Midcoast customers will continue to receive the same services, pricing and support, GWI said. 

Portland’s median home price rises to $264,700

PORTLAND – The median list price for homes in Portland hit $264,700 in May, up 1.85 percent from April and up 1.84 percent from May 2011, according to Realtor.com.

The national median list price in May was $194,900, a 3.17 percent increase from a year ago.

The inventory of homes for sale in Portland fell to 4,885, down 14.23 percent from a year ago. The national inventory for homes for sale totaled about 1.88 million, a 20.07 percent decrease from a year ago, Realtor.com said.

The median time that homes stayed on the market in Portland was 87 days, a 13 percent drop from April 2012. Nationally, the median time housing inventory sat was 83 days, a 1.19 percent drop from April. 

U.S. stocks end lower amid troubling signs from Europe

NEW YORK – U.S stocks skidded Wednesday, a looming election in Greece and the broader debt maelstrom in Europe their ominous backdrop.

Major market indexes wavered for much of the day but fell sharply after the finance minister of Cyprus warned that his country may seek its own bailout this week, stoking the uneasy feeling that the crisis is far from over.

In a troubling sign, Spain’s 10-year borrowing rate inched up to 6.71 percent from 6.67 percent. Other countries in Europe have had to seek bailouts when their borrowing rates hit 7 percent. European leaders said over the weekend that they will lend up to $125 billion to Spain’s banks, but that has not soothed markets.

Moody’s, the credit ratings agency, downgraded Spain’s government debt three notches late Wednesday, placing it one level above junk status. It downgraded Cyprus’s debt by two, pushing it deeper into junk rating.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 77.42 points to end at 12,496.38 after another day of volatile trading. The Dow had been down as much as 120 points and up as much as 24 points. That followed a triple-digit gain on Tuesday and a triple-digit loss on Monday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 9.30 points to 1,314.88, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 24.46 points to 2,818.61.