A partnership between two California investment firms paid nearly $36.8 million for a Wells Fargo regional operating center in West Raleigh, according to Wake County property records.

An affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management and National Financial Realty acquired the 450,393-square-foot building as part of a 40-building portfolio of Wells Fargo leased properties. The two announced the $240 million deal earlier this month.

The largest chunk of the 3.4 million-square-foot portfolio is in North Carolina. It includes 8 buildings and 1.2 million square feet in Winston-Salem, Winterville, Burlington, Goldsboro and Smithfield.

All the buildings are leased long-term to Wells Fargo.

Shareholders of the corporate parent of East Carolina Bank have given the green light to the acquisition proposed by Raleigh-based VantageSouth Bank.

Although some shareholders objected that the price offered by VantageSouth undervalued the bank, they failed to gain enough votes to block the deal at a shareholders meeting held Wednesday at the Washington Civic Center in Washington, N.C. Instead, shareholders of ECB Bancorp approved the deal by a roughly 2-to-1 margin, with 1.6 million votes for the deal versus 811,986 against, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Obviously, we are pleased with the result and are very much looking forward to hopefully consummating the transaction shortly," said VantageSouth CEO Scott Custer. "We believe it is going to be a very good transaction for all involved."

One critic of the deal, Gregory Gibbs, a former ECB director whose family is ECB's largest shareholder, was disappointed that the opposition didn't prevail.

Chinese Internet giant Tencent paid $330 million to purchase a minority stake in Cary-based videogame company Epic Games last summer.

The purchase price wasn't disclosed when privately held Epic unveiled the deal, but Tencent revealed what it paid in a financial filing this week.

Tencent reported that it purchased 48.4 percent of the business. But Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney issued a statement clarifying that although that was the percentage of outstanding Epic stock that Tencent acquired, its ownership stake actually equates to 40 percent when you include employee stock options.

Based on the 40 percent figure, that would put privately held Epic's valuation at $825 million. Tencent's investment marked the first outside investment in Epic, creater of the blockbuster "Gears of War" franchise as well as the company behind the Unreal Engine technology that many other game companies use to create cutting-edge titles.

Lumber producer Meherrin River Forest Products has decided to locate its operations in Halifax County, a move that is expected to create 40 new jobs over the next three years.

Meherrin, which also expects to invest more than $1.8 million, is in line to receive up to $80,000 in state incentives if it meets its job and investment targets.

The decision by Meherrin, which currently operates a facility in Virginia, was announced Wednesday by state officials.

Meherrin plans to purchase and fix up a sawmill facility that is the former headquarters of Coastal Lumber in Weldon. The average annual salaries for the new jobs is expected to be $33,843, above the Halifax County average of $29,299.

"Our state has abundant natural resources and this project is a great opportunity for us to use those assets to create jobs," Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement.

Raleigh-based Pepsi Bottling Ventures is acquiring a five-county territory around Charlotte in exchange for territories in Vermont and Idaho.

PepsiCo has agreed to swap five counties in its North Carolina territory for PBV's 11 counties in Vermont and 18 counties in Idaho.

PBV has also agreed to sell its Long Island, NY territory, including Nassau and Suffolk counties, to the Honickman Group's PCNY.

Terms of the deals, which are expected to close in the second quarter, were not disclosed.

Ray Grace, who was named acting state banking commissioner last year, has been nominated once again to be North Carolina's top banking regulator.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced Monday that he has nominated Grace, who joined the N.C. Office of the Commissioner of Banks as an examiner trainee in 1974, to be the next commissioner of banks.

Last year McCrory's predecessor, Gov. Bev Perdue, nominated Grace for the top job but the state legislature never acted to confirm the nomination, according to the banking commission.

Likewise, McCrory's nomination of Grace must be confirmed by the legislature. If Grace is confirmed, his term would run through March 31, 2015.

Look for a new study that reports the state's auto insurance rates are the third-lowest in the nation to be highlighted in the ongoing debate over the proposed overhaul of the state's regulatory system.

A study issued Monday by Insure.com concluded that only Iowa and Maine motorists currently pay lower auto insurance rates than North Carolina drivers for 2013 model cars. North Carolina drivers pay an average of $1,085 for insurance annually, versus $1,028 in Iowa and $934 in Maine. Louisiana drivers pay the most: $2,699.

"No one should look at (the average) as the number they are going to pay," said Amy Danise, a spokeswoman for Insure.com. She noted that the average rates are based on the rates of 750 vehicles in the 2013 model year, "everything from the cheapest to insure to the most expensive sports car."

Opponents of a major revamp of the way the state regulates auto insurance rates -- including Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, AARP and a group of insurers that includes Nationwide, the top auto insurer in North Carolina in terms of market share -- have been arguing that the state's low rates show that the system is working.

The European cheap chic retailer Hennes & Mauritz, better known as H&M, will open its second store in Raleigh this spring in Triangle Town Center.

The Swedish retailer opened its first store in Crabtree Valley Mall in 2010.

H&M has more than 2,800 stores in 48 markets.

The new store will include 19,000 square feet of space.

Raleigh golf course company McConnell Golf is merging its two Greensboro golf clubs.

Sedgfield Country Club, best-known for hosting the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship and boasting a course designed by acclaimed course architect Donald Ross, is merging with Cardinal Golf and Country Club, whose course was designed by the renowned Pete Dye.

The combined facilities will operate under the Sedgfield Country Club brand. Target date for the merger is May 1. Each of the courses, which are being tagged the Ross Course and the Dye Course, consist of 18 holes.

McConnell Golf, which acquired Sedgfield in 2011 and Cardinal in 2006, intends to continue to operate and invest in the clubhouses and other facilities for members at both sites. The courses are about 13 miles from each other.

Safely dispose of old prescription and over-the-counter medicines this week as part of Operation Medicine Drop.

More than 250 locations across the state will be accepting old medicines on different days during the week.

Last year, more than 15 million doses of old medicines were collected during the events. Law enforcement agencies that collect drugs this week will turn them over to the SBI for safe disposal.  The SBI will destroy the drugs using incinerators approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.
 
The event, part of National Poison Prevention Week, is sponsored by The Attorney General's Office, the SBI, Safe Kids North Carolina, the Riverkeepers of NC, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of North Carolina and local law enforcement agencies.

To find a complete list of sites and days when the drugs are being accepted go here.