Boston Scientific wins EU patent suit
THE REGION
Boston Scientific Corp., the world's second-biggest maker of devices that keep heart arteries open, won a court ruling that found a Medinol Ltd. patent invalid and allows the US company to resume stent sales in the Netherlands. The European Patent Office reversed a December decision that forced Boston Scientific to stop Dutch sales of the Express and Taxus stents. The latest ruling is final and can't be appealed, the Natick company said. Boston Scientific marketed Medinol's Nir brand stents after the closely held Israeli company won approval to sell them in Europe in 1996 and in the United States in 1998. The marketing agreement ended in 2001, the year lawsuits between the two began. The ruling does not affect a German patent infringement case, which Boston Scientific is still appealing. (Bloomberg)
Boston equity firm buys 2 P&G products
Procter & Gamble Co. agreed to sell its Sunny Delight and Punica drink businesses to Boston private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates for an undisclosed amount. The sale is part of P&G's broader strategy of shedding its underperforming food brands and focusing more attention on its most successful products, including Folgers coffee and Pringles potato chips, both of which generate more than $1 billion in annual sales. P&G estimated Sunny Delight and Punica, which is sold primarily in Germany, together have about $550 million in annual sales. The company said J.W. Childs operating partner Ray Rudy will become chairman of the new company. P&G expects the sale to close in the third quarter. (Bloomberg)
Chamber of Commerce names chairman
The Boston Chamber of Commerce has named a chairman, Dr. James Mongan, who is president and chief executive of Partners HealthCare System Inc. He is the first executive from the life sciences economic sector to hold the job. Partners, which includes Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, employs 35,000 people in the state, said Paul Guzzi, the chamber's president. ''Much of the future in terms of economic policy within our region is going to come from the life sciences sector," Guzzi said. ''Having someone of his experience is going to be a plus." Mongan has been Partners chief executive since January 2003. He succeeds Thomas Hollister, the president and chief executive of Citizens Bank of Massachusetts. (Christopher Rowland)
Barclays Capital to open Boston office
Barclays Capital, the securities arm of Barclays PLC, said it hired two salesmen from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for a Boston office the firm plans to open in June. Tom Dimond, 50, joins as a director in credit sales, focusing on investment-grade debt, and will manage the new office, a Barclays Capital spokesman said. Robert Earl, 38, joins as a director selling products related to interest rates, such as government bonds and interest rate swaps, and will oversee development of that business in the Northeast. Both had worked in Goldman Sachs' Boston office for more than 10 years. (Bloomberg)
2 websites banned from cigarette sales
A Suffolk Superior Court judge barred two defunct websites from selling cigarettes to Massachusetts minors and ordered the company to pay $1.5 million in civil penalties. The judgment followed a lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly against S4L Distributing Inc. of Big Stone Gap, Va., and accuses the company of illegally selling cigarettes to minors. Reilly's office said S4L's websites are no longer operating. (Bruce Mohl)
Manulife doubled CEO's pay last year
Manulife Financial Corp., the Toronto insurer that is buying John Hancock Financial Services Inc., more than doubled chief executive Dominic D'Alessandro's pay package last year to $5.8 million according to a filing with Canadian regulators. His pay was one-third the $16.9 million John Hancock chief executive David D'Alessandro received. Manulife's largest shareholder, Stephen Jarislowsky, has urged the company to keep its compensation from rising as it incorporates higher-paid John Hancock executives. David D'Alessandro's pay will fall to about $5.1 million this year as he becomes chief operating officer of the combined company. Manulife agreed in September to buy John Hancock for about $10.9 billion in stock. (Bloomberg)
Fidelity starts emerging markets fund
Fidelity Investments, the world's biggest mutual fund company, started an emerging markets stock fund that will be sold through financial advisers and brokers. Boston-based Fidelity, which oversees more than $1 trillion in assets, said the Advisor Emerging Markets fund will be managed by Bob von Rekowsky, who runs a similar fund with $627 million in assets that Fidelity sells directly. Fidelity last year reported improved sales of its Advisor funds, which are sold by advisers and brokers. Separately, Fidelity said George Heilmeier, chairman emeritus of Telcordia Technologies Inc., joined its fund board of trustees. Heilmeier replaced Phyllis Davis, former senior vice president of Avon Products Inc. Fidelity also said Christine Reynoldswas named president of the line of industry-specific funds. (Bloomberg)
Maxwell Shoe responds with complaint
Maxwell Shoe Co. filed a complaint against Jones Apparel Group Inc. a day after Jones went to court saying Maxwell had ''improperly" tried to stop its hostile takeover. Jones has made ''materially false and misleading statements" regarding its tender offer and consent solicitation that seeks to remove and replace Maxwell's board, Hyde Park-based Maxwell said. Jones failed to disclose that some of its board nominees have ''significant" business relationships with the company, Maxwell said. It also said Jones's argument that its $20-a-share offer price ''provides an attractive premium" was misleading because Maxwell shares had traded above $22 since Jones filed its tender offer with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A Jones spokeswoman declined to comment. (Bloomberg)
THE NATION
House-Senate panel OK's pension relief
House and Senate negotiators agreed on a massive pension relief bill for companies, but a lack of Democratic support made final passage uncertain. The lawmakers, reconciling rival House and Senate bills, agreed to provide about $80 billion in relief for US companies struggling to fund traditional pensions and added $1.6 billion in extra aid for pension plans of major airlines and steel companies. But Democrats refused to go along with the deal, angry that the majority Republicans had agreed to help only about 4 percent of pension plans sponsored by more than one employer. These cover mostly unionized workers in industries such as trucking and construction. (Reuters)
. . .Etc.
State Street Corp. hired John Schwartz to lead its US equity sales team, a newly created position, as the company tries to meet growing demand for research and trading services. He joined Boston's State Street last month and also has the title of senior vice president . . . Tenon Ltd., a New Zealand exporter of lumber and moldings, said it agreed to sell rights to harvest its Tarawera forest to Hancock Natural Resources Group Inc. for $109 million. Hancock Natural, a unit of Boston-based John Hancock Financial Services, also agreed to buy other forest interests from Kiwi Forests Group Ltd. . . . Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge said it would license to Procter & Gamble Co. an experimental drug for inflammatory bowel disease. Genzyme will get initial payments of as much as $10 million and royalties on sales. (Globe wire services)
