Liberty Mutual chairman seeks insurance changes

March 28, 2007

Liberty Mutual Group chairman Edmund F. Kelly urged Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes to quickly implement a new system for apportioning among automobile insurers the drivers that no company wants to insure voluntarily. Kelly cited a report issued Monday by a study group appointed by Governor Deval Patrick that said the current system is "unduly complex and susceptible to gaming." The seven-member study group, however, urged Burnes to hold off on implementation until the effect of other reform efforts can be assessed or in conjunction with broader changes to the state's heavily regulated auto insurance system. (Bruce Mohl)

Governor Deval Patrick named a Boston energy consultant and former state official, Paul J. Hibbard, to head the state utility regulation commission. Hibbard, a Boxford resident, is a vice president at Analysis Group, where he has advised utilities, government agencies, and foundations on energy and environmental policy. Hibbard takes over April 11 as chairman of what will be called the Commonwealth Utilities Commission. Legislators recently approved a Patrick plan to abolish the DTE and its five commissioners, replacing it with a new utilities commission run by a three-person board. It will regulate electric and gas utilities only. A separate commissioner will oversee telecommunications and cable television. (Peter J. Howe)

Carl Icahn's High River LP investment firm sued Shire PLC, seeking damages over the UK drug maker's 2005 purchase of Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. for $1.6 billion. Some Transkaryotic directors violated their duties by failing to have the deal approved by "fully informed" vote of shareholders, High River said in a sealed complaint filed March 7 in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington and made public by court order. High River said Cambridge-based Transkaryotic didn't seek to get the best price for shareholders. (Bloomberg)

The New York Times Co.'s About.com bought Framingham-based UCompareHealthCare.com, a website that rates hospitals, nursing homes, and other care providers, to lure more consumers to its fastest-growing business. UCompareHealthCare founder Mark Donnelly and the company's employees will join About.com. Times Co. is the parent of The Boston Globe. Terms of the purchase weren't disclosed. (Bloomberg)

Cognex Corp., a Natick maker of machine vision sensors and systems, said president and chief operating officer James Hoffmaster resigned "to pursue other interests." He'll be replaced on an interim basis by chief executive and chairman Robert Shillman. Hoffmaster left voluntarily, Cognex said. (Bloomberg)

THE NATION

Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs, will probably accept real estate billionaire Sam Zell's $8 billion takeover offer by the end of the week, according to people familiar with the matter. An agreement is likely by Tribune's self-imposed deadline of March 31, said the people, who declined to be named because no decision has been made. Zell's offer of $33 a share is 6.8 percent above Monday's close. Zell's offer was competing with the company's plan to reorganize, as well as less-attractive bids from the company's largest shareholder, the Chandler family, and California billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad. (Bloomberg)

A federal investigation has been launched into Atlanta-based Beazer Homes' mortgage lending and other financial practices, an FBI agent said. The investigation grew from allegations of fraud in the Charlotte, N.C., area. The FBI, the inspector general at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the US attorney, and the IRS are cooperating in the probe, which involves "fraud in general," said Ken Lucas, a spokesman for the FBI in Charlotte. The Beazer program that sparked the investigation has been used to finance homes in all of the company's 40 housing markets. Beazer, one of the nation's largest home builders, said it "cannot comment on or verify any investigation." (Cox News Service)