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October 31, 2007

LoJack profit up, revenue off target

LoJack Corp., which makes vehicle tracking devices, said today that third-quarter earnings jumped 26 percent, beating Wall Street's profit forecast but not its revenue prediction due to weakness in the California car market.

LoJack shares surged $1.32, or 8.1 percent, to $17.59 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $14.75 and $24.24 during the past 52 weeks.

Third-quarter earnings grew to $6.5 million, or 34 cents per share, from $5.2 million, or 28 cents per share, in the prior year. Adjusted to exclude a 4 cent per share gain related to a lawsuit, LoJack earned 30 cents per share in the most recent quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast third-quarter earnings of 27 cents per share. Such forecasts typically exclude one-time gains.

Quarterly revenues rose 2 percent to $55.7 million, from $54.9 million in the third quarter of 2006. Analysts forecast revenue of $58.4 million.

Gross margin as a percentage of revenue rose to 57 percent, from 54 percent in the third quarter of 2006. Chairman and Chief Executive Richard T. Riley attributed the improvement to increased royalty revenue, as well as efforts to reduce manufacturing and installation costs.

He said revenue and unit growth fell short of expectations, due to an ongoing decline in car sales in California, the company's largest single market, which he attributed to the state's weak economic condition.

Riley noted that the company's international licensee and motorcycle businesses continued to book unit and revenue growth during the quarter. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

Tego raises $6 million

Tego Inc. announced today that it has closed a $6 million Series A investment.

The Waltham company is a designer and producer of high-memory, passive radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips for the aerospace, defense, transportation, and other industries that require large amounts of data to be stored on a passive tag.

The investment was led by Bainco International Investors, an asset management and wealth advisory firm with offices in Wellesley, Tego said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:03 PM | Comments (0)

Bryan Corporation fined

A Woburn-based company has agreed to plead guilty to charges it shipped drugs and medical devices to hospitals without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan says Bryan Corporation tried to hide evidence from the FDA about the operation.

The company has agreed to pay just over $485,000 plus interest to resolve potential civil claims on charges it shipped its "sterile talc powder" drug without testing to ensure it was indeed sterile.

Prosecutors say the company continued to ship the drug even after receiving word that it had failed testing.

Bryan Corporation also sold an additive to bone cement without first getting the required approval from the FDA. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:00 PM | Comments (0)

Watts Water declares dividend

Watts Water Technologies Inc., a water valve manufacturer, declared a regular quarterly dividend of 10 cents.

The company, which is based in North Andover, said Tuesday it will pay the dividend on Dec. 7 to shareholders of record Nov. 26. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

Bain buys American Standard division

American Standard Cos. announced today the completion of the sale of its bath-and-kitchen products division to Bain Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm with offices in Boston, for $1.745 billion.

Plans for the sale were first disclosed in July.

The bath-and-kitchen products business had 2006 sales of $2.4 billion, and the business employs 26,000 workers in 23 countries worldwide, New Jersey-based American Standard said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

JetBlue "treating" passengers on Halloween

JetBlue Airways Corp. said today that in salute to Halloween, travelers on its aircraft today will be treated to AirHeads Blue Mystery Blast candies whether they are in costume or not.

The New York-based airlines includes the Boston market in its service area.

"We are constantly looking for fun and creative ways to enhance the JetBlue experience, and what better way to celebrate Halloween with our customers than a trick-or-treat party at 30,000 feet?" JetBlue chief executive Dave Barger said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

Outlets sign on with Maine shopping complex

A developer of a lifestyle shopping complex in Freeport, Maine, said today it has entered into leases with four "premier outlet stores."

The developer of Freeport Village Station is Berenson Associates Inc. of Boston, and Berenson said it has signed leases with
Calvin Klein, Izod, Van Heusen, and Geoffrey Beene.

Plans call for Freeport Village Station to be a 120,000-square-foot, multi-level complex with space for between 30 and 40 factory outlet stores and restaurants, said Berenson, which added that the project is expected to open in the spring of 2009.

Berenson was selected to develop the site by L.L. Bean Inc., the famed retailer and outdoor brand that has its headquarters in Freeport, Berenson said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. issues phishing brochure

The office of Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin today announced today that it has prepared a brochure titled "Eight Tips to Avoid Phishing Scams" out of concern that many residents are potential targets for this kind of Internet scam.

Phishing attacks are fake e-mail messages that appear to be from banks, government agencies, or businesses and that seek to trick recipients into disclosing sensitive information about themselves such as credit card numbers.

Galvin's office said its securities division has recently received reports that Massachusetts residents are receiving e-mails purporting to be from US Internal Revenue Service but "in reality are from criminals trying to lure unsuspecting citizens with the promise of eligibility for a tax refund."

One topic discussed in Galvin's brochure is how to read a website address so a consumer is not taken in by a site that appears to be legitimate but is not, Galvin's office said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

Donate securities over cash, study advises

Consumers making charitable donations could realize big tax savings if they donate securities instead of cash, according to a new survey from Fidelity Investments, the Boston mutual funds giant.

In a research report titled "Smart Giving," Fidelity noted that 10 million to 20 million US households have the potential to realize additional tax savings of $2.2 billion to $4.5 billion annually by donating securities with long-term appreciation - stocks, bonds, and mutual funds - instead of giving cash directly to charities.

Those savings are over and above the savings that donors receive from lowering their income taxes as a result of making the donation, said Fidelity, which offers a range of wealth-management services to consumers, including guidance on charitable giving.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: Modest pay raises ahead

Defer those dreams of buying an HD-TV or a snazzy sports car; according to a new survey, US workers should expect only modest pay increases in 2008.

The survey is from Salary.com Inc., a Waltham-based provider of on-demand compensation management solutions that help businesses and individuals manage pay and performance.

The company's National Salary Budget Survey revealed that salaries are budgeted to increase 3.8 percent next year and that 64 percent of companies are planning no change in their salary budgets between 2007 and 2008, Salary.com said.

And workers should think twice before moving to Kansas City or St. Louis; companies in those markets are expected to grant the smallest pay increases among the cities that Salary.com surveyed, Salary.com said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:21 AM | Comments (0)

PTC will restate prior financial reports

Parametric Technology Corp., maker of software used to manage online content and publishing systems, today issued fiscal fourth quarter earnings, and said it would restate some of its financial results.

The news, along with 2008 guidance that pleased investors, sent Parametric shares up $1.63, or 9.2 percent, to $19.35 in premarket trading. Shares closed at $17.72 on Tuesday.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Parametric said it earned $36.1 million, or 31 cents per share.

The company, which also said it plans to restate previous financial results related to certain transactions recorded during the 2001 to 2006 fiscal years, did not provide year-ago figures.

Excluding one-time charges and gains, the company said it posted an adjusted profit of $44.5 million, or 38 cents per share, for the recent quarter.

Revenue totaled $266.7 million, representing a 9 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2006, the company said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 26 cents per share on $246 million in revenue.

For fiscal 2007, Parametric said it earned $155.8 million, or $1.33 per share, on $941.5 million in revenue.

Parametric said the restatement stems from what appears to be a fraudulent scheme conducted by a Toshiba Corp. employee.

The revenue associated with the transactions is about $41 million and is expected to lower the company's fiscal 2006 revenue by about $8 million, Parametric said.

The company said that as part of the restatement it also plans to record adjustments to correct other previously identified immaterial errors.

Parametric said it does not expect its results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2007 to be materially affected by the restatement. Parametric plans to complete the restatement and to file its annual report by the Nov. 29 deadline. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)

New Bedford instant film plant to close

A New Bedford company once owned by Polaroid is shutting down operations after failing to find a buyer.

MultiLayer Coating Technologies made the coating used for instant film, which has been largely supplanted by digital cameras.

The company plans to lay off 110 of its 176 workers Friday, another 50 next month and the rest at the end of the year.

A group of investors bought the plant from Polaroid last year, hoping to become an independent contractor with a diversified product line. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:08 AM | Comments (0)

ArQule starts Phase 2 trials

Woburn biotechnology firm ArQule Inc. announced today the initiation of two Phase 2 trials for ARQ 197, an inhibitor of the c-Met molecule.

The trials will be conducted in patients with Microphthalmia Transcription Factor, or MiT, tumors and in patients with pancreatic cancer, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)

Iron Mountain buys Stratify

Iron Mountain Inc., a provider of information protection and storage services for electronic data, today said it agreed to buy Stratify Inc. for about $158 million in cash.

Stratify, based in Mountain View, Calif., develops software and provides services for reviewing electronic documents. The services are used by companies that are involved in legal or regulatory inquiries that require them to go back over past company documents.

Iron Mountain said the acquisition will boost its "eDiscovery" services, which help companies manage paper and digital information for discovery and data investigations.

Also today, Iron Mountain raised its revenue projections for 2007.

The company expects the deal to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)

UU Service Committee moves HQ

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, a human rights organization, said it has moved its national headquarters to a new location in Cambridge's Central Square.

The service committee, which refers to itself as UUSC, said it moved from 130 Prospect St. in Central Square to 689 Massachusetts Ave.

"This new and larger space will inspire existing and creative way to engage our members, supporters, and other human rights defenders," Charlie Clements, UUSC president and chief executive, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)

Iron Mountain boosts revenue target

Iron Mountain Inc., a provider of information protection and storage services for electronic data, today raised its 2007 revenue target after third-quarter results exceeded expectations.

The company now expects full-year revenue ranging from $2.7 billion to $2.72 billion. In September, Iron Mountain told Wall Street to expect revenue of $2.67 bill to $2.7 billion.

The mean analyst estimate is $2.69 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

For the fourth quarter, Iron Mountain expects revenue of $697 million to $712 million. Wall Street projections average $698 million.

The forecasts do not include any expected results from the planned acquisition of Stratify Inc., announced separately today.

Iron Mountain reported earlier that third-quarter earnings nearly doubled. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)

Report: green IT on the rise

Green information technology is a growing concern that is significantly impacting how executives will make decisions about buying technology, both now and in the future, according to a new report.

The report is from IDC, a Framingham-based firm that provides market intelligence and advisory services.

According to an IDC survey, 80 percent of executives say that green IT is growing in importance for their operation, and 43 percent say they consider a vendor's "greenness" when selecting their suppliers.

"From energy efficiency to ease of recyclability, a product's greenness is becoming a more important component in the IT buying equation," IDC said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

Biopure back in Nasdaq compliance

Biopure Corp., a Cambridge drug company that develops oxygen therapeutics, said that the symbol for its Class A common stock will revert from BPURD to BPUR at the opening of today's trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Two weeks ago, the company said it had been notified by Nasdaq that it had regained compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Pops taps PermissionTV tech

PermissionTV of Waltham said today that its Internet video platform powers BostonPops.TV, an online video initiative of the orchestra.

The Internet TV programming is available free of charge, said PermissionTV, which added that the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the parent company of the Pops, looks to use online video to reach out to "a younger, Web-centric audience."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

U.S. mortgage applications up

Refinance applications lifted a weekly survey that tracks mortgage application activity.

The survey is compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents the real estate finance industry.

For the week ending Oct. 26, the survey's market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 681.7, an increase of 3.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, the association said, and on an unadjusted basis, the index was up 19.5 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The survey's refinance index increased 9.2 percent to 2249.0, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)

Kronos acquires Deploy Solutions

Chelmsford software maker Kronos Inc., which helps businesses manage their work forces, said today it has acquired Deploy Solutions Inc. to solidify its position in field-based recruiting.

Deploy of Newton provides companies with software that helps them plan, hire, and deploy their work forces.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"This acquisition fortifies our ability to help organizations hire the best people and maximize their performance," Kronos chief executive Aron Ain said in a statement.

Kronos added that Deploy brings strength to the company's existing target markets such as retail and dining.

In March, Kronos disclosed that it had agreed to be acquired for $1.74 billion by a private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners LLC of San Francisco.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:13 AM | Comments (0)

IBasis promotes Van lerland

Burlington's iBasis Inc., a wholesale carrier of international long-distance telephone calls, announced today that it has named Edwin van Ierland as senior vice president of sales.

Van Ierland joined the company in September in conjunction with the company's transaction with Dutch national carrier Royal KPN, which resulted in the acquisition of KPN Global Carrier Services by iBasis, iBasis said.

Van Ierland replaces Dan Powdermaker, iBasis said.

"We're grateful for Dan Powdermaker's hard work and many accomplishments on behalf of iBasis, and we wish him well in the future," iBasis president and chief executive Ofer Gneezy said in a statement. "We look forward to Edwin's leadership as we integrate the expanded global sales team and address the tremendous market opportunities before us."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:04 AM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2007

Ellsbury claims his taco

Jacoby Ellsbury chomped down on a taco during Taco Bell's free taco promotion today. Ellsbury helped bring the promotion to fruition by stealing a base in the World Series. (Pat Greenhouse / Globe Staff)

Jacoby Ellsbury reaped the rewards of his fast footwork on the basepaths today, appearing at a Taco Bell in Boston to claim one of the free tacos that the fast-food chain promised to customers nationwide if a player stole a base during the World Series.

The Red Sox outfielder stole second base in the fourth inning of the second game of the series, putting the company's ``Steal a Base, Steal a Taco'' promotion into play and elevating the rookie's profile as a promo man.

Ellsbury was mobbed by fans at the restaurant. The Taco Bell appearance is just one of the deals that he expects to ink before the glow of the Red Sox series victory fades, according to his agent, Joseph Urbon.

Not everyone was enamored of the marketing push by the California-based Mexican fast-food chain, a division of YUM! Brands, which has added staffers, security and bulked up orders for tomatos, beef and other taco fixings in anticipation of a run on tacos at its 5,800 stores nationwide today.

The promotion was talked up by Fox broadcasters during the series, and the network played snippets of players in the Red Sox dugout overheard discussing the giveaway, drawing criticism from some fans.

Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch said the company expected to give away "millions and millions of tacos" today. (Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 5:02 PM | Comments (0)

Law firm with Hub office plans merger

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, a US law firm with offices in Boston, said today it plans to merge with Kendall Freeman of London, effective January 1.

The merger will "significantly enhance" the capabilities of the firms' insurance and reinsurance practices and provide "an international platform to serve clients on both sides of the Atlantic," the firms said in a press release.

The combined firm will have more than 600 attorneys and solicitors practicing in 11 offices, the firms said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:37 PM | Comments (0)

Putnam Investments cuts 75 jobs

Putnam Investments recently cut about 75 jobs in distribution and support functions after the mid-year acquisition of the money manager by an affiliate of Canada's Power Financial Corp, Putnam said.

"Putnam eliminated approximately 75 jobs in August in the distribution and support areas where there was some redundant capability," Putnam spokeswoman Laura McNamara said on Tuesday. "No jobs were impacted in the investment division," she said. The Boston-based money manager was bought in early August by Power Financial's Great-West Lifeco Incaffiliate from insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc for $3.9 billion in cash.

The cuts came as Putnam appointed William Connolly in August as head of its global distribution.

Putnam has around 2,700 employees and $191 billion in assets under management, McNamara said. She said she could not provide an estimate of the financial impact of the job cuts.

Assets have shrunk from about $371 billion in 2000 as growth-style investing -- or picking stocks that show fast earnings growth, which was Putnam's key strength -- went out of favor in the 2000-2002 bear market and as it was later charged by regulators with trading abuses.

But with growth-style investing making a comeback in recent months, Putnam's performance could improve. Outflows from its stock and bond funds have slowed to $872 million in September from more than $1 billion both in August and September 2006, according to data from research firm Financial Research Corp. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)

Comcast will offer Sox "rolling rally" reruns

"All Sox, all the time" is a mantra Comcast Corp. is taking to heart.

The Philadelphia-based cable company said today that televised replays of the rolling Red Sox victory tour through Boston today will be available through November from its Comcast-on-Demand feature; that feature is available at no additional cost to all Comcast Digital Cable customers, the company said.

Comcast customers who can't get enough of pitcher Jonathan Papelbon's "Riverdance" inspired choreography or Dropkick Murphys' music will be able to watch both "highlights and wall-to-wall coverage" of the day's events, the company said.

Coverage of the rolling tour can be found on the Comcast-on-Demand menu by selecting "Get Local," then "NESN," and then "Sox Parade Coverage," Comcast said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:12 PM | Comments (0)

Patrick pitches $1 billion biotech plan

Gov. Deval Patrick hoped to nudge lawmakers into action on his ambitious 10-year, $1 billion life sciences initiative today, as he testified before a key legislative committee.

Patrick was to make his case before the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. Patrick said the bill, announced in May and filed in July, would transform Massachusetts into a global leader in the emerging biotechnology industry.

Patrick has expressed frustration in recent weeks with what he's described as the slow pace of lawmakers to act on his key initiatives.

"I was sent here to make change and it is frustrating the pace of change," Patrick said last week. "If there are proposals pending, then I fully expect that they're going to get a hearing and that that hearing would be fair and open."

Lawmakers have responded by saying Patrick -- used to the speed of the corporate world -- doesn't understand the deliberative nature of the Legislature.

"I know he's frustrated just as the previous governor was frustrated," said Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth. "When you come from the private sector and don't know how government works, it's frustrating."

The bill includes $500 million in capital funds to create a Massachusetts Stem Cell Bank and a research center to build on the work of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Craig Mello at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. It also includes $15 million for smaller research and business grants.

The bank would be the world's largest repository of new stem cells lines.

Critics, including anti-abortion activists, say the state shouldn't invest money in embryonic stem cell research because it involves the destruction of human life at its very earliest stages. Other critics say the money should be spread to other industries instead of being focused narrowly on the biotechnology and life sciences sector.

But supporters in the biotechnology industry say the money is critical.

"More than any other industry, the life sciences require an intensive concentration of both human and monetary capital over many years," said Joshua Boger, president and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge.

Una Ryan, president and CEO of AVANT Immunotherapeutics in Needham, said she was able to locate her manufacturing facility in Fall River through a state-backed financing program despite offers from other states.

"This initiative will not only level the playing field with states like California and North Carolina, it will put us and should keep us in the lead," she said. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)

Boston Ventures will sell Vista III Media

Private equity firm Boston Ventures announced today that it has agreed to sell Vista III Media, an Atlanta-based regional provider of cable TV, high-speed Internet, and phone services.

The prospective buyer is Harron Communications, a Pennsylvania-based cable and communications systems operator, said Boston Ventures, which is also an investor in Harron.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclose, and a call to a Boston Ventures spokesman was not immediately returned.

The transaction is expected to be completed before year end, Boston Ventures said in a press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

IRobot crowns robot contest winner

A Maryland gadgeteer has pocketed $5,000 for coming up with the winning design in a robot contest sponsored by iRobot Corp.of Burlington.

Danh Trinh of Towson, Md., used the iRobot Create Programmable Robot to create a personal home robot that can water plants, control lights and appliances, play music, and remind owners to take medication, iRobot said.

The iRobot Create Challenge was sponsored by Tom's Hardware Guide and hosted by Instructables.com, and entries were judged on aesthetics, intelligence, utility, entertainment value, and originality, said iRobot, which is known for such products as the Roomba, a robot that can vacuum floors, and the Packbot, a military robot that can detect battlefield threats.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)

Phase Forward buys Green Mountain Logic

Phase Forward Inc. of Waltham said today it has acquired privately held Green Mountain Logic in an all-cash transaction valued at $5.25 million.

Phase Forward provides data management services for biopharmaceutical companies engaged in clinical drug trials, and Green Mountain Logic of Montpelier, Vt., provides process automation software for managing Phase 1 drug trials.

Green Mountain Logic's primary product is called LabPas CT, and Phase Forward president and chief executive Bob Weiler said in a statement, "Green Mountain Logic's LabPas CT brings important functionality to the Phase Forward product portfolio, enabling us to offer a broader and more extensive solution for Phase 1 clinical trials."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

Hines scholarship established

A law firm and a trade group announced today the establishment of a scholarship at Boston College High School to honor Edward F. "Ned" Hines Jr., a prominent tax attorney and a community volunteer who died last year.

The Associated Industries of Massachusetts, an employers association that Hines once chaired, and Choate, Hall & Stewart, a law firm where Hines was a partner for many years, said they will announce the scholarship at a luncheon today at the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel.

The scholarship will be awarded to a qualified student who could not attend BC High without financial assistance, AIM and Choate, Hall & Stewart said; BC High was Hines' alma mater.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

Warren Group names Valvo publisher

The Warren Group said today that it has named Vincent M. Valvo as its group publisher.

In that capacity, Valvo will oversee all print, online, and data product initiatives, said the Warren Group, a Boston-based firm that provides New England real estate data; the Warren Group also publishes Banker & Tradesman.

Valvo is currently the editorial and online director for New England Business Media of Worcester, which is known for such publications as the Worcester Business Journal, the Warren Group noted.

Valvo previously served with the Warren Group in several capacities from 1984 until 2000, the firm noted.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)

EMC buys Voyence of Texas

EMC Corp., the data storage giant based in Hopkinton, said today that it has acquired Voyence Inc. of Texas.

Voyence of Texas specializes in providing network configuration and change management solutions, and the acquisition complements and extends EMC's position in the rapidly emerging information-technology service management marketplace, EMC said.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but EMC said that the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on EMC's revenues or earnings-per-share in 2007.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

Legislators press SWB on layoffs

Several members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation have sent a letter to S.W.B. New England demanding an explanation for the recent closing of a West Bridgewater facility and the laying off the plant's 140 workers.

Under federal law, a large company is required to notify employees of impending plant closings, and S.W.B. may have failed to comply with the notification provision of that law, the members of Congress asserted in a letter dated yesterday and signed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Senator John F. Kerry, and Representative Stephen F. Lynch, a South Boston Democrat.

According to its website, S.W.B. is a wholesale distributor of ethnic foods.

The letter from Kennedy, Kerry, and Lynch said that S.W.B. closed its doors at a West Bridgewater facility and laid off 140 workers earlier this month.

In a statement included in a press release, Kerry said he was "pushing to find out" whether S.W.B. New England violated a federal law known as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining, or WARN, Act, which requires that businesses that employ 100 or more workers to provide at least 60 days advance written notice prior to closing a plant or facility.

Calls to S.W.B. were not immediately returned.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)

Acceleron raises $31 million

Acceleron Pharma Inc., a Cambridge company focused on bone and muscle growth treatments, said today it has raised $31 million in Series C financing.

Acceleron said it plans to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its clinical and preclinical pipeline and further develop its product platform; early next year, Acceleron said it expects to advance its ACE-011 program for bone growth into Phase 2 clinical trials.

Bessemer Venture Partners, which has offices in Wellesley, led the round along with other new investors, MPM BioEquities, which has offices in Boston, and QVT Financial, which has offices in New York, Acceleron said.

All existing institutional investors also participated in the round, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)

Report: 1b more mobile users by 2011

A new report from Pyramid Research anticipates that the global mobile market will add 1 billion subscribers to its current base of 2.8 billion subscribers over the next three years.

Roughly 87 percent of those additional billion new subscribers will come from emerging economies, and India, not China, will add the most subscribers, said Pyramid, a research firm with offices in Cambridge.

The report is titled, "The Next Billion: How Emerging Markets Are Shaping the Mobile Industry."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)

Smith & Wesson reduces outlook

Gun maker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. on Monday reported preliminary second-quarter income below analyst estimates, and reduced its outlook for the full year.

Smith & Wesson expects to report earnings of 5 cents per share to 7 cents per share for the second fiscal quarter ending Oct. 31, compared with earnings of 7 cents per share in the comparable year-ago period. The company expects revenue to grow by 36 percent to 40 percent, to a range of $69 million to $71 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect earnings of 12 cents per share on revenue of $82.4 million.

Smith & Wesson lowered its full-year profit guidance to $23.5 million, or 53 cents per share, from a previous outlook of $28.5 million, or 63 cents per share.

The company expects full-year revenue of $325 million, versus a previous outlook of $330 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected full-year earnings of 64 cents per share on revenue of $334.9 million, on average.

Current guidance represents a 81 percent increase in profit and a 38 percent increase in revenue, Smith & Wesson said.

Results in the second quarter were hurt by "softness in the market for hunting rifles and shotguns, driven by lower than expected consumer demand, a buildup of pre-season retail inventories, and unseasonably warm autumn weather, which decreased retail traffic and compressed the fall hunting season," Chief Executive Michael Golden said in a statement.

The company expects to increase promotional spending, which will hurt gross profit margins. Smith & Wesson now expects full-year gross margins of 33.5 percent to 34.5 percent, below its previous guidance of 35 percent to 36 percent but higher than fiscal 2007 gross margins of 32.3 percent.

Smith & Wesson shares plummeted $4.74, or 23.6 percent, to $15.35 in after-hours trading, after dropping 66 cents, or 3.2 percent, to close at $20.09. The stock has ranged from $9.61 to $22.80 over the past year. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

Sepracor posts lower earnings

Sepracor Inc posted lower third-quarter earnings today, hurt by a decline in sales of its respiratory drug Xopenex, but the company's shares rose 14 percent in premarket trading after it said it would cut about 300 positions from its sales force.

The Marlborough, Massachusetts-based drug company posted a net profit of $42.9 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with $64.4 million, or 56 cents a share, a year ago.

Sepracor projected the sales force reduction and other cost cutting would lower sales and marketing expenses by $90 million to $100 million next year.

Third-quarter revenue fell 1.9 percent to $283.9 million.

Sales of Lunesta rose 13.6 percent to $160.9 million, while sales of Xopenex inhalation solution fell nearly 25 percent to $94.4 million. The decline was mainly the result of a change in reimbursement rates made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the second quarter.

The company expects 2008 earnings per share of between $2.35 to $2.45 a share. It said it expects 2007 earnings per share of $1.05 to $1.15. Previously it forecast a range of $1.00 to $1.30. The 2007 outlook includes an expected restructuring charge from the sales force reorganization.

Sepracor's shares rose to $26.30 in electronic trading before the market opened from a close of $23.02 on Monday on Nasdaq Stock Market. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:38 AM | Comments (0)

Mirror Image partners with Kiptronic

Mirror Image Internet said today it is partnering with Kiptronic Inc., a California company that provides an ad insertion platform for media content that can be downloaded onto such devices as iPods, cellphones, and PC's.

Mirror Image of Tewksbury delivers Internet infrastructure services, including content delivery solutions.

The partnership enables the two companies to provide joint customers with "seamless rich media advertising insertion," they said.

The partnership will also allow Kiptronic to attract new media content while providing Mirror Image with a new revenue stream from hosting and delivering a portion of the rich media advertisements enabled by Kiptronic, the companies said.

According to Kiptronic, it provides a dynamic ad and measurement platform to media publishers that allows them to manage, measure, and monetize their downloadable content assets.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)

EHealth licenses tech to Blue Cross

California's eHealth Inc. said today it is licensing its health insurance e-commerce platform to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state's largest health insurer with about 3 million members.

According to eHealth, the licensing agreement will provide individuals and families in Massachusetts with access to all of eHealth's proprietary shopping technology, which will allow them to review quotes, compare plans side by side, and apply for coverage through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts website.

"The platform also makes it easy for consumers to find the plan best suited to their healthcare needs, confirm their preferred doctors are covered, and complete the application process with electronic signature and payment options," eHealth said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

iBasis expands services

Burlington's iBasis Inc., a behind-the-scenes telecommunications company, today unveiled DirectSIP, an advanced portfolio of wholesale VoIP services.

These services will help voice-over-broadband, or VoBB, providers to bring session-initiation-protocol, or SIP, voice applications and services to market quickly and cost-effectively, said iBasis, which cited an industry study that estimates that SIP-based services have the potential to be a market that generates more than $150 billion in annual revenues some day.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

AMSC launches Chinese division

American Superconductor Corp., the Westborough-based energy technology company, announced today the formation of a new division called AMSC China.

The division is designed to serve the growing wind energy, power grid, and industrial markets in China, and it currently employs 25 Chinese citizens, the company said.

The company said it has a business license that allows for the domestic manufacturing and sales of its proprietary power electronics and superconductor products.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)

Championship arrives at Bob's Stores

Bob's Stores wants to alert all Sox fans that it is stocking official World Series Championship merchandise at its local stores.

Bob's is a chain operated by retail giant TJX Cos. of Framingham, which is also known for its T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2007

Carr's bid to change stations soon denied

An appeals court justice slammed the door on conservative talk show host Howie Carr’s hopes of getting onto WTKK-FM soon.

In a nine-page ruling issued today, the judge denied Carr’s bid to work for the station of his choice as his case winds through the courts, and refused to kick parts of the case up to a full panel of appellant judges.

‘‘I deny each request,’’ wrote the judge, Andrew Grainger. On the question of passing parts of the case to additional appeals justices, Grainger wrote that ‘‘there is no good reason for opening the door to multiple appeals.’’

The speedy rebuke marked the latest legal setback for Carr, who seeks to bolt from WRKO-AM for the rival FM station.

‘‘We respect the Court’s decision, but we continue to believe that Howie Carr should be able to work for the station he chooses. We are keeping all options open as we decide how to move forward,’’ Greater Media, which owns WTKK, said in a statement.

Carr’s spokeswoman, Nancy J. Sterling, had no immediate comment on the ruling.

At issue is language in Carr’s contract with WRKO, owned by Entercom Boston, that allows the station to match a rival’s job offer. When WRKO matched the $6.75cq millioncq contract that Carr had received from WTKK, Entercom contended that it had extended its contract with the popular talk show host by five years for the same pay. (Diedtra Henderson, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 5:55 PM | Comments (0)

Mike FM to be "Mike Lowell FM" Tuesday

Officials at a local radio station that calls itself "Mike FM" said they plan to temporarily rename the station "Mike Lowell FM" for the duration of tomorrow's broadcast.

Lowell, of course, is the Red Sox third baseman who won the World Series MVP award.

And while Lowell and his mates are navigating Back Bay and downtown during the Duck Boats flotilla portion of tomorrow's planned rolling rally victory tour, the radio station at 93.7 on your FM dial will be proclaiming itself as "Mike Lowell FM."

Mike FM, whose music mantra is "We play everything," will return to its regular name Wednesday, station officials said in a press release.

Mike FM is one of several radio stations owned by Entercom Communications Corp. of Pennsylvania.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:43 PM | Comments (0)

One Laptop per Child hits $200 mark

A computer developed for poor children around the world, dubbed 'the $100 laptop,' has reached a milestone: Its price tag is now $200.

The One Laptop per Child Foundation, founded by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte, has started offering the lime-green-and-white machines in lots of 10,000 for $200 apiece on its Web site (http://laptopfoundation.org/participate/givemany.shtml).

Two weeks ago, a foundation executive confirmed recent estimates that the computer would cost $188, which was already higher than the $150 price tag in February and $176 in April.

The laptops are scheduled to go into production next month at a factory in China, far behind their original schedule and in quantities that are a fraction of Negroponte's earlier projections.

It is unclear when the machines will be ready for customers, as the Web site said version 1.0 of the software that runs the machine will not be ready until Dec. 7.

Foundation spokesman George Snell declined comment on the pricing or release schedule.

When Negroponte said he could produce the laptops for $100, industry analysts said it had the potential to shake up the PC industry, ushering in an era of low-cost computing.

He hoped to keep the price down by achieving unprecedented economies of scale for a start-up manufacturer, and in April, he told Reuters he expected to have orders for 2.5 million laptops by May, with production targeted to begin in September.

But that has not panned out. So far the foundation has disclosed orders to three countries -- Uruguay, Peru and Mongolia. It has not said how many machines they have ordered.

Wayan Vota, an expert on using technology to promote economic development who publishes olpcnews.com, a blog that monitors the group's activities, estimates orders at no more than 200,000 laptops.

"One-hundred dollars was never a realistic price. By starting with an unrealistic price, he reduced his credibility selling the laptop," Vota said.

Negroponte, a charismatic technologist who counts News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim among his friends, has attracted a lot of attention for the foundation.

He has met with leaders around the globe and promoted the introduction of computers into classrooms in the most impoverished regions of the world. As he has done that, big technology companies have boosted spending on similar efforts.

The laptop features a keyboard that switches languages, a video camera, wireless connectivity and Linux software.

Microsoft Corp is trying to tailor Windows XP to work on the machine and recently said it is a few months away from knowing for sure whether it can accomplish that task.

The display switches from color to black-and-white for viewing in direct sunlight -- a breakthrough that the foundation is patenting and may license next year for commercial use.

The laptop needs just 2 watts of power compared with a typical laptop's 30 to 40 watts and does away with hard drives. It uses flash memory and four USB ports to add memory and other devices.

Earlier this year the foundation teamed up with Intel Corp , which is developing a rival machine. The two may work together on a second-generation laptop. This first machine runs on a microprocessor developed by Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc . (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)

Epix reports positive data on obesity drug

Epix Pharmaceuticals Inc. today reported positive data from an early-stage clinical trial for its drug candidate to treat obesity.

Findings from the trial of 21 obese, but otherwise healthy adults, showed those taking the developmental drug PRX-07034 for 28 days lost weight while adults on placebo gained weight.

Patients taking 600 milligrams of PRX-07034 twice daily lost an average of 1 pound, while adults on placebo gained 3 pounds. The biopharmaceutical company said the results were statistically significant.

"In this 28-day study, not only did the adults on PRX-07034 lose weight while those on placebo gained weight, but they were able to do so without any constraints on eating habits," said Michael G. Kauffman, chief executive of Epix.

Subjects in the study did not follow pre-specified dietary or exercise programs.

Meanwhile, Epix said PRX-07034 appeared well tolerated and there were no serious side effects. However, the company did cite an increase in the so-called corrected QT interval, a measurement which relates to the heart rate.

Earlier this year, Epix reported statistically significant improvements in cognitive function and weight loss from a Phase 1b trial of PRX-07034 in doses up to 600 mg taken once daily for 28 days. In that trial, PRX-07034 met the primary goal of safety and tolerability with no serious side effects.

PRX-07034 is also being developed for Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

Separately, Epix said a collaborative trial with U.S. National Institute of Mental Health for the drug candidate could start as early as the second quarter of 2008.

Shares of Epix fell 6 cents to $4.05 in afternoon trading. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $3.67 and $8.75. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

NE umemployment rate unchanged

The New England unemployment rate for September was 4.4 percent, essentially unchanged from the rates from both last month and from September 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Nationally, the September unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, roughly the same as the rate from the previous month, said the bureau, which is part of the US Department of Labor.

The New England unemployment rate has mostly stayed within the 4.5- to 4.8-percent range since September 2004, the bureau said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

NYSE Euronext taps Netezza

Netezza Corp. said today that the global exchange NYSE Euronext will use Netezza's streaming analytic appliances to analyze NYSE Eurnonext's ever expanding volume of data.

Framingham-based Netezza is a provider of analytic appliances, and NYSE Euronext operates an exchange group that offers a diverse array of financial products and services.

Netezza appliances will enable NYSE Euronext to improve organizational operations, investigate potential trading anomalies, and identify market trends, Netezza said.

According to NYSE Euronext, its data volumes are growing at 100 percent to 200 percent each year.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Gas prices rise for 2nd straight week

Gasoline prices have risen an average of 5 cents per gallon in Massachusetts over the past week. It's the second consecutive weekly increase as the impact of rising crude oil prices are felt at filling stations.

A statewide survey by AAA of Southern New England finds an average price of $2.72 for a gallon of regular, self-serve gasoline, compared with $2.67 one week ago.

Prices have increased by a total of 8 cents per gallon over the past two weeks, after several weeks of price stability.

The current average price in Massachusetts remains 13 cents below the national average of $2.85. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

Boston Beer extends NC brewing pact

Boston Beer Co., brewer of the Sam Adams beers, extended an agreement to allow SABMiller PLC to brew certain beers at a Miller Brewing Co. brewery in Eden, N.C., according to a regulatory filing.

Boston Beer said the current agreement ends Nov. 1, 2008, at which time the new extension agreement takes effect. The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal or how long the new extension agreement will last.

Boston Beer shares fell $1.06 to $52.84 in midday trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

Jordan's rebate has Sox fans sitting pretty

When Marty Rodweller uses a $2,000 windfall to either remodel her bathroom or take a trip to Ireland next spring, she'll be thanking the Boston Red Sox.

The 53-year-old academic counselor from Danvers was preparing today to send an application for a rebate on a mattress and bed frame she bought last spring from Jordan's Furniture.

The chain ran a promotion offering full rebates if the Red Sox were to win this year's World Series -- a statistical long shot that came true Sunday night when Boston beat the Colorado Rockies in a sweep.

Rodweller decided to go to bed before Game 4 ended and the Red Sox clinched. When she couldn't sleep, she returned to watch the game's final hour-and-a-half.

She didn't have trouble nodding off the second time, though, knowing she could expect to see her $2,000 rebate check in a few weeks.

"Because they won, I slept like a baby," she said. "Now, I can't decide if I'm going to spend the money on the bathroom or a trip to Ireland next spring."

Rodweller said she bought the bed because she needed it, not out of any premonition that the Red Sox would win it all for the second time in four years. But because of the Jordan's promotion, "I followed the team more closely than I usually do," she said.

The four-store chain promised free sofas, chairs, dining tables and beds to customers who bought between March 7 and April 16 if the Red Sox won the championship. Jordan's took about 30,000 orders during the promotion.

Chief Executive Eliot Tatelman hasn't disclosed how much the rebates would total, but he won't have to pay it all. He bought an insurance policy to cover the losses. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

Fidelity to cut bond trading charges

Fidelity Investments said today that it will cut prices on its retail trading charges, called concessions, for secondary market bond trades, starting Nov. 9.

The Boston mutual funds giant said the new pricing structure confirms its commitment to "competitive price leadership in offering transparent, low-cost bond pricing to individual investors."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)

J. Jill promotes "the art of layering"

J. Jill, a locally based clothing brand aimed at middle-age women, looks to help promote its fall line with fashion tips on "the art of layering."

In a press release issued today, J. Jill noted that it offers "a selection of light, fluid layers that easily mold to a 35+ woman's contours."

As fashion buffs know, an ensemble built around jester pants in the oatmeal palette is always a smart choice as temperatures turn nippy, but J. Jill offers a more detailed primer on how its customers can elevate cold-weather layering into a wardrobe art form.

With the exception of outerwear, layers should be light, not heavy, J. Jill advises, and fabrics should be soft and comfortable against the skin.

And all the ingredients need to orchestrate various layers into a single sartorial unit are available from J. Jill, the brand notes.

Or, as J. Jill said in its press release, "From the essential underlayer to soft shirtings, simple vests, thirsty sweaters, and more, J. Jill's choices for layering capture current fashion trends."

J. Jill is owned by Talbots Inc. of Hingham.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)

Dynamic Research wins Air Force subcontract

Dynamics Research Corp. of Andover said today it has been awarded a $6.4 million Air Force subcontract.

Dynamics Research, which specializes in technology management services and solutions for government programs, said it was awarded a task order as a subcontractor to Chickasaw Nation Industries LLC.

Under the agreement, Dynamics Research said it will provide the Air Force with advisory and assistance support services for the B-52 Aircraft Sustainment Group.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)

Cynosure launches new workstation

Cynosure Inc., a Westford company that develops and manufactures light-based aesthetic treatment systems, announced today a new workstation that can accelerate laser-assisted liposuction.

The addition to the Cynosure product line is 18-watt Smartlipo workstation, the company said.

According to Cynosure, a professional working the 18-watt Smartlipo can trim an area of belly fat in about 12 minutes, compared with the 35 minutes that would be needed if the professional were using a six-watt workstation.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

Nuance lands NY healthcare customer

Nuance Communications Inc. of Burlington said today that a primary healthcare delivery system in Upstate New York is using more of its speech technology in compiling patient data.

Lifetime Health Medical Group, a nonprofit system that serves geographies in and around Rochester and Buffalo, N.Y., has integrated a Nuance product called Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical 9 with its electronic-medical- record, or EMR, systems, Nuance said.

As a result, Lifetime Health doctors can describe "the patient encounter in their own words directly into the EMR through free-form dictation," Nuance said.

That option not only increases accuracy and cut costs, but it virtually eliminates doctors' reliance "on data entry via the keyboard," Nuance said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)

Xenith football helmet wins approval

Xenith LLC said today that its X1 football helmet won the approval of the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, which sets standards for protective athletic gear.

Boston-based Xenith said the X1 features an innovative head protection system that is more effective at managing energy at multiple impact levels.

"We see superior head protection as one part of a complete strategy for reducing the frequency and severity of concussions, which requires both innovation and education," Xenith founder and chief executive Vin Ferrara said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:47 AM | Comments (0)

Smith gets CFO nod at Barnev

Barnev Inc. announced today the appointment of Douglas Smith as chief financial officer.

The Andover company manufactures and sells BirthTrack, a continuous labor monitoring technology that offers real-time monitoring of both cervical dilation and fetal head descent in the birth canal during the labor process.

Before joining Barnev, Smith was chief financial officer at Axya Medical Inc., a Beverly company that provides of knotless fixation systems for minimally invasive surgery, Barnev said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)

Insulet shares in public offering

Insulet Corp., which makes an insulin management system, said today that its shareholders are offering 4,898,398 shares of common stock in a public offering.

The stock is being sold by shareholders and the company will not receive any proceeds. Insulet also granted underwriters the right to buy an additional 734,759 shares. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. are joint book-running managers for the offering.

Insulet, with headquarters in Bedford, had about 26.3 million shares outstanding as of its most recent reports. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:38 AM | Comments (0)

Cognex declares dividend

Cognex Corp., which operates natural gas processor MarkWest Energy Partners LP, on Friday declared a quarterly dividend of 9 cents per share.

The company, based in Natick, will pay the dividend on Nov. 30 to shareholders of record Nov. 16. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:35 AM | Comments (0)

Profit rises at Bruker BioSciences

Bruker BioSciences Corp., which makes X-ray technology and molecular analysis tools, said today that its third-quarter profit nearly tripled on a jump in product sales and a tax credit.

The company, which is based in Billerica, earned $8.7 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with a profit of $3 million, or 3 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue rose by 26 percent to $131.6 million from $104.9 million.

The company said a $2.4 million tax credit, related to tax law changes in Germany, added 2 cents per share to the third-quarter profit.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:26 AM | Comments (0)

Smartbox opens NE warehouse

Smartbox, a Virginia company focused on the portable self-storage and moving industry, announced the opening of its New England warehouse location in Amesbury.

Potential customers contact Smartbox, which then delivers flexibly sized storage containers directly to their door; users pack the containers according to their schedules, and when finished, they can either keep Smartboxes at their existing location or call the company to pick them up for storage at its climate-controlled storage center, Smartbox said.

Smartboxes are 8 feet long, 7 feet tall, and 5 feet wide and are designed to hold the contents of 1 1/2 rooms, or about 3,000 pounds, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

Rudolph & Co. changes name, offerings

Rudolph Communications, formerly Rudolph & Co. today announced a name change and new communications services.

In addition to public relations and media relations services, the Burlington firm said it now offers a variety of online content optimization capabilities and marketing communications services.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)

MIT develops tiny "electronic nose"

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that some of its researchers have engineered a tiny "electronic nose" with the help of a novel inkjet printing method.

This nose could be used to detect hazards, including carbon monoxide, harmful industrial solvents, and explosives, MIT said.

"Led by professor Harry Tuller, the researchers have devised a way to print thin sensor films onto a microchip, a process that could eventually allow for the mass production of highly sensitive gas detectors," MIT said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

Dusa settles patent dispute

Dusa Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Wilmington said today it has settled a patent dispute involving its acne product Nicomide with River's Edge Pharmaceuticals LLC.

River's Edge has agreed to make a lump-sum payment to Dusa for damages and it will permanently cease the manufacture, distribution, and sale of a NIC 750, a product similar to Nicomide, Dusa said.

As part of the settlement, Dusa has granted a perpetual exclusive license to River's Edge to manufacture and sell four of its products from the AVAR line, said Dusa, which focuses on dermatology products.

"We are very please to have fully resolved the dispute with River's Edge," Dusa president and chief executive Bob Doman said in a statement. "We intend for the settlement with River's Edge to send a strong signal that, moving forward, Dusa will vigorously defend its patent estate and intellectual property."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2007

Evergreen Solar shares surge

Investors rushed to buy up shares of Evergreen Solar Inc. today after the company reported improving results, expansion plans, and the intention to make an initial public offering for a joint venture yesterday.

Based in Marlborough, Evergreen develops, manufactures, and markets solar power products enabled by its proprietary String Ribbon technology.

In trading today on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Evergreen Solar stock rose $1.72, or 18.6 percent, to $10.95. Its shares have traded in a range of $6.97 to $13.21 over the past 52 weeks.

The company narrowed its loss in the third quarter on cost-control initiatives and said it expects to narrow its loss again in the fourth quarter on continued improvements. Profits from EverQ, Evergreen's joint venture with Renewable Energy Corp. and Q-Cells AG, helped boost results as well.

Evergreen and its partners will expand EverQ's production through 2012. They are also planning an initial public offering for the joint venture, though timing and specifics remain uncertain.

"With the new technology, expansion roadmap, and new silicon agreements, we continue to view that (Evergreen) provides investors with exposure to a "best-in-class" solar player across key verticals," said Pacific Growth Equities analyst J. Michael Horwitz. He reiterated a "Buy" rating for the company.

However, CIBC World Markets Corp. analyst Adam Hinckley maintained a "Sector Perform" or "Hold" rating on the shares, due to "low levels of profitability" until expansions -- which he finds encouraging -- are completed. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:23 PM | Comments (0)

Chestnut Hill Realty buys Plainville complex

Chestnut Hill Realty said today that one of its affiliates has purchased a 12-building complex of 399 rental apartments in Plainville for $41 million.

The complex, formerly known as Colonial Village, was renamed Village Green, said Chestnut Hill Realty, a real estate firm that owns and manages more than 3,500 rental units in the Greater Boston area and Rhode Island.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:32 PM | Comments (0)

Blimpless Hood still Sox-crazy

The Hood blimp, a familiar sight at many Red Sox home games, is absent from the Hub skyline - a rival dirigible seems to be hogging Fenway airspace lately - but HP Hood LLC still looks to keep its ice-cream profile high during the World Series.

Since the Sox won a world championship three years ago, the Lynnfield-based dairy products company has featured special Red Sox Ice Cream in such flavors as Green Monster Mint and Fenway Fudge.

And now, with the Sox two games away from winning this year's World Series, Hood is recommending that truly serious fans should think long and hard about making Red Sox Ice Cream an essential part of any pre-game ritual.

"Call us superstitious, but we're convinced that if Boston Red Sox fans eat enough Red Sox Ice Cream, victory will be assured," Lynne Bohan, Hood's vice president of public relations, said in a statement.

Fair enough, but what about the Hood blimp?

During a phone interview, Bohan explained that the Hood blimp often seen over Fenway this season was leased from mid June through mid October.

Now that the Hood lease has expired, she said, the blimp is likely hunkering down in a hanger in the Carolinas, stripped of its HP Hood markings and awaiting winter work from a client looking for airborne exposure in weather-friendly markets.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:27 PM | Comments (0)

Converse readies Dwyane Wade ad

Converse Inc., the North Andover-based sneaker brand, said today it is launching an ad campaign featuring basketball star Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat that's set to coincide with the start of the National Basketball Association's season.

The TV campaign highlights the basketball journey of a skinny kid from Robbins, Ill., to the NBA, in a spot "inspired by the written words of Wade himself," said Converse, now a subsidiary of Nike Inc. of Oregon.

The print campaign is "product-focused" on the Wade3 signature basketball shoe, which has a suggested retail price of about $100, Converse said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)

Governor, AG pledge to streamline government

Governor Deval Patrick and Attorney General Martha Coakley are spearheading an effort to make Massachusetts more business-friendly.

The Democrats are kicking off a review of the state's bureaucracy with the aim of protecting citizens while making it easier for businesses to expand or come to Massachusetts.

Business leaders who met with the governor at the Statehouse say things that would would help include an easier process for redeveloping contamined factory sites known as brownfields, as well as better coordination between state agencies collecting the same data for project permits.

Patrick and Coakley say they'll reconvene the leaders in the near future to bounce specific changes off them. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

GZA lands W Hotel contract

GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. said today it has been retained to perform geotechnical and environmental services for the construction of the W Hotel and Residences at 100 Stuart Street in the area of Boston's Theater District.

Based in Norwood, GZA provides a range of services at development sites.

The W Hotel and Residences is currently under construction on the site of a former parking lot garage at the intersection of Stuart and Tremont streets, and the completion date for a mixed-use project that envisions a 26-floor building with 253 hotel rooms and 123 luxury condos is projected for spring 2009, GZA said.

The $200 million-plus project is being developed by SW Boston Hotel Venture LLC, said GZA, which added that it is currently observing the construction of a slurry wall around the site.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)

Xanthus drugs gets orphan status in Europe

Xanthus Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that European regulators have granted orphan drug status to Xanafide, the Cambridge company's potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, or AML.

Xanafide was awarded orphan drug status by the US Food and Drug Administration last year, the company said, and Xanafide is currently in a Phase 3 clinical trial for patients with secondary AML in the United States.

The US Orphan Drug Act rewards companies that develop drugs for rare diseases by giving them seven years to sell each new treatment without competition from other manufacturers.

In Europe, Orphan Medicinal Product Designation provides 10 years of potential market exclusivity if the product candidate is the first approved for marketing in the European Union, Xanthus said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)

Beacon Power raises $25 million

Beacon Power Corp. said today that it has received a commitment for $25 million of new investment.

The Wilmington company designs, develops, and is taking steps to commercialize advanced products and services to support the stable and efficient operation of electricity grids.

The capital will be used to fund ongoing operations, including the manufacturing and deployment of Smart Energy flywheels and the construction of the company's frequency regulation plant, Beacon said.

The investment was made by three current investors, and the largest share of the transaction was being made by Quercus Trust, Beacon said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

SupplyScape signs up Par Pharmaceuticals

SupplyScape Corp. said today that Par Pharmaceuticals Cos. has selected its E-Pedigree data management solution.

SupplyScape of Woburn is a provider of software that helps pharmaceutical companies to secure the safety and value of their supply chains.

New Jersey-based Par will use the E-Pedigree data-management solution as its drug distribution security platform to improve patient safety, SupplyScape said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)

UMass stem cell bank gets $8 million

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has approved more than $8 million for the University of Massachusetts Medical School to open an embryonic stem cell bank and associated stem cell registry.

Doctor Michael Collins, the medical school's interim chancellor, says he expects to have the stem cell bank "up and running" and distributing stem cell lines to researchers within a year.

The Life Sciences Center was created last year by the Legislature to promote and oversee scientific research in the state.

The stem cell bank will house and distribute stem cell lines now maintained by the leading embryonic stem cell institutions in the state.

The state is trying to keep up with California, which is poised to distribute up to $300 million to researchers.

The center's board also approved $12 million in matching research grants for life sciences research. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

WTKK HD2 channel to go all Dropkick

It could all Sox, all-the-time this weekend, and for folks who have an HD radio, WTKK radio's HD2 "Irish Channel" plans to offer a possible sound track: a 48-hour "Dropkick Murphys Marathon."

Don't have an HD radio? All is not lost. Over the weekend, a consumer with a PC can log into this website if they're feeling dropkick-deprived, the radio station said.

According to WTKK, the Dropkick Murphys are a group best known for singing "Tessie," which locals embraced as the anthem of the Red Sox World Series victory in 2004.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:36 AM | Comments (0)

RBJ will lease Woburn corporate center

Boston real estate services firm Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC said it has been retained as the exclusive leasing agent for Presidential Woods Corporate Center in Woburn.

The center is a two-story, 104,000 square-foot building purchased earlier this year by a joint venture of the Campanelli Cos. of Braintree and Commonfund Realty, RBJ said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:32 AM | Comments (0)

Lowell ice cream store will honor a Rockies win

It will take a brave fan to collect this bet. Should the Rockies win the World Series, Gary's Ice Cream vows to give free ice cream cones to anyone showing up at its Lowell store Nov. 4 while wearing Rockies regalia, hardly a wise wardrobe choice in these parts.

According to Gary's, it's made a World Series wager with a Denver ice cream operation known as Bonnie Brae Ice Cream.

Conversely, should the Sox prevail in the series, Bonnie Brae is obligated to treat anyone tricked out in the trappings of Red Sox Nation to a free ice cream cone, Gary's said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:29 AM | Comments (0)

Comcast extends hours

Cable provider Comcast Corp. said it will extend the hours at some of its Boston-area service centers tomorrow to meet demand from Red Sox fans who want to watch the World Series on a high-definition television.

Fans who want to pick up a high-definition cable box to go with that new high-definition TV set will now have more time to do so, Comcast said.

The cable company said stores in Wilmington, Beverly, and Lynn will have extended Saturday hours, and stores in Brockton, Taunton, and New Bedford will also have extended Saturday hours, a Comcast spokesman noted.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

J. Calnan prepping Polaroid, MIB moves

J. Calnan & Associates Inc., a Quincy firm specializing in preconstruction services, said it is part of team working on corporate headquarters for two local companies - instant-camera company Polaroid Corp. and the MIB Group Inc.

MIB is a provider of Internet-based fraud detection data, risk-management tools, and actuarial analytics for the insurance industry, according to MIB's website.

J. Calnan said that Polaroid will be relocating from Waltham to Concord when its new offices are ready at the end of the year; MIB will also be making a move at the end of the year to offices in Braintree.

J. Calnan said it is collaborating on the projects with Visnick & Caulfield Associates of Boston and AHA Consulting Engineers, a firm with offices in Lexington.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:24 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2007

Perini lands $68.5 million of work in Iraq

Construction services provider Perini Corp. of Framingham received additional work today from the Army to provide services in Iraq in a bundled deal worth $68.5 million.

Two of the projects, valued at $12 million and $19.8 million, respectively, will provide overhead coverage at facilities used by U.S. and coalition forces. The double-layer roofs are designed to protect personnel from incoming mortar and rocket attacks.

The two other projects, valued at $20 million and $16.7 million, respectively, will be for the design and construction of water and fuel storage tanks. Perini will work with Tetra Tech and Argus Consulting to complete work on the projects.

Shares of Perini fell 71 cents to $59.10 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:57 PM | Comments (0)

Paratek completes round of financing

Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today it has closed the first tranche of a $40 million private financing.

The Boston company is engaged in the discovery and commercialization of new therapeutics that treat serious and life-threatening diseases, with a focus on the growing worldwide problem of antibiotic resistance.

Proceeds of the financing will be used primarily to advance Paratek's lead programs to develop broad-spectrum antibiotics, the company said.

Paratek said that Aisling Capital led the round.

According to its website, Aisling Capital is a New York private equity fund that invests in life sciences companies.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)

Audax buys Canadian firm

Audax Group, an investment firm with offices in Boston, announced today it has completed the acquisition of a Canadian company that provides pre-engineered membrane building systems for the construction market.

The name of the firm is Cover-All Holdings Inc. of Saskatchewan.

A press release issued by Audax did not include financial details about the transaction.

Audax said Cover-All's president will continue to lead the management team, and Audax chief executive Geoffrey S. Rehnert said in a statement, "We plan to work with management to build Cover-All through strategic acquisitions, increased global reach, and by further enhancing market awareness."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)

TA invests in M and M

TA Associates, a private equity and buyout firm with offices in Boston, said today it has completed a majority investment in British retailer M and M Direct Ltd.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Online and mail-order retailer M and M specializes in purchasing clearance merchandise from lifestyle, fashion, and athletic footwear and apparel brands and then in selling those products at substantial discounts, TA Associates said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

Renovation of 185 Devonshire is complete

Developer Bayview Financial LP said today it has completed the renovation and conversion of a building in Boston's Financial District into office and retail condominiums.

The building is at 185 Devonshire St. and according to Bayview, this is the first office condo project in Boston since the 1980s.

Bayview said it purchased 185 Devonshire in 2005; a building originally constructed in 1914 currently has about 80,000 square feet of space, and office and retail units for sale generally range in size from 1,100 to 6,300 square feet.

Florida-based Bayview describes itself as a full-service real estate investment and mortgage finance company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:29 PM | Comments (0)

PerkinElmer cleared for ViaCell takeover

Scientific instruments maker PerkinElmer Inc. said today that it received antitrust clearance for its pending takeover of ViaCell Inc.

On Oct. 12, PerkinElmer began a tender offer to buy the biotech company for $7.25 per share in cash. Based on ViaCell's 38.8 million outstanding shares as of Aug. 7, the deal is worth about $281.6 million.

On Oct. 1, when the acquisition was announced, PerkinElmer valued it at about $300 million, or $260 million net of cash. PerkinElmer has said it is buying ViaCell to expand its product line in the neonatal and prenatal markets. ViaCell makes ViaCord, which preserves umbilical cord blood.

The tender offer expires at midnight Nov. 8.

PerkinElmer shares fell 89 cents, or 3 percent, to $28.65 in morning trading, while ViaCell shares edged up a penny to $7.25. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

Mortgage rates drift lower

Mortgage rates fell last week over concerns about a slower economy and the continuing housing slump, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said in its weekly report today.

Over the last week, the rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.33 percent, down from the previous week when it averaged 6.40 percent; last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.40 percent, Freddie Mac said.

"Market concerns about slower economic growth over the next few months allowed mortgage rates to drift lower from last week," Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement. "How much of a drag the housing slump will be on the economy remains unknown."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

Interactive Data's profit surges

Interactive Data Corp.'s profit surged 47 percent in the third quarter as clients paid more for the company's real-time stock quotes and other data, the financial information provider said today.

Interactive Data earned $39.3 million, or 40 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with profit of $26.8 million, or 28 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2006. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast profit of 29 cents per share.

Earnings also benefited from a decline in the quarterly tax rate, which contributed over $7 million or about 7 cents per share.

Revenue leaped 12 percent to $175 million from $156.7 million. Analysts expected revenue of $171 million.

"Our organic revenue growth in the third quarter of 2007 was 8 percent due in large part to the strong results posted by our pricing and reference data, and real-time services businesses," said president and chief executive Stuart Clark in a statement.

Interactive Data offers financial information like stock prices on about 3.5 million types of investments to investors and traders.

The company raised its outlook for the year.

Shares of Interactive Data rose 85 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $30.93 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

EMC: 3rd-quarter profit rises

EMC Corp., the No. 1 maker of corporate data storage equipment, reported higher quarterly profit on today on an increase in sales of both hardware and software.

Third-quarter net income rose to $492.9 million, or 23 cents a share, from $283.7 million, or 13 cents a share, a year earlier, the Hopkinton-based company said.

EMC chief executive Joe Tucci said North American revenues grew by 15 percent, indicating little impact so far from a slowing US economy.

"The one area that we saw some weakness was financial services," said Tucci. "We found other areas of our business that grew quite well."

Tucci singled out EMC's strategic shift toward data storage products for small- and medium-sized businesses. "I think if we had stayed only in our former big-company storage market, we would not have had as good results," he said.

Company-wide revenue rose 17 percent to $3.3 billion.

Sales are being fueled by growth in software products acquired over the past few years.
EMC's highest-profile asset is VMware Inc, a business software maker that it took public in an initial public offering in August. VMware now has a stock market value of more than $40 billion, making it the world's fourth-largest publicly held software maker.

EMC, which owns 86 percent of VMware, has a market value of about $49 billion.
VMware makes "virtualization" software that allows companies to get more work out of fewer computers. It's a booming market segment, and VMware faces increasing competition from companies like Microsoft Corp., which will introduce a major new virtualization product next year.

Tucci agreed that competition is heating up. But he predicted that VMware would be able to maintain its present dominance of the virtualization market. "We've got a great lead, we've been hiring great people, the market is giving us great market cap to keep expanding the business," Tucci said. "I've got to use those assets and run like hell."
(By Hiawatha Bray, Globe staff, with wire reports)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

Extech bought by Flir Systems

Flir Systems Inc., which makes infrared imaging cameras for commercial and military use, said today that it plans to acquire the stock of Extech Instruments Corp. for $40 million in cash.

Waltham, Mass.-based Extech, a supplier of test and measurement equipment, reported revenue of $39.2 million in 2006.

The addition of Extech will provide Flir access to new distribution channels and low-cost manufacturing in Asia, the company said.

The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will add to earnings after 2008, Flir said.

Flir shares hit a new all-time high of $67.93 in morning trading, and recently gained $8.87, or 15.1 percent, to reach $67.80. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

MKS disappoints analysts, stock falls

MKS Instruments Inc., which makes analysis and processing equipment for semiconductor companies, today predicted fourth-quarter income and revenue below analyst estimates.

MKS forecast quarterly income between 19 cents and 24 cents per share, or between 23 cents and 28 cents per share on an adjusted basis. The company projected revenue of $165 million to $173 million.

Analysts, on average, expect fourth quarter earnings of 29 cents per share on sales of $178 million, according to a Thomson Financial analyst poll.

In a statement, MKS Chief Executive Leo Berlinghieri said he remained cautious about the near term outlook, but optimistic about the company's long-term growth.

Banc of America Equity Research analyst Mark F. Fitzgerald said the company's fourth-quarter guidance was modestly better than his estimate but below consensus estimates.

MKS also said third quarter earnings dropped 23 percent, citing a general slowdown in capital spending by chip makers.

Shares dropped 42 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $19.57 in morning trading. Shares have traded between $18.74 and $28.47 in the past 52 weeks. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

O'Toole promoted at Reebok

Reebok International Ltd., a Canton company known for athletic footwear and apparel, announced today that it is promoting Matt O'Toole to the position of president of Reebok North America, the brand's largest business unit.

O'Toole, whose appointment becomes effective Nov. 5, is currently president and chief executive of Reebok-CCM Hockey, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reebok.

In his new role, O'Toole will be responsible for all of the region's brand operations, including marketing, product merchandising, sales, finance, operations, and company-owned stores, Reebok said.

Reebok is owned by the adidas Group, a German sporting goods and athletic footwear company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)

Starent gets Taiwan WiMAX deal

Starent Networks Corp. announced today a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan for the promotion and development of the WiMAX industry in Taiwan.

The Tewksbury company provides infrastructure solutions that enable mobile operators to deliver multimedia services.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

Epix trial advances

Epix Pharmaceuticals of Lexington said today it has met its enrollment target of 330 patients for a Phase 2b trial of a drug candidate known as PRX-00023, a potential treatment for Major Depressive Disorder.

Epix said it now expects to announce the results of this trial in early 2008.

Epix also said it has completed enrollment of a Phase 2a clinical trial of PRX-03140 in Alzheimer's disease and it reaffirmed that it is on track to announce the findings of this study by the end of 2007.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)

Van Heek joins BioVex board

BioVex Inc.announced today that it has appointed Genzyme Corp. executive Jan van Heek as chairman of its board.

A privately held biotechnology company based in Woburn, BioVex focuses on developing a new class of biologics for the treatment of cancer and disease.

At Genzyme, a Cambridge biotechnology company, van Heek is employed as a senior advisor to the chief executive.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)

Expert offers Series tips for bosses

It's a sure bet that many Sox fans are tuckered out this morning after last night's big game, but motivating such folks to maintain their workplace productivity today is no challenge to a canny boss.

So says management guru Kevin Eikenberry, author of the just published "Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time."

An Indiana resident, Eikenberry has first-hand experience with how a local sports team's success can monopolize water-cooler chit-chat and distract the staff from their appointed tasks: When the Colts went to the most recent Super Bowl, Indianapolis could talk about little else, he said.

"This change of focus can lead to significant losses of productivity," he noted in an e-mail. "As a leader, you can't remove the distraction - the events will still occur. Your job is to do what you can to recognize and take advantage of the situation however you can."

Among his recommendations: Acknowledge the distraction, maintain high expectations, and "enjoy the opportunity to connect with your employees."

During a phone interview, Eikenberry, an alumnus of Purdue University, recalled how he once had a job on the West Coast when his beloved Boilermakers made a strong showing in a spring college basketball tournament.

An understanding boss gave him time off to watch a big game, and Eikenberry said he never forgot it, repaying his boss in loyalty and extra effort.

"My productivity the next few days was sky high," he said.

One World Series strategy for a boss is to tell workers that they must deliver their projects on time, but if they can do that, it's OK to flex their hours and come in a bit late on the day after a night game, Eikenberry said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

Elixir taps Martha as chief medical officer

Elixir Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that Paul M. Martha M.D., an endocrinologist, has been named to the newly created position of chief medical officer.

The Cambridge company is focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel pharmaceuticals for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:53 AM | Comments (0)

Thermo Fisher raises earnings guidance

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. today reported a sharply higher third-quarter profit that bested Wall Street expectations, and the maker of scientific instruments raised financial expectations for the full year.

The Waltham-based company, which more than doubled in size after the former Thermo Electron acquired Fisher Scientific last November, reported net income for the July-September period of $218.5 million, or 49 cents per share.

The profit was more than four times last year's third-quarter net income of $48.8 million, or 30 cents per share, when Thermo Electron was a standalone company.

Revenue also more than tripled from a year ago, from to $724.9 million to $2.40 billion. The result beat the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who expected revenue of $2.38 billion.

Had the two companies been combined in the second quarters of both years, comparable revenue growth was 7 percent.

Excluding one-time gains and expenses, Thermo Fisher's profit in the latest quarter was 65 cents per share, compared with 44 cents per share a year ago, had the companies been combined then. The latest quarter's result beat analysts' forecast of 63 cents per share.

"We had solid revenue growth, led by high demand for life science and air quality instruments, specialty diagnostics products and biopharma services," said Marijn Dekkers, president and chief executive.

Thermo Fisher saw relatively slow sales growth of 4 percent in its biggest business segment, laboratory products and services, with revenue of $1.45 billion.

The analytical technologies segment grew 12 percent to $1.04 billion.

Thermo Fisher raised full-year profit and revenue expectations. The company projects a profit of $2.56 to $2.59 per share, compared with its previous guidance of $2.50 to $2.56 per share.

Revenue is expected to reach $9.6 to $9.65 billion for the year, up from previous guidance of $9.5 billion to $9.55 billion for the year.

Analysts had projected profits of $2.57 per share on revenue of $9.59 billion.

After last year's Thermo-Fisher deal, the company has continued growing through small acquisitions, such as an Oct. 9 deal for instrument maker NanoDrop Technologies LLC. In Thursday's news release, Dekkers suggested more acquisitions could be coming.

"Our more recent activity shows that acquisitions continue to be an important part of our growth strategy," he said. "The life, laboratory and health sciences industry remains highly fragmented, and this presents opportunities for us to make acquisitions."

The 11,000-employee Thermo Electron acquired Hampton, N.H.-based Fisher Scientific, which had 19,500 workers. The company's customers include pharmaceutical companies, government research labs, hospitals and universities.

Products are branded under the names Fisher Scientific and Thermo Scientific, competing against rivals such as Agilent Technologies Inc., Beckman Coulter Inc. and Becton, Dickinson & Co. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:46 AM | Comments (0)

Raytheon earnings drop 7 percent

Raytheon Co. said today third-quarter earnings fell 7 percent despite higher sales, as the Waltham-based defense company took charges related to the sale of some businesses.

But earnings from businesses operated in both periods rose 14 percent to $304 million, or 69 cents per share, boosted by "operational improvements, combined with lower net interest payments and pension expense," according to the company.

Net income slid to $299 million, or 68 cents per share, from $321 million, or 71 cents per share.

The latest quarter included a charge of $69 million, or 16 cents per share, to write down the value of Raytheon's flight options business, which it is in the process of selling; and a loss of $5 million, or 1 cent per share, at Raytheon Aircraft Co., which the company sold earlier this year.

Analysts, whose results typically exclude one-time items, expected profit of 82 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial.

Sales rose 8 percent to $5.36 billion from $4.94 billion, surpassing Wall Street's estimate of $5.34 billion.

The company said its board approved $2 billion to repurchase shares. Raytheon also reiterated its full-year financial targets. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:35 AM | Comments (0)

Security is a concern for mobile banking

Security will be a major issue for mobile banking, but banks that opt to provide mobile banking services to their customers early will be well ahead of the curve.

That's the gist of a new report from the Aite Group LLC, a Boston-based research and firm that focuses on the impact of technology on the financial services industry.

In a report titled "Mobile Banking Security: The Black Cloud Attached to the Silver Lining," Aite notes that wireless networks are now capable of delivering broadband speeds over handsets - speeds that can accommodate mobile banking - but it remains "unclear whether consumers will feel comfortable having bank information transmitted over their phones."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:26 AM | Comments (0)

Bar association looks at drug sentencing

The Massachusetts Bar Association announced the formation of a drug policy task force that will examine the question of drug addiction and drug-related crimes.

"This is one part of our effort to improve sentencing in Massachusetts," bar association president David W. White Jr. said in a statement, adding, "We need to begin to treat people with these problems instead of treating them as criminals."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:15 AM | Comments (0)

Vectrix relocates to larger space

Vectrix Corp. said it has relocated its product development facility to larger space in New Bedford.

The Rhode Island company makes two-wheel zero-emission vehicles.

The new facility has 65,000 square feet, and it employs 30 people, the company said.

Its old New Bedford facility had 42,000 square feet, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:06 AM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2007

Phase Forward shares surge

Shares of clinical trial and drug safety software maker Phase Forward Inc. climbed to an all-time high today after the company's third-quarter results exceeded expectations, and it raised its full-year forecast due to greater contract bookings.

After the markets closed yesterday, Waltham-based Phase Forward said its profit increased 98 percent, to $5.7 million, or 13 cents per share. Revenue rose 24 percent, to $34.9 million. Excluding one-time charges, the company earned 16 cents per share. The results surpassed Phase Forward's previous forecasts.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected Phase Forward to earn 14 cents per share, excluding charges, on $33.7 million in revenue.

Phase Forward said Novartis AG, and Eisai Co. Ltd. placed major electronic data capture orders during the quarter. Pacific Crest analyst Brendan Barnicle said both probably made "large upfront commitments," assuring Phase Forward of more bookings for the year.

Barnicle said Phase Forward is taking a larger share of its market, as its software provides high-quality data and demand is strong.

The company said it expects between $180 million and $190 million in contract bookings for the year, and raised its full-year outlook to a range of 58 cents to 59 cents per share on $132.5 million to $133.3 million in sales.

At the start of the year, Phase Forward expected between $135 million and $150 million in contracts. Ferris, Baker Watts analyst Raghavan Sarathy said he expected the company to raise their bookings guidance, "however, the magnitude of the upward revision was stunning."

"The company attributed the strong bookings outlook to strong new customer additions both large and small and strong renewals," he said in a research note. "The company also indicated that a number of companies are moving from competitors to Phase Forward," which he said he expected after attending a recent conference.

In the fourth quarter, Phase Forward expects to earn 15 to 16 cents per share in adjusted profit on $36 million to $36.8 million in sales.

On the Nasdaq Stock Market, shares rose $4.37, or 22.3 percent, to $23.97, after earlier reaching a high of $24.68. The stock's previous all-time high was $21.33.

Analysts expect Phase Forward to report a profit of 57 cents per share on $130.7 million in revenue for the year. They forecast 15 cents per share in fourth-quarter earnings, on $35.3 million in revenue. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:53 PM | Comments (0)

Dyax loss widens

Cambridge drug developer Dyax Corp. said today its third-quarter loss widened on higher costs for its DX-88 hereditary angioedema treatment candidate and lower revenue.

Hereditary angioedema is a potentially fatal genetic disorder involving a deficiency of a certain type of protein in blood plasma.

Dyax posted a loss of $15.3 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with a loss of $11.5 million, or 26 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue fell to $2.6 million from $3.5 million.

The company had about 14.2 million additional shares of stock outstanding for the most recent quarter ending Sept. 30, which accounts for the unchanged loss per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected a loss of 31 cents per share on revenue of $3.3 million.

In February, Dyax assumed responsibility for all development expenses for DX-88 after ending a collaboration with Genzyme. The DX-88 program is delayed because of Food and Drug Administration requests for more data and a new study in order to consider the drug for approval.

Pacific Growth Equities analyst Kimberly Lee said she continues to believe that DX-88 is "the main value driver for the company," and has a "clear path to potential registration" in mid 2008.

The drug is also "an attractive partnering candidate," she said in a note to clients, and "will likely attract a large partnership deal, in our view."

Deutsche Bank analyst Jennifer Chao noted Dyax intends to seek European approval for the drug as well.

Dyax had a total of $73.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, exclusive of restricted cash, as of Sept. 30. The company said it expects net cash consumption of about $45 million in 2007.

Shares of Dyax fell 12 cents, or 3 percent, to $3.91 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. The stock has traded between $2.85 and $6.95 over the last 52 weeks. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:45 PM | Comments (0)

United Way selects new leader

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley announced today that Michael K. Durkin will be its new president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.

Durkin, who is chief executive of the Mile High United Way chapter in Denver, has several local connections, said the Massachusetts organization, a nonprofit charitable organization.

Durkin is a Boston College graduate, and his wife is from Melrose, the organization said.

Once during a Colorado cold snap, Durkin arranged to have the United Way building in Denver do temporary duty as a homeless shelter, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley noted in the first paragraph of its press release.

"Michael Durkin's leadership in Denver shows a deep understanding of the issues we are tackling in our region," Cathy E. Minehan, the search-committee chair of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

Nokia Ad Business signs up Land Rover

Nokia Ad Business, formerly Enpocket of Boston, announced today that Land Rover is using its cellphone advertising platform to promote the Land Rover LR3.

The ad campaign includes a mobile website where consumers can learn about the LR3 and find the three nearest dealers to them by entering their zip codes; site visitors can also download videos of the LR3 "in action," Nokia said.

A Finnish company known for making cellphones, Nokia has gone on an acquisition spree to broaden its scope by acquiring companies such as Enpocket.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

Las Vegas Dunkin' breaks record

Dunkin' Donuts, a regional coffee-and-baked-goods chain looking to go nationwide, claimed today that its first Las Vegas store broke a company record for first-week sales by 41 percent.

Dunkin' Donuts, which did not provide dollar figures touting the Vegas store's performance, is part of Dunkin' Brands Inc. of Canton. Dunkin' Donuts is currently embarked on a mission to duplicate its popularity in the Northeast in many other parts of the country.

The Las Vegas store opened Oct. 16, and in its first week, Dunkin' employees poured 8,666 cups of coffee and served more than 89,500 doughnuts, Dunkin' Donuts said.

That prompted the company to say, "Contrary to the popular slogan, Dunkin' Donuts hopes what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

Hold the wine, waiter, and bring me a beer

Cork that bottle of blush zinfandel and down-size the restaurant wine list; according to a new survey, restaurant diners far prefer beer and mixed drinks to wine.

A recent survey by Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based food consulting firm, found that consumers were twice as likely to order beer or mixed drinks than wine when drinking away from home.

Only 18 percent of occasions when consumers dine and drink away from home included the consumption of wine, while 46 percent included the downing of beer, Technomic found.

But wine stewards can rest easy; wine still remains the beverage of choice for business meals and romantic dinners, Technomic said; it's those other dining-out occasions when ales, stouts, and mixed drinks rule.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

Ropes & Gray counsels licensing deal

Boston law firm Ropes & Gray LLP said it was legal counsel to Transmeta Corp. in negotiations that led to a licensing agreement announced today between Transmeta and another California computer technology company, Intel Corp.

Transmeta said today that it has reached an agreement with Intel Corp. to settle all claims between the two California computer companies.

Under the agreement, Transmeta said it will license its patent portfolio to Intel for use in Intel products.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Genzyme reports quarterly rise in profit

Genzyme Corp. said today its third-quarter profit rose on higher sales compared with a year-ago period weighed by a hefty charge.

The Cambridge biotechnology company earned $159.3 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with a profit of $16 million, or 6 cents per share, during the same period a year prior.

Excluding pretax compensation expenses, amortization costs and a charge for Genzyme's buyout of Bioenvision, the company said it earned 90 cents per share in the recent quarter. In the year-ago period, Genzyme recorded adjusted income of 61 cents per share, excluding stock-based compensation costs and a charge related to its genetic testing business.

Revenue rose 19 percent to $960.1 million from $808.6 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 87 cents per share on revenue of $954.7 million. Analysts typically exclude special items from their estimates.

During the recent quarter, Genzyme generated $280 million in cash from operations.

Sales of the kidney disease drug Renagel rose 14 percent to $154.2 million, while sales of another kidney disease drug, Hectorol, rose 19 percent to $30.3 million.

Sales of the transplant drugs Thymoglobulin and Lymphoglobuline rose 9 percent to $41 million. Meanwhile, sales of the osteoarthritis treatment Synvisc rose 9 percent to $61.2 million.

Genetic diagnostics sales rose 19 percent to $73.1 million. Oncology revenue rose 38 percent to $22.7 million.

In July, the company said it expects adjusted earnings to grow at a compound average of 20 percent between 2006 and 2011. In a statement, Genzyme said it expects to add $4 per share to adjusted earnings next year and projects earnings to rise to about $7 per share by 2011.

Shares of Genzyme rose $1.27 to $74.78 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

BASF will do research at Harvard

Harvard University and German chemical giant BASF today announced an agreement to jointly establish the BASF Advanced Research Initiative, which will focus on such areas as applied physics, chemical biology, and bioengineering.

While based at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the initiative will have strong ties with departments and schools throughout the university, the two said, and the initiative will be set up a fully collaborative and integrated partnership among Harvard and BASF researchers.

Under the agreement, BASF plans to provide direct funding to Harvard researchers and initially support 10 postdoctoral students; total funding over the next five years is anticipated to be up to $20 million, Harvard and BASF said.

If proof of concept is established in a research project, BASF will have the opportunity to further develop discoveries and innovation for possible commercialization, the two said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

Inverness proposes another acquisition

Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. said today it has agreed to acquire Alere Medical Inc., a Nevada-based provider of health and care management services, for $302 million in cash and stock.

Inverness of Waltham has been on an acquisitions spree as it looks to broaden its portfolio of medical devices, diagnostic tests, including tests that consumer can do themselves at home, and, now, health care services.

Earlier this year, for example, Inverness purchased Biosite Inc., a California company that makes a test for heart failure, for $1.6 billion.

Commenting on its proposed purchase of Alere, which is projected to have 2007 revenues of about $77 million, Inverness said its purchase price includes $125 million in cash and $177 million in Inverness common stock.

Chief executive Ron Zwanziger said in a statement, "The acquisition of Alere Medical is an exciting opportunity to enter the disease management industry, a move which fits naturally with our goal of enabling individuals to take charge of their health."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)

Sox fans crave hot dogs and veggie burgers

Red Sox fans are hungry - and not just for victory. They also have a huge appetite for hot dogs, Cracker Jacks, and veggie burgers, or so claims the region's largest grocery chain.

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. said today it expects locals to purchase 40,000 hot dogs at its stores during the World Series, not to mention 30,000 bags of Cracker Jacks.

And folks around here don't just crave empty calories, either. Health conscious fans are expected to snap up 40,000 pounds worth of veggie burgers and 100,000 pounds of salad, according to Stop & Shop projections.

The Quincy-based chain of 389 stores claims it can be a one-stop shopping destination for any thoughtful host gearing up for a Carmine-Hose themed chowdown.

"Everything you need for a World Series party to remember can be found at your local Stop & Shop," Mark McGowan, a company senior vice president, said in a statement.

And don't forget the ice cream. Stop & Shop expects to sell 90,000 gallons.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Red Sox fans are hungry - and not just for victory. They also have a huge appetite for hot dogs, Cracker Jacks, and veggie burgers, or so claims the region's largest grocery chain.

Posted by globebusiness at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

Best Doctors lands Sarasota contract

Best Doctors Inc. said today it has been selected by Sarasota County in Florida to offer access to medical care to 3,500 employees covered by the county's healthcare plan.

Founded in 1989 by two professors at Harvard Medical School, Best Doctors of Boston provides healthcare services to employers, healthcare plans, and financial institutions.

According to Best Doctors, its tools will "empower" employees covered by Sarasota County's medical plan to "take control of their healthcare."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:47 AM | Comments (0)

One Laptop per Child hits snag

A non-profit group developing a low-cost laptop for poor children said that a production delay would cause a shortage of computers available in the United States and Canada as part of a holiday giving program.

The $188 string-pulley-charged XO laptop was scheduled to go into production at a Chinese factory in October, but it is now slated to begin by Nov. 12, said Mary Lou Jepsen, chief technology officer for the One Laptop per Child Foundation.

"We had some last-minute bugs. We've resolved them," she said in a recent interview, adding that the group expected to produce 100,000 laptops this year.

An October launch would have given the group time to produce and ship tens of thousands of laptops to Peru and Uruguay, the first two countries to order the laptops.

It would now be tough to get those laptops to South America by December, in time for kids to use them over their summer vacation, and also meet orders for the foundation's Give 1 Get 1 scheme for people in the United States and Canada, she said.

For $400, Give 1 Get 1 provides buyers with a laptop of their own plus a second machine to a poor child overseas.

The laptop features a string-pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless connectivity and Linux open-source operating software tailored for remote regions.

The display switches from color to black-and-white for viewing in direct sunlight -- a feature unavailable in laptops at least 10 times more expensive.

It needs just 2 watts of power compared with a typical laptop's 30 to 40 watts, and does away with hard drives, relying instead on flash memory and 4 USB ports to add memory devices. The group is experimenting with a device that uses cows to generate power to charge its battery. The fourth quarter is the busiest time of the year at computer plants in China, which produce the bulk of PCs from companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc and Apple Inc .

Jepsen said some laptop customers in the United States and Canada would be able to get their PCs before the holidays, but they would be shipped on a first-come, first-served basis.

"Order early," she said.

The foundation will accept orders on its Web site, http://www.laptopgiving.org/, from Nov. 12. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

Affiliated invests in Cooke & Bieler

Affiliated Managers Group Inc., a Beverly-based asset management holding company, said today it plans to buy a majority equity interest in Cooke & Bieler, a boutique investment firm in Philadelphia.

Terms of the financial transaction were not disclosed.

After the closing of the transaction, the management partners of Cooke & Bieler will continue to hold a substantial portion of the equity of the business and continue to direct its day-to-day operations, said Affiliated Managers Group, which added that it will hold about a 70 percent interest in Cooke & Bieler.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:39 AM | Comments (0)

Talbots forecasts loss

Apparel retailer The Talbots Inc. said today it now expects a loss in the second half of the year due to weaker-than-expected sales, mainly at its Talbots brand, combined with an uncertain retail environment.

The company, which began a strategic review earlier this month, expects a total loss between 25 cents to 35 cents per share in the second and third quarters, including 16 cents per share in one-time expenses related to executive compensation and professional consulting fees. The third quarter ends Feb. 2, 2008.

Previously, Talbots said it expected earnings between 42 cents and 48 cents per share for the period, including 8 cents to 10 cents in one-time expenses.

Broken out separately, Talbots expects a loss between 20 cents and 25 cents per share in the third quarter, including 7 cents per share in expenses related to executive compensation and professional consulting fees.

Talbots predicts a loss between 5 cents and 10 cents in the fourth quarter, including 9 cents per share in one-time expenses.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect a profit of 20 cents per share in the third quarter and 18 cents per share in the fourth quarter.

The company expects same-store sales to fall in the high single digit range in the third quarter and to fall in the mid-single digit range in the fourth quarter.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Trudy F. Sullivan, company president and chief executive, said results "have been significantly impacted by weaker than expected Talbots brand store sales, particularly during the important mid-season sale, which started in late September."

Based on the current outlook, at the end of the third quarter the company will be out of compliance with its acquisition loan financial covenants and has begun a process to obtain an amendment to the financial covenants.

Shares fell 85 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $14.44 in premarket electronic trading, after closing at $15.29 on Tuesday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

Staples sponsors "Early Words" program

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Framingham-based Staples Inc. plan to announce the launch of a childhood literacy program at a South End event this morning.

The program is titled ReadBoston's Early Words, and it seeks to encourage more verbal interaction between adults and children from birth to age three, according to a press release from Staples, a big retailer of office supplies that is making a $550,000 donation to the program.

The Early Words program will provide training and seminars that teach parents the importance of talking to young children and how to increase the level of talking during everyday activities.

"Early Words is the fundamental building block that will make a positive impact on children and ultimately improve literacy levels among Boston's youth," Staples chief executive Ron Sargent said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

ATG sponsors e-commerce competition

Attention, e-commerce innovators. A Cambridge company is a sponsoring a competition for the most ingenious e-commerce business plan, and the winner could take home $60,000.

The competition is sponsored by Art Technology Group, which makes e-commerce suites for online retailers.

Entries must be received by Jan. 30, and there's a second prize of $10,000, the company said.

For more information, visit this website.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

Local travel agency offers tattoo tour

A Braintree travel agency is offering a tattoo tour.

But it's not what you think. Instead of getting your hide inked with pigments of indigo and cinnabar in exotic locales, a special travel package to Scotland can include tickets to Edinburgh's Military Tattoo, a summer event that features "history, musical display, fireworks, international audience, magic, mystery, and mayhem," according to Braintree travel agency Brian Moore International Tours.

For intrepid travelers signing up for the agency's "Scottish Spree Escorted Tours" for late July or early August, a visit to the tattoo can be arranged.

"There is no substitute to experiencing this event in person, and combining the festivities with one of our tours perfectly completes any vacation," agency president Sara Stanton said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage refinancings up

Mortgage refinancing applications increased in the latest weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group representing the real estate finance industry.

For the week ending Oct. 19, the association's refinance index increased 4 percent to a reading of 2059.3, up from the previous week's reading of 1980.9, the association said.

The association's market composite index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, was 656.5, a slight increase on a seasonally adjusted basis from 656.3 one week earlier, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:05 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2007

J. Jill names "compassion" design winner

Women's apparel brand J. Jill said today that a Wisconsin social worker has won its "Nature of Compassion" T-shirt design contest, which aims to help women in need.

"Autumn's Song," a creation from Wisconsin social worker Jennifer Reagles, was chosen from among more than 2,500 original entries, and Reagles' design depicts a cluster of trees that have lost most of their leaves, said J. Jill, which is owned by Talbots Inc. of Hingham.

J. Jill plans to put Reagles's design on a T-shirt, a long-sleeve cotton model, and sell the shirts for $24.50 apiece during the holiday season.

J.Jill said it will give 100 percent of the profits from Autumn's Song sales to local organizations that work to improve the lives of poor and homeless women.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:59 PM | Comments (0)

Pierce rejoins KB Toys

KB Toys Inc. of Pittsfield said today that Jerry Pierce has rejoined the company as the senior vice president of merchandising.

In that capacity, Pierce will be responsible for buying and product development at KB's more than 550 stores, the company said.

Pierce, who served as the vice president of KB's outlet division between 2004 and 2006, left the company to manage the toy division of Meijer Inc., a Midwestern chain of grocery and general merchandise stores, KB said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:57 PM | Comments (0)

JetBlue dropping service to Columbus

After unprofitably shuttling passengers between Boston to Columbus, Ohio, for the past year, JetBlue Airways Corp. said today that it will no longer fly that route as of Jan. 6.

The low-cost carrier said it is completely pulling out of Columbus as well as Nashville. It has been flying only once a day from Logan International Airport to Port Columbus International Airport since it introduced the route on Oct. 18, 2006. Those seats sell for $89 to $199.

"There just wasn't the demand to reach a profitable level of service there," said airline spokesman Sebastian White of ticket sales for Columbus.

This year, low-cost rival SkyBus Airlines introduced two daily flights from Portsmouth, N.H., to Columbus, with each flight offering 10 seats for only $10 each and the rest for $35 each to more than $200 each.

JetBlue said it didn't view SkyBus as a competitor due to the distance between the New England airports they used, White said.

JetBlue will move its Columbus- and Nashville-bound jets to new routes that offer better opportunities to make money.

"Despite the loss of one flight a day, JetBlue is still a growth story at Logan," White said. "We're continuing to take on new gates in Terminal C and will continue to add new destinations and flights through this winter and beyond." (Nicole C. Wong)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)

Firm offers spooky cellphone Boston tour

To hail Halloween, a media company said it will make available a spooky movie that cellphone users can download to guide them on walking tours of some of the Hub's more mysterious venues.

The company is Untravel Media Inc. of Boston, and one of its offering is "Creeping Through Boston," which "leverages popular handheld devices to provide rich, illuminating site-specific narratives crafted by local film makers and artists using Untravel Media's nascent Mobile Narrative System."

The tours target Flash-enabled smartphones, but versions will also be available for iPods and most mobile phones, the company said.

"Creeping Through Boston," which feature Halloween tales that highlight creepy and surprising aspects of Boston topography and history, will be released Oct. 31, the company said.

The series will initially be available for download at Untravel Media's website, and on iTunes and Audible.com in November.

For a limited period, the tours will be available for free, but later the company plans to charge for them, possibly around $6 for a 20- to 30-minute movie, a company spokesman said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

Archemix prices IPO

Biotechnology company Archemix Corp. said today that it plans an initial public offering of 4.5 million shares of common stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company said it expects the offering to price between $12 and $14 per share. Archemix has offered the underwriters the option to buy up to an additional 675,000 shares to cover any overallotments, according to the filing.

The company filed a preliminary prospectus with the SEC in July, but did not disclose any terms.

Concurrently, Archemix will offer 925,000 shares of common stock to Nuvelo Inc. and Merck KGaA in private placements.

Assuming an offering price of $13 per share, the company expects proceeds from the offering and the private placements of about $64.4 million.

Archemix plans to use the proceeds to fund preclinical and clinical development of new and existing product candidates and to expand research and preclinical capabilities and programs. Remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

Archemix focuses on developing aptamer therapeutics. Aptamers are synthetically derived agents that have the ability to treat a variety of human diseases. Currently, the company is developing aptamer product candidates for cardiovascular and hematological diseases, as well as cancer. Archemix does not have any products approved for commercial sale.

For the six months ended June 30, the company reported a loss of $9.7 million, compared with a loss of $8.6 million in the first half of 2006. Revenue, which is generated from license fees, research and development payments and milestone rewards received from collaborators, increased to $6.7 million from $1.7 million in the prior-year period.

Banc of America Securities LLC, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and Cowen & Co. are listed as the underwriters of the offering.

Archemix has applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "ARCH." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

Loss widens at Art Technology Group

E-commerce software and systems maker Art Technology Group Inc.'s third-quarter loss widened slightly today on higher expenses, despite a surprisingly large revenue jump that boosted the share price.

The company posted a net loss of $760,000, or a penny per share, compared with a loss of $285,000, or break-even results per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding stock options costs, the amortization of acquired intangibles and other expenses, the company earned $3.1 million, or 2 cents per share, up from $1.3 million, or a penny per share, a year ago.

That matched analyst expectations, as gauged by a Thomson Financial survey.

Revenue rose 65 percent to $35.9 million from $21.8 million.

That topped analyst expectations for revenue of $32.5 million.

Shares jumped 53 cents, or 16 percent, to $3.94 in late morning trading as a result, having earlier hit a 52-week high of $4.03. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)

Amgen wins drug patent suit against Roche

A Boston jury today found that a key patent on Amgen Inc's top-selling anemia drugs is valid, blocking Roche Holding AG from launching a rival medicine in the United States.

Earlier this month, William Burns, the chief executive of Roche's pharmaceuticals business, told analysts on a conference call that the Swiss drugmaker would not attempt to launch its anemia drug Mircera in the United States if Amgen were to win the trial.

Amgen's anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen, generated sales in 2006 of nearly $7 billion, roughly one-half of Amgen's total revenues. The drugs are man-made versions of a human hormone called erythropoietin, or EPO, that stimulates the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

Heating oil prices rise 8 cents a gallon

The average price of heating oil in Massachusetts rose to a record $2.83 a gallon last week, up eight cents from the week before, and 47 cents, or 20 percent, from a year ago, the state Division of Energy Resources reported.

The average price of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.68 a gallon, up 2 cents from the previous week, and 49 cents, or 22 percent, from last year.

The rising prices follow the recent surge crude oil prices, which briefly broke above $90 a barrel before retreating. In addition to strong global demand, tensions between Turkey and Iraq over attacks by Kurdish rebels have raised fears of war and a supply disruption.
This week, with a diplomatic solution possible and profit taking by investors, oil prices in commodities markets have fallen. At mid-day, crude oil fell below $86 cq a barrel in New York.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Wise to renovate Google's offices

Wise Construction Corp. said today it has been awarded a contract by Google Inc. to renovate 59,000 square feet of Cambridge office space for Google's regional headquarters.

Wise of Winchester specializes in construction projects for education, corporate, biotechnology, and healthcare clients.

Wise said that the interior buildout project involves three floors at Five Cambridge Center and that project is expected to include general demolition, the creation of collaborative work stations and conference space, and construction of a secure data room.

The project is scheduled for completion in February, said Wise, whose press release did not include the value of the contract.

Based in California, Google is an Internet search and advertising company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

45 Province partners with spa

The developer of a luxury residential tower planned for downtown Boston said that the project will include an exhale mind body spa, a posh health-club chain that's so swank and edgy that it eschews capital letters when spelling its name.

With an expected completion date in early 2009, the 32-story luxury tower with a 138 condominiums is known as 45 Province, taking its name for its address at 45 Province St., and its developer is the Abbey Group of Boston.

"By aligning ourselves with an award winning spa partner, we are expanding our services and offering buyers total and immediate access to a mind-body living experience within their urban residence," Abbey Group president David Epstein said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Verizon's FiOS arrives in Holliston

The board of selectmen in Holliston granted a cable franchise yesterday to Verizon Communications Inc. for its FiOS TV service, Verizon said.

The action paves the way for the FiOS TV service to be available to an additional 5,000 Massachusetts households, Verizon said.

Because it is delivered over an advanced, all-fiber network, FiOS TV is superior to TV services offered by rivals, Verizon claims.

FiOS TV is now available to 400,000 households in 56 Massachusetts communities, Verizon said, and the company is currently negotiating with about a dozen other Bay State communities to obtain additional franchises.

According to a filing with state regulators, FiOS TV had just under 12,000 Massachusetts customers at the end of 2006. Verizon said that FiOS TV has seen much growth in the Bay State since, but it is not disclosing the current number of Massachusetts subscribers for "competitive reasons."

Headquartered in New York, Verizon delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless services to mass market, business, government, and wholesale customers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)

Conservation group pushes for rate reform

The Conservation Law Foundation said it plans to advocate for reforms that encourage energy efficiencies at state hearings that will explore new ways to set electricity rates in Massachusetts.

The foundation, an advocacy group that focuses on environmental issues in New England, maintains that the current Bay State rate-setting formula discourages energy efficiencies.

Traditionally, a utility's revenues are "tied - or coupled - to the amount of electricity it sells," and according to the foundation, such an arrangement that "discourages utilities from investing in energy efficiencies."

Hearings starting today and conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities will consider "decoupling," a reform that "breaks the connection between utility revenues and electricity sales, removing the disincentive to invest in energy efficiency," the foundation said.

"Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective, readily available means to reduce the state's insatiable energy demand and mitigate the catastrophic impacts of global warming," foundation attorney Shannon Vale said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

Investor confidence falls

Investor confidence in North America declined from 102.8 in September to 89.2 in October, according to an index maintained by State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corp. of Boston.

Meanwhile, global investor confidence fell by 6.1 points to a level of 82.6 from last month's revised reading of 88.7, according to an index developed by Harvard University professor Ken Froot and State Street Associates director Paul O'Connell.

"Emblematic of this month's decline in confidence was the pattern observed among North American institutional investors," O'Connell said in a statement. "In this cohort, confidence fell to its lowest level since February 2006, and this was reflected in persistent selling of equities over the period, especially in recent days."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

Kopin gets more time from Nasdaq

Kopin Corp. said today that the Nasdaq Stock Market has granted the company additional time - until Dec. 17 - to regain compliance with Nasdaq's listing requirements.

The Taunton company makes ultra-small liquid crystal displays that are used in everything from digital cameras to thermal weapon sights.

Because of a review of its stock options practices, Kopin is restating some earnings reports, and because of the review, Kopin said it has not filed quarterly reports for the third quarter of 2006 and the first and second quarters of 2007; the company said it is also delinquent in not filing its annual report for 2006.

Companies listed on Nasdaq are required to file timely financial reports.

Kopin said today that Nasdaq's board instructed its staff to give Kopin until Dec. 17 to file all delinquent periodic reports necessary to regain Nasdaq compliance.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

BzzAgent partners with Interpublic

BzzAgent, a six-year-old Boston firm that specializes in word-of-mouth marketing, has entered into a partnership with the Interpublic Group of Cos., the two firms said today.

Interpublic is a New York holding company that owns a slew of ad agencies and public relations firms, including Hill Holliday of Boston and Mullen of Wenham.

Using the Internet and special websites, BzzAgent has recruited a network of 330,000 consumers who are willing to try free samples of new products and share their opinions. For example, when McIlhenny Co., the makers of Tabasco sauce, wanted to debut a dipping sauce, McIlhenny's ad agency hired BzzAgent to get the new product into the hands of members of its consumer network interested in spicy foods, BzzAgent spokesman Joe Chernov recalled; members were encouraged to host snack hours and elicit responses from their guests.

One challenge for BzzAgent is educating ad agencies and PR firms that its word-of-mouth network is available and effective, and the partnership with Interpublic should give BzzAgent more visibility, Chernov said.

Providing "preferred pricing," the partnership with Interpublic is a non-exclusive arrangement in the United States, Chernov said; earlier this year, BzzAgent entered into a similar agreement with WPP Group PLC, a London-based global network of ad agencies and PR firms.

BzzAgent's relationship with WPP extends only to marketing campaigns in the UK, Chernov said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:33 AM | Comments (0)

BAE lands $15m Army contract

BAE Systems said today it has received a $15 million contract to provide thermal imaging sights to the US Army.

BAE Systems is a British defense and aerospace company with a big presence in Lexington.

Under a five-year contract with a potential value of up to $200 million, BAE Systems said it will manufacture and deliver up to 6,500 TIM1500 thermal sights to the supplier of the Army's Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station II.

"TIM1500 provides a critical imaging capability to the US Army's weapon station of choice for ground vehicles," BAE Systems deputy program director Michael Mawn said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:57 AM | Comments (0)

RXi moving to Worcester's Gateway Park

RXi Pharmaceuticals, a company founded by Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, has signed a lease to locate offices at the WPI Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center in Worcester's Gateway Park, officials for Gateway Park said.

RXi is a research-and-development company focused on RNAi, or RNA interference, therapeutics; RNAi is a naturally occurring mechanism within cells for selectively silencing and regulating specific genes, and since many diseases are caused by the inappropriate activity of specific cells, the ability to silence genes selectively through RNAi has great potential, many researchers believe.

Gateway Park is a "12-acre mixed-use destination for life sciences and biotech companies," said the joint venture that created the park.

The joint venture is made up of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Worcester Business Development Corp.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:46 AM | Comments (0)

Profit drops at Biogen Idec

Biogen Idec Inc. said today that its third-quarter profit dropped 24 percent, a result that fell short of Wall Street expectations as the biotechnology company seeks potential buyers.

Cambridge-based Biogen Idec reported net income for the July-September period of $119.4 million, or 41 cents per share, versus $156.6 million, or 45 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $789.2 million from $703.5 million, but that was short of the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who expected revenue of $803.65 million.

Excluding one-time expenses from items including acquisitions, Biogen Idec posted a profit of $170.4 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with $207 million, or 60 cents per share, on that basis a year ago. The latest quarter's profit performance fell short of analysts' consensus forecast of 65 cents per share.

Sales of Avonex, a multiple-sclerosis medication, rose 2 percent to $455 million. Sales of Tysabri, a newer MS medication, brought $63 million in revenue for Biogen Idec, which shares revenue from the drug with Ireland's Elan Corp.

On Oct. 12, Biogen Idec said it was exploring a possible sale of the company and already had interest from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has recently bought up company shares. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)

MassHousing backs Framingham complex

MassHousing, the state's affordable housing bank, said that it has made $28.8 million in loan commitments for the development of an elderly housing complex in the Nobscot section of Framingham.

The Shillman House is being developed by the nonprofit Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, MassHousing said, and plans call for the Shillman House to have 150 apartments for seniors.

All the units will be restricted to residents age 62 or older, and 90 of the apartments will be set aside for low-income residents, MassHousing said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:30 AM | Comments (0)

Forecast: holiday bargains ahead

Shoppers could see bargains this holiday season as retailers offer many promotions out of concerns that consumers might be cutting back on their spending.

A rash of promotions is one prediction in a holiday sales forecast issued by the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade association of shopping centers.

The council projects that the nation's retail sales will rise 2.5 percent during November and December when compared with the same period for last year.

While personal income has strengthened, the continuing weakness in the housing and mortgage markets has reduced the consumer's willingness and ability to spend, reported the council, which added that high energy prices will continue to be a drag on discretionary purchasing power.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

New real estate firm launched

Jon Gollinger, a marketing veteran of local real estate projects, has teamed up with a San Francisco counterpart, Ken Stevens, to form a new residential real estate firm called Accelerated Marketing Partners.

Gollinger, the founder of the Collaborative Cos., another real estate marketing firm, will serve as the East Coast chief executive for Accelerated Marketing Partners, the firm said in a press release.

The firm's services, which include managing auctions, are sorely needed in today's soft housing market, Gollinger suggested in a statement.

"A paralysis exists within the current real estate market, and our strategies will create movement through the use of conventional and accelerated marketing programs, releasing the paralysis and accelerating absorption for our clients," Gollinger said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

Datawatch names Bero to top spot

Datawatch Corp. said that Kenneth P. Bero will succeed president and chief executive Robert W. Hagger, who will retire Dec. 31.

Bero, who will also join the board of directors, is currently chief operating officer of the Chelmsford company, which designs, makes, and markets business computer software.

Hagger has agreed to provide consulting advice to the new chief executive for 12 months following his retirement, and Hagger will remain a director of the company for the same period, Datawatch said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

VisEn Medical raises $7 million

VisEn Medical Inc. today announced the completion of its $7 million Series B financing round.

The Woburn firm specializes in fluorescence in vitro imaging platforms, which can be used in research and medicine.

Co-leading the investment round were Merck Capital Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of New Jersey drug maker Merck & Co., and Flagship Ventures, a Cambridge venture capital firm, VisEn said.

Per Lofberg, president and chief executive of Merck Capital Ventures, will join VisEn's board of directors, VisEn said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:08 AM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2007

Genzyme Corp. gets Bioenvision for $345m

Genzyme Corp. today said it completed its $345 million acquisition of Bioenvision Inc., which shares the rights to one of its cancer drugs, despite complaints by some Bioenvision shareholders that the price the Cambridge biotech company offered was too low.

Genzyme initially tried to take control of the New York biotech company through a tender offer, but it managed to acquire only 22 percent of shares that way. Bioenvision then attempted to persuade a majority of its shareholders to vote in favor of a sale.

But when the initial vote fell short, Bioenvision and Genzyme obtained a court order to re-open the polls and give shareholders another chance to approve the deal. In the end, Genzyme and Bioenvision said shareholders controlling 56 percent of shares voted in favor of the deal.

The two companies share the rights to clofarabine, a leukemia treatment.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 5:53 PM | Comments (0)

Medford building is sold for $16.9 million

Capital Properties Inc. sold a Medford office building to Morris & Morse Co. Inc. of Boston for $16.9 million, a broker involved in the transaction said today.

The broker is the Boston office of CB Richard Ellis/New England, which said it represented the seller and procured the buyer.

CB Richard Ellis/New England described the property at 10 Cabot Rd. as an office building with roughly 106,000 square feet of space in the Wellington Business Center.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:14 PM | Comments (0)

Marshalls to auction celebrity shoes

Want to walk a mile in Big Papi's shoes? It may be possible, thank to an auction of celebrity footwear sponsored by the Marshalls retail chain to benefit domestic-violence shelters.

Red Sox slugger David "Big Papi" Ortiz is one of a gaggle of beautiful people who has agreed to donate autographed shoes to the auction, said Marshalls, an off-price apparel and home fashion chain operated by the TJX Cos. of Framingham.

If Ortiz's shoes are too large to fill, Marshalls is also auctioning off shoes from Madonna, Regis Philbin, and other near-greats too numerous to mention here.

According to Marshalls spokeswoman Amy Cafazzo, domestic violence prevention is an issue that Marshalls has supported for over a decade.

Consumers interested in bidding on shoes can learn more by visiting marshallsonline.com, the chain said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

Deshpande Center distributes $1 million

The Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced today it is awarding just over $1 million to 10 MIT research teams.

The teams are working on projects that have the potential to "revolutionize disease therapies, nano-scale imaging, renewable energy from biomass, energy storage, HIV care in the developing world, wound healing, medication delivery, and explosives detection," the center said.

Since 2002, the center said it has funded 68 MIT research projects with about $8 million in grants.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

ING pays $1m in "affinity fraud" case

ING Financial Partners Inc. has agreed to pay $1 million in restitution for failing to adequately supervise a broker-dealer who defrauded investors, the office of Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin said today.

According to Galvin's office, Peter Tzamalas of Norwood used his contacts in the Greek community in Eastern Massachusetts to build up a client base while he was a registered agent of ING, but money he borrowed from investors went to his personal account and to accounts at casinos in Connecticut and Atlantic City.

Tzamalas disappeared just over a year ago and his whereabouts are currently unknown, Galvin's office said.

"This is, unfortunately, a classic case of affinity fraud where someone builds up trust in a specific ethnic or religious group and then betrays that trust," Galvin said in a statement. "While the fraud was committed by an individual, it is always incumbent on the broker-dealer community to adequately supervise its members in a timely fashion."

ING Group is a Dutch company that provides a range of insurance, banking, and asset management services.

In addition to paying restitution to defrauded investors, ING agreed to pay a $100,000 fine, a Galvin spokesman said.

An ING spokesman told the Associated Press that he's pleased his company is putting the matter behind it, the AP reported.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. gas prices creep back upward

Gasoline prices in Massachusetts rose an average of 3 cents per gallon over the past week, as the recent climb in crude oil prices began to reach filling stations.

A statewide survey by AAA of Southern New England found an average price of $2.67 for a gallon of regular, self-serve gasoline, compared with $2.64 last Monday.

Prices in Massachusetts have been stable over the past few weeks, but AAA says the impact of rising global oil prices is starting to be felt at the pump.

The current average price in Massachusetts remains 14 cents below the national average of $2.81. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

Staples will sell Dell PC's and other products

Staples Inc., the Framingham-based retailer of office supplies, and personal-computer maker Dell Inc. announced a retail agreement and environmental collaboration today.

Starting Nov. 11, consumers will have the option to buy a wide assortment of Dell notebook and desktop computers, monitors, printers, ink, and toner at 1,400 Staples stores, the companies said.

Staples said the agreement will make it the only office superstore to offer Dell products in stores and through its website.

Staples also said that it plans to join Dell's "Plant a forest for me" initiative, which enables organizations worldwide to share best practices and, as partners, facilitate the planting of trees in sustainably managed reforestation projects.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

Dynamics Research lands Homeland order

Dynamics Research Corp., a provider of technology management services for government programs, today said it received an $11.4 million task order from the Department of Homeland Security for capital planning and investment control consulting.

Under the pact, which has a two-month base and five one-year options, Dynamics Research will provide technical, schedule and cost performance services, plus a method for selecting, managing and evaluating information technology investments.

Shares of Dynamics Research, which is based in Andover, dipped 24 cents to $11.10 in midday trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

Killington upgrades snow gun arsenal

The new owner of Vermont's Killington Resort unveiled more than $5.3 million in remodeling efforts, environmental improvements, and upgrades to snowmaking and grooming.

To improve the "guest experience," resort officials said they have made upgrades to the Killington Grand Resort Hotel and Spa and to the pub at the Snowshed Lodge.

The resort also improved snowmaking operations in a way that will lower the resort's overall carbon footprint by "increasing its Low Energy snow gun arsenal another 10 percent for the 2007-08 season," resort officials said.

In February, American Skiing Co. of Utah said it had agreed to sell Killington and the Pico resorts to SP Land Co. LLC for $83.5 million.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

Danvers Bancorp sets IPO price

Danvers Bancorp Inc., the parent of Massachusetts-chartered Danversbank, has set the terms of its proposed initial public offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.

The Danvers, Mass.-based company is shifting from a mutual holding company to a public stock holding company.

Danvers Bancorp plans to offer between about 11.1 million and 15 million shares of common stock at an offering price of $10 per share. Danvers said it will cancel the offering if it does not sell 11.1 million shares.

The company also said it may increase the size of the offering to 17.2 million shares without additional notice.

The proceeds of the offering will be used to increase capital to support future growth through branch expansion and increased lending and to diversify its products and services, among other purposes. Danvers also plans to establish and fund a charitable foundation.

For the six months ended June 30, Danvers said earnings dipped to $1.9 million, from nearly $2 million in the first half of 2006. The company's assets totaled $1.26 billion at June 30.

Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP will help the company sell its common stock, according to the filing.

Danvers expects to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "DNBK." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

Palladium appoints Friend to top spot

Palladium Group Inc. announced the appointment of David B. Friend as president and chief executive.

The Lincoln-based professional service firm seeks to help its clients do a better job of measuring and managing performance.

Friend, who will also join Palladium's board of directors, most recently served as a managing director at Leerink Swann & Co., a Boston-based investment banking firm, Palladium said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

Genzyme gets FDA approval

Cambridge biotechnology company Genzyme Corp. said today it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market a next generation of treatment for some patients with chronic kidney disease.

The FDA gave the green light to Renvela, which controls serum phosphorus in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis, the company said.

Genzyme describes Renvela as a next-generation version of its Renagel, the most prescribed phosphate binder in the United States.

"As we prepare to launch Renvela for patients on dialysis, we will move forward with regulatory filings to gain approval for the product's use in earlier stages of chronic kidney disease," John P. Butler, president of Genzyme Renal, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

Verizon FiOS arrives in Braintree

FiOS TV service is available starting today to 11,500 households in Braintree, said FiOS TV's provider, Verizon Communications Inc.

Because it is delivered over an advanced, all-fiber network, FiOS TV is superior to TV services offered by rivals, Verizon claims.

FiOS TV is now available to 400,000 households in 56 Massachusetts communities, Verizon said, and the company is currently negotiating with 11 other Bay State communities to obtain additional franchises.

"FiOS TV gives consumers in Braintree an outstanding, superior alternative for their video entertainment," said Donna Cupelo, Verizon's region president for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. "Customers in Braintree who liked what FiOS did for their Internet connection will love what it does for their TV."

According to a filing with state regulators, FiOS TV had just under 12,000 Massachusetts customers at the end of 2006. Verizon said that FiOS TV has seen much growth in the Bay State since, but it is not disclosing the current number of Massachusetts subscribers for "competitive reasons."

Headquartered in New York, Verizon delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless services to mass market, business, government, and wholesale customers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

One Laptop claims "greenest" title

One Laptop per Child, the Cambridge nonprofit that aims to design an educational laptop cheap enough to be mass-produced and given to poor children around the world, said today that its laptop is the "world's most energy efficient and environmentally friendly."

One Laptop said it based its claim on independent evaluations that use standards developed by the European Union, among others.

"It's the greenest laptop ever made," Mary Lou Jepsen, the group's chief technology officer, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

Samsung deploys PTC technology

Needham-based Parametric Technology Corp. said today that digital products company Samsung SDI has deployed its Windchill product, a content and process-management solution.

According to Parametric, which refers to itself as PTC, Windchill enables Samsung to streamline its product development process and improve customer satisfaction.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)

CombinatoRx gets leadership award

CombinatoRx Inc. announced today that it has received the Marjorie Guthrie Leadership Award from the Huntington's Disease Society of America.

The Guthrie family created the Woody and Marjorie Guthrie Research Fund to pay tribute to legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, who died from complications associated with Huntington's disease.

CombinatoRx is a Cambridge company focused on synergistic combination pharmaceuticals.

The quest to relieve the symptoms and causes of Huntington's disease requires "new approaches, new methodologies, and new ways of thinking," said C. Walt Johnston, the society's chairman, in a statement, and CombinatoRx "exemplifies these qualities with its unique approach to drug discovery as well as continued patient support efforts."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. housing prices fall - again

The September median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts was $304,000, down 4.4 percent from a year ago, and September was the 17th straight month that prices have fallen on a year-to-year basis, a report out today said.

The report is from the Warren Group, a Boston-based provider of local real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Because of a credit crunch, buyers are either nervous about getting a mortgage or finding it more difficult to qualify for one, the Warren Group said; as a result, the number of Massachusetts single-family homes sold in September was 3,735, an 18.7 percent drop from September 2006 and the steepest monthly decline in a year, the Warren Group said.

A second, separate report was issued today by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, which uses a different method to quantify activity in the housing market.

The realtors group said the September median price for a single-family home in Massachusetts was $340,000, a dip of only 0.3 percent from a year ago.

On a volume basis, the number of single-family homes sold in September was 3,108, a 13.7 percent decrease from a year ago, the realtors group said.

"It is definitely possible that all the reports about foreclosures, lack of credit, and the like have taken their toll, and the result is that buyers are waiting on the sideline," Doug Azarian, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, said in a statement. "However, despite the disappointing news, interest rates are still low, and for credit-worthy consumers, now is a really good time to buy."

The rapidly rising rate of foreclosures has had a big impact on the Massachusetts housing market, and, traditionally, the Warren Group has included foreclosure numbers in its calculations of sales and prices.

But in this report, the Warren Group also decided to calculate prices after foreclosure data were excluded; on that basis, the group said that the median price of a single-family home fell 0.9 percent year-to-date when compared with the same period in 2006.

When calculated by the traditional method, the median price for a Massachusetts condominium in September dropped 3 percent from September 2006 to $260,000, the Warren Group said; when foreclosure data were removed from the calculation, the median year-to-date price stayed flat at $280,000.

In September, the number of Massachusetts condos sold fell 19.5 percent from September 2006 to 1,893, the Warren Group said.

According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, 1,384 condominiums were sold in Massachusetts in September, down 13 percent from a year ago, and the median price for a Bay State condo in September 2007 was $275,000, up 1.9 percent.

"It appears we're seeing in September the ramifications of July's credit crisis," Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement. "We're also seeing the tightening of the mortgage market. Jumbo mortgages are becoming less common, whether because of consumer skittishness regarding mortgages that aren't backed by Fannie or Freddie, or because it's more difficult to qualify for such loans."

Timothy Warren added: "The median price data with foreclosure deeds filtered out is encouraging, as prices are staying relatively flat. But foreclosure issues in Massachusetts can't be ignored and will likely get worse before it gets better."
(Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)

Tea chief cites Red Sox lessons

The Red Sox undoubtedly swilled some champagne to celebrate their advance to the World Series, but a self-styled tea entrepreneur suggests that organic beverages also make for an ideal toast to Red Sox Nation.

Seth Goldman is a guiding light in Honest Tea, and though the company is based in Maryland, he insists on his blog that "my years as a Red Sox fan have shaped me" as an entrepreneur of such products as Peach Oo-La-Long tea.

An entrepreneur must be undeterred by adversity, and years of pulling for Yaz and the Spaceman have made him resilient, Goldman blogs on his website.

Other tips that Goldman offers to would-be entrepreneurs: "Embrace the underdog," and "You gotta win in New York."
((By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

Rasky Baerlein promotes three

Boston public relations firm Rasky Baerlein announced three promotions today.

Kate Casolaro is now senior account executive for Rasky's Energy and Environment Practice Group, and within the same group, Emily Gombar is now an account executive, Rasky Baerlein said.

In the firm's Public Affairs and Government Relations practice group, Zach Stanley has been elevated to senior associate, the firm said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:06 AM | Comments (0)

Avant, Celldex to merge

Needham biotechnology company Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc. said today that it will merge with privately owned Celldex Therapeutics Inc.. The combined value of the two companies will be $115 million, according to a joint press release.

Under the deal, the new company will be called Avant, and Celldex shareholders will own 58 percent of the stock. Avant's current shareholders will own 42 percent.

The deal is expected to close during the first quarter. The new company will trade under the symbol "AVAN" on Nasdaq Stock Market. Meanwhile, Avant said it is instituting a reverse stock split to maintain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements.

Shares of Avant closed at 55 cents Friday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:42 AM | Comments (0)

Regional retail prices dip a bit

Retail prices in the Northeast inched down 0.1 percent in September, following an 0.2 percent decrease in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

Prices are measured by the bureau's Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, and the recent decline was due to lower prices for housing and transportation, said the bureau, which is part of the US Department of Labor.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:23 AM | Comments (0)

Hasbro profit rises

Hasbro Inc., the nation's second biggest toymaker, said today its third-quarter profit climbed 62 percent on higher sales led by its Transformers and Marvel brands and a favorable tax adjustment.

Earnings surged to $161.6 million, or 95 cents per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30 compared with $99.6 million, or 58 cents per share, in the year-ago period, said Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro.

The current period's results included a tax adjustment of $29.6 million, or 17 cents per share.

Excluding the adjustment, earnings were $132 million, or 78 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 71 cents per share. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Quarterly revenue rose 17 percent to $1.22 billion from $1.04 billion in the prior year.

Analysts expected sales of $1.14 billion, according to Thomson.

Revenue climbed on shipments of its Transformers and Marvel product lines as well as growth in brands including Furreal Friends and Littlest Pet Shop.

Hasbro is second to Mattel Inc. among U.S. toymakers. Last week, Mattel reported a 1 percent drop in fiscal third-quarter profit, due to the impact of charges, costs and supply chain delays related to multiple product recalls. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:14 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2007

Angiotech cuts outlook, cites Boston Scientific

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. today cut its 2007 outlook, citing weak drug-eluting stent sales from partner Boston Scientific Corp.

Shares of the specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company plummeted $2.49, or 33.1 percent, to $5.04 in midday trading. The stock earlier traded as low as $4.86, after ranging from $5.28 to $9.81 for the past year.

The company predicted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $47 million to $50 million for the year. Previously, Angiotech forecast EBITDA of $85 million to $95 million for 2007.

Angiotech also lowered its medical product revenue outlook to a range of $171 million to $173 million, from a previous estimate of $190 million to $210 million.

Angiotech cut its 2007 royalty revenue outlook to a range of $118 million to $120 million, from a prior forecast of $130 million to $135 million. Angiotech records royalty revenue from Boston Scientific's drug-eluting cardiac stents which use Angiotech's paclitaxel drug coating.

Boston Scientific reported third-quarter sales of paclitaxel-eluting stents fell to $448 million from $572 million a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect Angiotech to report 2007 revenue of $315.3 million.

Angiotech said it expected modestly lower full-year revenue from the recently acquired American Medical Instruments Inc. compared to initial forecasts, due in part to its discontinuation of certain product lines.

Angiotech also cited unexpectedly long regulatory review times, primarily for its Vascular Wrap product candidate in the European Union. Angiotech said it had expected the product candidate to be approved for sale in the EU by the third quarter. Now it believes that won't occur until the first half of 2008.

Angiotech also cut its 2007 sales guidance for new product lines to $10 million to $30 million. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)

TJX picks interactive marketer VML

TJX Cos., the Framingham-based parent of such apparel and home fashion retail chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, has picked VML as its interactive marketing agency of record, Missouri-based VML said today.

VML's press release included a statement from Stacey Lane, TJX vice president of corporate marketing.

"In the competitive retail space, it's critical to develop and execute industry-leading interactive programs," Lane said.

During the course of TJX's search for an interactive agency, VML said it provided TJX with ideas for market strategy, creative concepts, media buying, paid search, analytics, and search-engine optimization.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:42 PM | Comments (0)

Altra buys All Power Transmission

Altra Holdings Inc., which makes braking systems for elevators and wheelchairs, said today that it bought All Power Transmission Manufacturing Inc., which makes specialty universal joints and driveline equipment.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

All Power, located in Green Bay, Wis., is a longtime supplier of Altra Holdings.

Altra Holdings said All Power will become part of its global coupling division once the deal is completed.

Altra Holdings fell 29 cents to $15.76 in afternoon trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)

Sasaki to lead Mass. Convention plan

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority said today it has selected a team lead by Sasaki Associates of Watertown to develop a master plan for a 62-acre site in South Boston.

Near the waterfront, the site is anchored by the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, one of several facilities operated by the authority.

The consultant team led by Sasaki, whose specialties include strategic planning and urban design, will help the authority to determine if and when an expansion of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center will be necessary, the authority said.

The authority said it hopes the consultant team will come up with preliminary findings and recommendations by June 1.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

Mystery biotech passes on Massachusetts

Massachusetts appears to have lost out on a bid to attract a key life sciences project to the state. Kofi Jones, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, said the state put together a compelling package of economic incentives, but the unnamed company ultimately decided to look elsewhere.

Peter Abair, director of economic development for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, described Project Magellan as a 700,000-square-foot biotech manufacturing plant that would have cost $500 million and potentially created 400 jobs.

But because the company contacted state officials through an intermediary, Abair said he never learned its actual name. Project Magellan's demise was first reported in today's Boston Business Journal.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)

Premier Insurance now Travelers

The Premier Insurance Co. of Massachusetts today announced that the company will change its brand name to Travelers of Massachusetts.

The Worcester-based company is an independent personal auto insurance subsidiary of the Travelers Cos. Inc., a Minnesota-based property casualty insurer selling primarily through independent agents and brokers.

"Leveraging the strength of the Travelers brand enhances our ability to market products to agents and customers while solidifying our commitment to the Massachusetts insurance marketplace," Dick Welch, president of the Premier Insurance Co., the underwriting company for Travelers of Massachusetts.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Simmons hires Taft

Simmons College said it named Deb Taft as associate vice president of advancement.

Taft, a 2000 graduate of the Simmons Graduate School of Management, will lead and manage all individual giving programs as well as "provide leadership, vision, and strategic direction to the advancement program," Simmons College said.

Taft is a former vice president for development at Tufts-New England Medical Center, Simmons said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

Chocolate cafe opens in Natick

Moonstruck Chocolate Co., an Oregon-based truffle trafficker, said it is opening its first cafe on the East Coast today at the Natick Collection, a shopping center formerly known as the Natick Mall.

Aside from truffles and "handcrafted artisan" chocolate in solid form, Moonstruck said its cafes serve espresso and chocolate beverages.

Customers who purchase an espresso or chocolate beverage at the new Natick cafe today through Sunday could be eligible to receive a "complimentary truffle of their choice," the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)

Mahoney joins NMT board

NMT Medical Inc. today announced the addition of James J. Mahoney Jr. to its board of directors.

The Boston medical technology company designs, develops, makes, and markets implant technologies that allow interventional cardiologists to treat structural heart disease.

Mahoney, head of the Mahoney Group, a financial consulting firm, replaces Harry A. Schult, who recently announced his resignation, NMT said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:31 AM | Comments (0)

Spire CEO competes in "ironman" race

Spire Corp. said today that its chief executive finished an ironman triathlon in Hawaii in 15 hours and 17 minutes.

A Bedford-based company that provides equipment and turnkey manufacturing lines for producing solar photovoltaic modules, Spire said that chief executive Roger Little placed 14th in a field of 24 contestants in his age group.

"This race was tougher than usual," said Little in a statement, who added later, "The 112-mile bike race was never ending."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)

Nicolaides to chair TransMolecular board

TransMolecular Inc. announced today the appointment of Nicholas C. Nicolaides as non-executive chairman of the company's board of directors.

The Cambridge biotechnology company focuses on targeted cancer therapies.

Nicolaides is president and chief executive of Morphotek Inc., a Pennsylvania biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of protein and antibody products for treating cancer.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

Report: Mass. regulators eye Bear Stearns

Bear Stearns Cos is being investigated by Massachusetts securities regulators over whether the bank improperly traded with two in-house hedge funds that collapsed last summer, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The paper, citing sources, said state investigators are trying to determine whether the bank traded mortgage-backed securities for its own account with the hedge funds without notifying the fund's independent directors in advance, the paper said.

Massachusetts claims jurisdiction because some residents invested in the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund and the High-Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leverage Fund, both of which collapsed last summer leaving losses of $1.6 billion, the paper said.

Investigators are also seeking to determine if some troubled securities traded by the bank were offloaded into the hedge funds and whether they were priced properly, the paper said.

The collapse of the Bear Stearns funds are being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors, the paper said.

A bank spokesman said it is cooperating with all investigations, but declined to say if Massachusetts is one of them, the paper said. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:52 AM | Comments (0)

IPhone could change "mobile ecosystem"

The iPhone from Apple Inc. could forever change the relationship between mobile operators and device vendors as it tilts the balance of power in favor of device vendors, according to IDC, a Framingham-based global provider of market intelligence.

An IDC press release today notes that "an industry-redefining struggle is underway for control of the content to be viewed on the 'third screen' of mobile devices."

IDC added that it believes that the "US mobile ecosystem is ripe for transformation to one that focuses on customers and customer experience."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:39 AM | Comments (0)

Modiv Media partners with Subway

Modiv Media Inc. said today that it is teaming up with 345 Subway sandwich restaurants in Washington state to offer mobile promotions to Subway customers.

With offices in Quincy and Seattle, Modiv focuses on "retail interactive mobile delivery solutions."

A promotion called "My Subway Mobile" is set to launch Sunday at Qwest Field, where the Seattle Seahawks football team are playing a home game, Modiv said.

Fans in attendance will have a chance to win Seahawks gear when they text on their cellphone a word displayed on the stadium's Jumbotron, Modiv said; all entries will receive a free Subway sandwich with the purchase of another Subway sandwich at participating stores.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:29 AM | Comments (0)

Green ambitions for Songdo City

Developers of a huge Korean project with a Boston connection said they will look to make the project a "model of green urbanism" and sustainability.

The project is called New Songdo City, which is being built on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along the Yellow Sea.

A key player in New Songdo City is Gale International of New York, whose chief executive is John B. Hynes III, a well know figure in Boston real estate circles.

Gale and Hynes also figure prominently in the $625 million redevelopment plans for the area around the historic Filene's building in Boston's Downtown Crossing.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

H2O partners with Brigham and Women's

H2O Applied Technologies of Boston said that it has entered into a contract with Brigham and Women's Hospital that could reduce the Boston hospital's utility costs by $750,000 a year.

Financial details of the contract were not disclosed in a press release issued by H2O, which specializes in creating energy savings for hospitals and universities by identifying inefficiencies and installing new energy conservation equipment.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)

Yankee Candle waxes pink

The Yankee Candle Co. of Deerfield, a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of scented candles, said it has created a "pink ribbon candle" to support breast cancer awareness and research.

The company said it will donate $1 from the sale of each pink ribbon candle to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

According to the company, the pink ribbon candle will "fill any space with the light fragrance of freshly cut roses."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

Fed Ex facilities are sold

Jones Lang LaSalle, a Chicago-based real estate money management and services firm with a big presence in Greater Boston, said it has negotiated the $52.3 million sale of a multi-state portfolio of seven Federal Express ground distribution facilities.

One of the facilities is just off Interstate 95 in Middleborough, a 73,000-square-foot facility built in 2006, Jones Lang LaSalle said.

Individual entities of Berkshire Acquisition LLC sold the portfolio to individual entities of Federal Acquisition LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Scientific posts loss

Boston Scientific Corp. reported today a third-quarter loss of $272 million on hefty charges related to acquisitions and asset sales, as the company's top-selling drug-coated stent continued to slump.

However, the performance by the Natick-based medical-device maker beat Wall Street analysts' profit expectations.

Boston Scientific reported a loss for the July-September period of $272 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a profit of $76 million, or 5 cents per share, in last year's third quarter.

Sales rose 1 percent from $2.026 billion a year ago to $2.048 billion, falling just short of the $2.057 billion consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Not counting $435 million expenses related to acquisitions and asset sales, Boston Scientific's profit in the latest quarter was 20 cents per share, compared with 10 cents per share a year ago. The latest quarter's profit not counting the charges easily beat the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who expected a per-share profit of 7 cents.

Sales of Boston Scientific's Taxus stent fell 22 percent to $448 million from $572 million a year ago. The Natick, Mass.-based company's top-selling product has been hurt by recent research findings that have questioned drug-coated stents' safety and effectiveness. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:42 AM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2007

Peter Meade plans to retire from Blue Cross

Peter Meade will retire as executive vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts in February, the health insurer said today.

Meade, who has been with Blue Cross for nearly 12 years, will then transition to a consultant's role with the company, Blue Cross said.

Last month, Blue Cross chairman William C. Van Faasen announced plans to step down on Dec. 31.

Meade said in a statement of his upcoming retirement, "This presents a great opportunity for me to continue working with my friends and colleagues at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts while also having the time to engage in a broader range of business and community issues."

The Blue Cross press release noted that Meade is also the chair of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, co-chairman of the MassINC board of directors, and chair of Emerson College, among other responsibilities.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)

Teradyne hits 52-week low as profit drops

Shares of North Reading-based Teradyne Inc. dropped nearly 6 percent today after the semiconductor testing equipment maker said its third-quarter profit fell 32 percent, largely because of lower orders from microchip makers.

Late yesterday, the company posted a profit of $41 million, or 22 cents per share, down from $60.6 million, or 31 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations totaled 17 cents per share, down from 25 cents a share a year ago.

Revenue dropped 16 percent to $299.5 million from $354.7 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 18 cents a share on higher sales of $315 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

Goldman Sachs analyst James Covello said in a note to investors that sales came in at the low end of his guidance. He said earnings per share were helped in part by slightly improved gross margin, lower taxes and a lower share count.

The analyst maintained a "Sell" rating on the stock and said Teradyne's reliance on market share gains to boost profitability "may prove difficult" given the tough pricing environment.

Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Patrick Ho said Teradyne's momentum on new orders stalled in the third quarter but could rebound early in 2008.

Teradyne Chief Executive Michael Bradley said the company was making progress on new designs, despite the third-quarter decline in semiconductor test bookings. Bradley added that Teradyne's customers are cautious about adding capacity to their testing equipment in the short-term.

The company forecast fourth-quarter sales between $250 million and $275 million, below the $335 million analysts are expecting.

On the New York Stock Exchange, shares dropped 82 cents, or nearly 6 percent, to $13 -- having reached a 52-week low of $12.96 earlier in the session. Shares have traded between $12.96 and $18.53 over the past 52 weeks. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)

Cambridge may escape Novartis job cuts

Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said today that its third-quarter earnings more than tripled due to large divestments, but poor pharmaceuticals sales mean 1,260 U.S. job cuts and a reorganization of its divisional management.

A local spokesman for Novartis, which has about 1,500 employees in Cambridge, said the company's Massachusetts operations likely won't be affected by planned workforce reductions.

Novartis said et profit rose to $6.87 billion from $1.87 billion in the third quarter of 2006, boosted by the sale of its Gerber baby foods and Medical Nutrition units to Nestle SA.

Without the divestments, Novartis' profit fell 12 percent to $1.57 billion from $1.79 billion in the July-September period last year. Revenue rose 9 percent to $9.61 billion from $8.82 billion.

Novartis shares closed down 0.4 percent in Zurich. In mid afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Novartis shares were up 36 cents to $53.25.

"Following the successful divestments of the Medical Nutrition and Gerber businesses we are now strategically focused on health care products," Chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella said in a statement.

Novartis, which has struggled with increased regulatory demands and stronger competition from generics in the United States, partially balanced these setbacks through strong growth in its vaccines and diagnostics division and sales of its own generic drugs, Vasella said.

The company makes hypertension drug Diovan, leukemia drug Gleevec -- known as Glivec in Europe -- and breast cancer treatment Femara, among others.

Growth in pharmaceutical sales -- the company's most important earner -- slowed to 2 percent, coming to $5.89 billion compared with $5.78 billion in the third quarter last year. Operating profit in the division dropped 13 percent to $1.54 billion from $1.78 billion.

Novartis said it would have to 1,260 jobs in U.S. pharmaceuticals marketing and sales and replace the head of its drugs unit, Thomas Ebeling, with American Joe Jimenez, who joined the company in April.

Ebeling will move to lead the company's consumer health division.

Novartis said it hopes to save $230 million annually through the job cuts, most of which have already been achieved by leaving vacancies unfilled.

The company also recorded a $590 million "environmental provision" during the third quarter for the planned clean up of industrial sites. Novartis spokesman John Gilardi said the provision had not been included in some analyst forecasts.
(AP and Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. unemployment rate dips

Massachusetts' unemployment rate dipped in September to 4.4 percent, the lowest level in six months.

The rate calculated by the state fell from 4.5 percent in August and now matches the 4.4 percent recorded in March -- a month when the state's unemployment reached its lowest level since October 2001, when a recession took hold.

The September unemployment decline was driven by a nearly 23,000-person increase in the number of employed residents, and 400-person reduction in people without jobs. Those estimates are based on a survey of households.

A separate survey of employers recorded a decline of 2,100 jobs in September. The decline bucks a recent trend in which the state has seen job gains in 10 of the past 12 months. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)

Princeton Review buys 2 NE franchises

The Princeton Review Inc., which provides test preparation and educational-support services, said today that it acquired two of its franchises.

The Princeton Review bought franchises in Western Massachusetts and Providence, R.I. in separate transactions as part of an effort to consolidate operations.

Financial terms were undisclosed.

"Selectively acquiring domestic franchises puts the company in a better position to drive revenue and earnings growth while improving our ability to offer expanded services in all of our markets," said Mark Chernis, president of the company's test preparation division.

In its last full fiscal year, the Amherst franchise had revenue of about $1.6 million, and the Providence franchise had revenue of approximately $900,000. Princeton Review expects each purchase to add to 2008 earnings.

Shares rose 13 cents to $8.08 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

Analysts expect Boston Scientific profit

Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. reports its third-quarter earnings Friday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst commentary for the period ended Sept. 30.

OVERVIEW: Sales of two important products for Boston Scientific -- implantable heart devices that correct irregular heartbeats, and drug-coated stents that keep clogged arteries open -- have been weak.

Product recalls have hurt implantable cardioverter defibrillator sales, and studies have indicated drug-coated stents may increase the risk of heart attacks and death compared to bare-metal stents. Boston Scientific makes the Taxus stent.

The company is also dealing with debt from its 2006 purchase of Guidant Corp., a heart device maker that has faced a number of lawsuits. In July, Boston Scientific agreed to pay about $195 million to 4,000 people who sued Guidant because they received faulty pacemakers and defibrillators.

In August, Boston Scientific said it may sell its cardiac surgery and vascular surgery divisions. It also decided against selling a minority stake in its endosurgery business.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts expect Boston Scientific to report a profit of 7 cents per share for the quarter on $2.06 billion in revenue.

In July, the company estimated it would earn between 3 cents and 8 cents per share on revenue between $2 billion and $2.1 billion.

ANALYST TAKE: Jefferies & Co. analyst Mark Richter said sales of drug-coated stents are likely to miss Wall Street estimates, but he said Boston Scientific could deal with shrinking stent sales by cutting costs and selling inessential parts of its business.

He kept a "Buy" rating on the stock, and said he is "cautiously optimistic" about the company.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Analysts had said the ICD market was gradually recovering after a number of prominent recalls, but that recovery was thrown into doubt Monday when Medtronic Inc. said it stopped distribution of four defibrillator leads. The faulty wires were linked to at least five patient deaths.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Joanne Wuensch said Boston Scientific will gain a little bit of market share due to the recall, but she thinks the news will slow the overall recovery of the ICD market.

The company said Wednesday that it will cut about 2,300 jobs, or 8 percent of its work force. Boston Scientific also said it will restructure operations to save around $500 million.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: The stock fell 9.1 percent during the quarter. Shares have declined 17.7 percent in 2007. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

Idex buys Isolation Technologies

Idex Corp., which makes fluid and metering products, said today that it bought Isolation Technologies for nearly $30 million in cash.

Based in Hopedale, Mass., Isolation Technologies develops instruments used in a variety of analytical chemistry applications. It has annual revenue of about $11 million.

The company will be part of Idex's sapphire engineering business, within its health and science technologies segment. Idex said the addition will help broaden its product offerings and expects the acquisition to add to earnings next year.

Shares of Idex fell $1.61, or 4.3 percent, to $36.20 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

Nixon Peabody opens London office

Nixon Peabody LLP, an international law firm with a Boston presence, announced today the opening of a London office.

The office is opening with seven lawyers, including three UK-qualified partners, the firm said.

"More and more of our US-based investor clients, from institutional owners and banks to hedge funds, are investing in the European markets," Nixon Peabody chairman Harry P. Trueheart said in a statement. "We're also seeing more finance clients start operations in London."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

Eaton Vance Distributors restructures

Eaton Vance Distributors Inc., a subsidiary of Boston-based investment management firm Eaton Vance Corp., announced today a new management structure.

The new structure is designed to better serve clients, support expanded product offerings, and enhance distribution capability, the company said.

The initiative integrates leadership of Eaton Vance's sales and national accounts functions for the company's major distribution channels, Eaton Vance said.

William M. Gillen will head sales and national account relationships for the independent advisor, bank, and registered investment advisor channel, Eaton Vance said, and Jerome Vainisi will be responsible for sales and national account relationships in the major broker-dealer, or wirehouse, channel.

The initiative also combines the functions of the company's former retail separately managed accounts and alternative investments marketing units into the newly formed Wealth Management Solutions Group, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

Boott Hydropower settles with Mass. AG

Andover-based Boott Hydropower Inc. has agreed to pay $125,000 to settle allegations that it failed to report an oil spill, the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today.

According to a complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court, a turbine unit at a Boott facility in Lowell leaked hydraulic oil into a canal that flows into the Merrimack River in mid 2005.

Besides paying a civil penalty, Boott has agreed to develop and implement an environmental management system for its plant as part of the settlement that resolves allegations that the company failed to notify the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection of the oil spill, Coakley's office said.

A Boott spokeswoman said that the company responded immediately to the oil spill and that it is moving forward with a management system to ensure full future compliance with state environmental laws.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

Verax gets ISO certification

Verax Biomedical Inc. announced today that it has received an international certification that will enhance its product sales in Europe and Canada.

The Worcester company is a developer of rapid tests for detecting bacterial contaminants in blood cells and tissue.

Verax said it received a certified with a quality management standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization.

"ISO certification is vital to marketing our products in Europe and throughout the global marketplace," Verax chief executive Jim Lousararian said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

Avici profit up, stock down

Networking technology company Avici Systems Inc. said today that its third-quarter profit multiplied on a jump in sales and lower costs.

But investors weren't impressed, and Avici shares tumbled $1.69, or 15.1 percent, to $9.51 in morning trading. Earlier in the day, the stock traded as low as $9.

Avici earned $15 million, or 97 cents per share, compared with $2.7 million, or 20 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2006.

Excluding one-time charges including restructuring and stock-options, Avici posted an adjusted profit of $15.6 million, or $1.01 per share compared with an adjusted $5.7 million, or 41 cents per share, for the 2006 period.

Revenue rose 45 percent to $29.3 million from $20.2 million in the year-ago period.

Avici cited strong revenue and profitability from its router business.

Avici shares have traded in a 52-week range of $6.47 to $13.96. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

Study sees decline in home remodeling

Overall homeowner remodelling spending for 2007 is projected to be $173.6 billion, 2.3 percent lower than 2006; it would be the first decline since late 2003, according to the release today of a leading indicator for the industry.

The leading indicator for remodelling activity is from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, which added that declines in remodelling spending are expected to extend well into 2008; the center has been tracking such spending since 1998.

"As homeowners become increasingly concerned about falling housing prices and a slowing economy, home improvement spending is dragging," Nicolas P. Retsinas, the center's director, said in a statement. "Coupled with very modest home sales, spending levels are likely to fall."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

Hologic shareholders approve Cytyc purchase

Hologic Inc. announced today that its stockholders overwhelmingly approved its previously announced merger with Cytyc Corp. at a special stockholders meeting.

In the spring, Hologic disclosed plans to acquire Cytyc for $6.3 billion in a deal aimed at creating a women's healthcare giant.

Bedford-based Hologic develops and manufactures diagnostic and medical imaging systems dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, and Cytyc of Marlborough makes Pap smear tests.

Hologic said today that more than 90 percent of the shares represented at the meeting and more than 70 percent of the outstanding shares of Hologic were voted in favor of the transaction. Shareholders of Cytyc are also expected to vote on the transaction today.

The expectation is that the transaction will be completed within a matter of days.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)

Quattro partners with TheStreet.com

Quattro Wireless of Waltham announced today that it has been chosen to sell advertising for the mobile version of TheStreet.com, a provider of financial news and business and investment content.

With its GetMobile platform, Quattro said it can match major advertisers with publishers, creating "an additional branding and monetization channel for both parties."

Quattro noted that it has other relationships with such brands as Playboy Enterprises, the National Football League, and Procter & Gamble Co.'s Cover Girl.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Chamber honors Cafco, Mad Doc

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce is honoring Cafco Construction Management Inc. as its "Small Business of the Year" at a ceremony today at the Sheraton Boston hotel.

Cafco is a Boston-based construction management and general contracting firm.

The Piantedosi Baking Co. of Malden is set to receive the chamber's business excellence award, the chamber said, and Ian Lane Davis, founder and chief executive of Mad Doc Software LLC , an Andover-based company specializing in the development of games, will be feted with its first-ever entrepreneur of the year award.

Sue Morelli, president and chief executive of the bakery cafe chain Au Bon Pain, is scheduled to the speaker, and the emcee of the event is Anthony Silva, business editor of WBZ News Radio 1030, the chamber said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)

Kerry, Snowe press for women's businesses

Two US senators from New England are asking the Bush administration to provide a timeline for implementing a 2000 law that requires that women-owned small businesses receive 5 percent of federal government contracts.

The senators are John F. Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, the committee's ranking Republican.

In 2006, only 3.4 percent of federal contracts were awarded to women-owned businesses, costing women-owned businesses an estimated $6 billion in potential revenue, the senators said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

Nuance buys Vocada

Nuance Communications Inc., a Burlington supplier of speech solutions, said today that it has agreed to acquire Vocada Inc. to broaden its product and service offerings to hospital customers.

Financial terms of the proposed acquisition are not being disclosed, a Nuance spokeswoman said.

Nuance said the transaction will allow it "to broaden the capabilities of its Dictaphone Healthcare solutions" as well as extend the company's domain expertise within such diagnostic specialties as radiology, pathology, and cardiology.

According to its website, Vocada is based in Texas, and Nuance described Vocada as "a leading provider of critical test result management."

In the past, the two companies have shared customers and have had an existing partnership, Nuance said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:34 AM | Comments (0)

Management changes at Iona

Iona Technologies PLC, an Irish company with offices in Waltham, announced some management changes.

The company, which focuses on distributed service-oriented infrastructure solutions, said that company cofounder Sean Baker will transition from executive to non-executive board member.

The company also announced the appointment of Scott Devens to vice president of worldwide sales, effective January.

William McMurray, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, has decided to return home to Australia, Iona said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

AccuSoft, ERG open satellite offices

Two local firms have announced the opening of satellite offices.

AccuSoft Corp., a Northborough company specializing in imaging software development tools, said it has opened a new office in the United Kingdom to "further strengthen sales and support to the increasing numbers of customers in the UK and Ireland."

And Entrepreneurial Resources Group LLC, a Boston-based firm that provides professional management services to "growing and transitional companies," announced the opening of a Washington, D.C., office.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

Positive results for Molecular Insight

Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced positive results for a Phase I trial of Azedra, its lead oncology molecular radiotherapeutic candidate.

The Cambridge company said the trial was designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and distribution of Azedra in adult patients with either carcinoid or pheochromocytoma neuroendocrine cancers.

The company noted that Azedra has Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The Orphan Drug Act rewards companies that develop drugs for rare diseases by giving them seven years to sell each new treatment without competition from other manufacturers.

In a statement today, company president and chief science officer John W. Babich said, "Azedra exemplifies Molecular Insight's strategy to apply its radiochemistry expertise to improve an existing therapy."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)

Akamai will deliver Starbucks music

Akamai Technologies Inc. of Cambridge and java giant Starbucks Corp. announced a "technology relationship" today that includes the deployment of Akamai servers within Starbucks cafes for providing the wireless delivery of digital music to Starbucks customers.

Akamai, a global service provider for accelerating content and applications online, said it will serve as the exclusive content distribution provider in the United States for the partnership announced last month between Starbucks and Apple Inc.

According to a September story from the AP, that partnership allows users of Apple's iPhone and new iPod Touch to download songs playing in a Starbucks cafe directly to their portable devices; to promote the new wireless iTunes music service, Starbucks plans to give away 50 million free digital songs to customers in its domestic coffee houses.

Akamai said today that its technology will create a "fast and reliable route for the delivery of content from the (Apple) iTunes Store to Starbucks locations."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2007

Boston Scientific cuts 2,300 jobs

Boston Scientific Corp., facing sluggish sales in two key areas, said today it will eliminate 2,300 jobs, or 8 percent of its worldwide workforce, and will go ahead with plans to sell some of its smaller divisions to further reduce expenses.

The Natick medical device maker, the state's third largest life sciences company with a market value of $21 billion, did not say where the cuts will be made. Only 2,400 of the company's 28,000 workers are based in Massachusetts, suggesting that only a fraction of the layoffs will likely be local. If the company cut 8 percent of the jobs in the state, it would work out to 192 jobs.

The cuts come at a time when Boston Scientific is facing anemic sales for its two main businesses, drug-coated stents and defibrillators. On Friday, the company is expected to report third-quarter revenue of $2.06 billion, up just 1 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

The market for drug-coated stents has wilted since several medical studies raises questions about their safety and benefits, prompting some doctors to rely on cheaper, bare metal stents instead or avoid inserting stents altogether. Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson are the only two companies with United States approval to sell stents, tiny mesh tubes used to prop open heart arteries, with special medicine coatings designed to keep arteries from narrowing.

Despite the fact that more recent studies on the stents have been more positive, the market has continued to shrink. On Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson reported its sales for drug-coated stent sales fell 44 percent, while its market share remained steady, implying Boston Scientific will suffer a similar decline. In addition, the company could soon face additional competition from Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic Inc., which are both seeking approval for their own versions of drug-coated stents, while Boston Scientific has been blocked from introducing a new model until at least next year, while it tries to addresses concerns in a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration.

At the same time, Boston Scientific's other main business, implantable defibrillators designed to help regulate the heart, has been hurt by a series of industry recalls, making doctors and patients reconsider whether to use them. Boston Scientific acquired the cardiac rhythm management business, which includes defibrillators and related products, when it bought Guidant last year.

The company's endosurgery unit in Marlborough has been one of the few bright spots in the company's performance, increasing 11 percent in the second quarter.

Boston Scientific has 2,400 employees in Massachusetts, including nearly 1,000 at its corporate headquarters and close to another 1,000 in Marlborough. Another 500 work at the company's distribution center in Quincy.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 5:25 PM | Comments (0)

Coakley cites firms for child labor violations

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley issued citations against two companies that do business at the Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts in Mansfield for multiple violations of the state's Child Labor Law.

According to Coakley, the center's concert promoter, Live Nation Inc. of California, and the center's concession operator, Sportservice, which is part of Delaware North Cos. of Buffalo, N.Y., were cited for a total of $16,000 in penalties for employing minors after 10 p.m. on many school nights and for employing minors who didn't have work permits.

A spokesman for Live Nation wrote in an e-mail, "We're not going to comment because we haven't received a copy of the citation yet."

In an e-mailed statement, Delaware North said it wasn't aware of Coakley's concerns until "we were notified that a press release had been issued."

The company added that it takes child labor law issues seriously and that it has "a long history of outstanding compliance with all state and local laws."

Delaware North also said, "We are very surprised by this news and have already launched a full internal investigation into this matter."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:56 PM | Comments (0)

Radio station cuts down on commercials

Mike FM, a radio station in Greater Boston, said it will go commercial free and play "continuous music" from 9 a.m. until noon every Monday through Friday, starting tomorrow.

Mike FM, which can be found at 93.7 on the FM dial, plays "variety hits," a spokesman said, and the station's website boasts, "We play everything."

Mike FM is part of the radio empire operated by Entercom Communications Corp. of Pennsylvania.

In a statement, Ron Valeri, director of FM programming for Entercom Boston, offered a rationale for Mike FM's new policy.

"Finally, a station is actually doing something about too many commercials on radio," he said.

Other Entercom stations in the Boston market include WEEI and WRKO, which is embroiled in a legal dispute with talk-show host and Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:23 PM | Comments (0)

Laptop with Home Depot employee data is stolen

The Home Depot Inc. said today that a laptop computer containing about 10,000 employees' personal data was stolen from a regional manager's car in Massachusetts.

The computer, which was password protected, didn't contain any customer information, said Ron DeFeo, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement store chain. He would not say whether the information had been encrypted.

The regional manager recently reported that the laptop was stolen from his car while it was parked outside his home, DeFeo said. He declined to name the town where the theft occurred. Police were investigating.

The laptop contained names, home addresses and Social Security numbers of certain Home Depot employees, most in the Northeast, DeFeo said.

"We have no reason to believe that the data contained on the laptop was the target of theft, or that any personal information was accessed or used improperly," DeFeo said.

Home Depot, which has about 350,000 employees, notified the 10,000 affected workers of the theft in a letter and was arranging free credit-monitoring services for them.

The manager violated company policy by leaving a laptop with personal information in his car, DeFeo said. He wouldn't say whether the employee was disciplined. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:55 PM | Comments (0)

AG Coakley issues mortgage regulations

The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said today that it has issued final mortgage broker and lender regulations that aim to ban unfair or deceptive practices that contributed to the foreclosure crisis.

According to Coakley's office, the new regulations will take effect in a matter of weeks, and the regulations include provisions that would prohibit mortgage brokers or lenders from making a loan if they do not have a reasonable belief that the borrower is able to repay the loan.

Mortgage broker and lenders will also be required to disclose how a mortgage's interest rate or other charges will increase, and the regulations will prohibit brokers and lenders from steering borrowers to loan products that are more costly than those that the borrowers qualify for, Coakley's office said.

The new regulations will give the attorney general's office the ability to "more easily bring cases against unscrupulous lenders under the Consumer Protection Law," Coakley said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

New Balance picks BBDO

New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. said today it has selected BBDO New York as its global creative advertising agency of record.

Headquartered in Boston, New Balance is a manufacturer of performance footwear and apparel with worldwide sales of $1.55 billion in 2006.

Annual billings for the New Balance's advertising account were not disclosed.

BBDO New York was selected after an ad agency review, New Balance said.

BBDO New York will lead a roster of agencies that works on New Balance's marketing, and the roster includes Atmosphere BBDO, which specializes in digital marketing, DesignWorks at BBDO, and PHD, which specializes in media buying, New Balance said.

Consumers may be familiar with recent BBDO New York ads for the zero-calorie soft drink Diet Pepsi Max, which has the theme of "Wake up people."

BBDO New York is part of BBDO Worldwide, which is owned by Omnicom Group Inc., a New York company that owns many ad agencies, public relations firms, and marketing agencies.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:36 PM | Comments (0)

Genzyme drugs get FDA approval

Genzyme says FDA panel moves to expand use of kidney disease drugs, including Renagel

Genzyme Corp. said late Tuesday a Food and Drug Administration committee recommended expanding the use of a class of drugs used to treat kidney disease.

The drugs, called phosphate binders, include Genzyme's Renagel. The 8 to 4 recommendation by the Cardiovascular and Renal Products Advisory Committee means the drugs may be used by patients with high phosphate levels before they start dialysis.

Renagel is currently used in dialysis patients with late-stage kidney disease to absorb excess phosphorus from food, thereby not taxing the weakened kidney.

Genzyme is also seeking approval for its new kidney disease drug Renvela for both dialysis and pre-dialysis patients. A decision is expected this month for that drug candidate.

In a note to investors, Wachovia Capital Markets analyst Aaron Reames said more than 350,000 patients in 50 countries are currently treated with Renagel. He expects Renvela will be approved by year-end, which could help drive revenue beyond $850 million in 2010.

Shares fell 27 cents to $73.19 in afternoon trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

Exact Sciences shares dive

Shares of cancer test developer Exact Sciences Corp. dived today after the Food and Drug Administration said it needs to apply for approval of its colorectal cancer screening technology.

Shares fell $1.20, or 19.9 percent, to $4.82 in morning trading. the stock has ranged from $1.75 to $6.17 over the past year.

Exact Sciences said the FDA's office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety sent the company a warning letter, saying the PreGen-Plus medical device requires premarket approval or clearance.

In a conference call with investors, Chief Financial Officer Charles R. Carelli Jr. said the company had been planning to apply for FDA approval, but was waiting for guidelines from the American Cancer Society as part of the process. He said the letter was a "surprise" in light of the numerous discussions the company previously had with the FDA over the device.

The company recently asked the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for coverage approval. That agency most likely asked the FDA to review the test, Carelli said.

PreGen-Plus is a commercial stool-based DNA test. The company sells the product in collaboration with Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings.

The company said it has a meeting with the FDA, and plans to file an application for approval when it has more details on the regulatory requirements and application pathway.

Exact Sciences said it does not yet know the costs or timing of the approval process, or how the letter will effect Medicare's decision, he said. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

Survey: GPS and sunroofs lost on women

A new survey offers evidence to support the theory that women drivers are far more likely than male motorists to stop and ask for directions.

The survey is from Leasetrader.com, a Miami company that helps consumers transfer car leases, and the survey found that only 13 percent of Leasetrader.com's women customers rated GPS technology as their top choice for favorite car feature.

Because the company survey focused on women customers, there is no comparable data on male customers and their preferences for car navigations systems, said a spokesman for Leasetrader.com, who added that a survey of its men customers is planned shortly.

So what do women want most when it comes to car features? According to the survey, it's fold-down back seats that allow for more storage room.

And if you're a husband or a thoughtful boyfriend thinking about buying a car for your wife or sweetheart, don't waste money on a sunroof.

According to Leasetrader.com's survey, 85 percent said the sunroof is the car's most overrated feature.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

Iron Mountain loses student data

Boston-based Iron Mountain, which was hired to store and safeguard Louisiana scholarship and college savings account data lost a decade of backup records -- including bank account numbers and student and parent Social Security numbers -- during a move, officials say.

"We certainly don't want to create any panic. But people should be aware and take the necessary steps," said Melanie Amrhein, executive director of the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance. "This is backup data off of a mainframe that contains sensitive personal information."

The single case lost Sept. 19 held backup data for every Louisiana application for federal student aid from 1998 through Sept. 13 of this year, Amrhein said today.

It also included applications during that period for the state's TOPS scholarship program and information about START Saving Program accounts, including account numbers.

The financial aid office would not say how many records were involved or what format they were in.

Amrhein said the backup records were lost during a move from Iron Mountain's Port Allen storage building to Baton Rouge.

The case was lost because a driver failed to follow company procedures when loading it onto his vehicle, according to a statement e-mailed today by Laura Sudnik, spokeswoman for Iron Mountain Inc. The driver has been fired.

"Our entire business is built around high security and reliability and we regret that this employee error took place," it said.

Special equipment and software and "sophisticated computer skills" would be needed to get into the compressed records, according to a notice posted on the Internet by the student aid office.

Iron Mountain said it was "highly unlikely that any of the information contained on the back-up media can be viewed or used in any way."

The state Attorney General's Office is investigating, spokeswoman Kris Wartelle said.

The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance waited until this week to publicly disclose the loss to give the company time to find the data if it had just been misplaced, Amrhein said.

Earlier this year, about 150,000 student names and Social Security numbers were breached online through a separate Louisiana Board of Regents mistake. More than 60 college-related records breaches have occurred nationwide this year, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

Procter & Gamble chooses Optiant

Optiant Inc. announced today that it has been selected by consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co. to help optimize P&G's supply-chain strategy.

Burlington-based Optiant is a provider of supply-chain network design, inventory organization, and supply-chain business intelligence solutions.

P&G of Ohio is known for a myriad of consumer brands, including Tide detergent, Gillette razors, and Folgers coffee.

"With increasing pressure from retailers to manage product availability on time to meet growing consumer demand, P&G needs a flexible, well designed inventory planning and optimization solution that can cut supply-chain costs and provide exceptional into meeting actual demand," Optiant chief executive Jonathan Colehower said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

TEI Biosciences gets FDA nod

TEI Biosciences Inc. said its SurgiMend product can now be used in wider applications for soft-tissue reconstruction after the Food and Drug Administration cleared the product for additional use.

The Boston company is developing novel biologic products for a broad spectrum of soft tissue repair.

Its SurgiMend Collagen Matrix for Soft Tissue Reconstruction product had been previously cleared for hernia repair and muscle flap reinforcement indications, the company said.

TEI announced today that it has launched SurgiMend for expanded use in plastic and reconstructive surgery, including breast reconstruction, and for tendon augmentation.

In a statement, TEI chairman, president, and chief executive Yiannis Monovoukas noted that SurgiMend "provides an opportunity for hospitals to cover a broad range of applications with a single biologic device at a single price point."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:51 AM | Comments (0)

Boston prices inch up

For the two month period ending Sept. 30, Boston area prices rose 0.4 percent, largely due to higher apparel costs resulting from the introduction of women's fall fashions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a report today.

To a lesser extent, the increase was attributed to a rise in prices for food, beverages, and medical care, though a decline in gas prices moderated the bimonthly increase, said the bureau, which is part of the US Department of Labor.

For the two month period, apparel costs rose 10.8 percent as women's fall fashion lines arrived in stores, the bureau said.

Since September 2006, the bureau's consumer price index for the Boston area rose 1.5 percent as did core inflation, the bureau said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

Dracon joins .406 Ventures

Boston venture capital firm .406 Ventures, which invests in early-stage information technology and services companies, announced that Greg Dracon has joined the firm as a principal.

Dracon joins .406 from Core Capital Partners, a venture firm with offices in Washington, D.C., where he focused on technology infrastructure, technology enabled services, software, security, wireless, and digital media investments, .406 said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)

IBM earnings rise

Because of a hiccup in its hardware unit, IBM Corp. stock took a hit even though the technology bellwether reported a 6 percent rise in earnings and exceeded Wall Street forecasts. Investors were also sorting out how much IBM is exposed to woes in the financial industry.

IBM shares fell 1.2 percent after the company reported Tuesday that its third-quarter profit was $2.36 billion, or $1.68 per share. That surpassed the profit of $2.22 billion and $1.45 per share that IBM posted in the same quarter of 2006.

Revenue rose 7 percent to $24.1 billion from $22.6 billion a year ago, though that growth would have been just 3 percent if not for the weak dollar. With dips in the greenback, deals done in other currencies translate into more dollars for big exporters like IBM.

Analysts' consensus forecast was for earnings of $1.67 per share on a shade under $24.1 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Financial.

As in several previous quarters, IBM leveraged stock repurchases to achieve hefty gains in earnings per share even with revenue growth in single-digit percentages. In a conference call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge noted that earnings per share have risen 16 percent this year, which puts the company ahead of its previous guidance of a 14 percent to 15 percent rise in 2007.

The brightest spot this time was IBM's services division, where IBM has worked hard to lower expenses in what has traditionally been a labor-intensive field.

Services revenue booked in the third quarter rose 14 percent to $13.7 billion, the best such gain in four years. The increase would have been 10 percent if not for the weak dollar. Most importantly, services posted a 27 percent increase in pretax profits.

IBM also signed $11.8 billion in services contracts in the third quarter, up from $10.5 billion a year ago. That revenue will flow into IBM over the next few years.

Where investors found signs of trouble was in hardware, where revenue fell 10 percent to $4.9 billion. That drop would have been 13 percent without the benefit of currency fluctuations.

Part of the decline could be attributed to IBM's recent sell-off of its printing division. But other key segments showed declines, and the group's overall profit fell 14 percent. Mainframe revenue -- a vital category for IBM because those huge computers require lots of specialized software and services -- was down 31 percent, and chip sales were off 15 percent.

Loughridge blamed the mainframes' steep drop on an unusually strong quarter a year ago, when IBM had recently released a new model. Loughridge said IBM expected the hardware group to return to growth in the first quarter of 2008.

Software, IBM's most profitable segment, grew its revenue 7 percent to $4.7 billion. The increase would have been 3 percent without shifts in the dollar. Pretax profit in software slipped 1 percent, largely because of the costs of acquisitions, Loughridge said.

Before the report, some analysts had worried that recent problems in credit markets would hurt IBM, because the financial services industry is IBM's largest customer segment. Financial companies account for half of all mainframe sales.

Indeed, Loughridge indicated that those troubles may be to blame for hardware and software deals that IBM failed to seal in the third quarter and saw slip into the current quarter. IBM's sales to financial services companies rose 5 percent -- but that would have been 1 percent in constant dollar values.

Annex Research analyst Bob Djurdjevic said the fourth quarter -- traditionally IBM's best -- will be especially important now because it will reveal whether the credit crunch's effect on IBM "was a blip or a longer trend."

In the first nine months of the year, IBM earned $6.47 billion, or $4.42 per share, with revenue of $69.9 billion. Those figures all rose from the first three quarters of 2007, when IBM made $5.95 billion, or $3.81 per share, on revenue of $65.2 billion.

IBM employs about 5,000 people in Massachusetts, where it has bought nine software companies in the past decade.

IBM announced its results after markets closed Tuesday. IBM shares gained $1.57, or 1.3 percent, to close at $119.60 before falling $1.41 in after-hours trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:33 AM | Comments (0)

Vitasoy launches seasonal drinks

Vitasoy USA Inc., an Ayer-based firm that markets soy beverages, is now offering its winter seasonal line of Holly Nog eggnog and Peppermint Chocolate flavor.

According to the firm, its dairy-free drinks are organic and low fat, and they contain no lactose, gluten, or cholesterol.

A glass of Holly Nog has 120 calories, more than 200 fewer than traditional egg nog, the firm said, and a quart container has a suggested retail price of $2.49 to $2.99.

The beverages are available at such retailers as Whole Foods Market Inc. and Roche Bros. Supermarkets, a company spokeswoman said.

The company, which also markets the Nasoya tofu brand, believes that flavored seasonal soy beverages offer big potential for Vitasoy USA, a company spokeswoman said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

Shift revenue tops $10 million

Shift Communications said today that its annual revenue tops $10 million as its client roster has grown from 37 to 65 clients.

With offices in Boston and San Francisco, Shift is a public relations agency focused on enterprise and consumer technology brands.

"A robust market for technology public relations, coupled with a broader acceptance of social media marketing tools, have converged to serve as a bellows on the revenue model at Shift," the firm said in a press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:18 AM | Comments (0)

Biopure regains Nasdaq compliance

Biopure Corp. announced today that it has received notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market that the company has regained compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Markets.

The Cambridge company develops and manufactures oxygen therapeutics, one of which has been described by outsiders as an artificial substitute for human blood.

Biopure also announced today that its board has elected R. Todd Wood as the company's vice president of operations and acting chief financial officer.

As previously announced, chief financial officer Francis H. Murphy, 69, has advised the company of his intention to retire by Dec. 14, Biopure said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

Vetcision plans to expand

Vetcision, a veterinary specialty hospital in Waltham for small animal care and diagnostics, today disclosed its plans to expand to a new "state-of-the-art" facility.

The new 18,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in the spring.

"With the new veterinary hospital, Vetcision will ascend from a strictly surgical practice to providing an inclusive specialty hospital for small animal care, without sacrificing customer care," the company said in a press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:07 AM | Comments (0)

US mortgage applications up

Mortgage applications increased slightly in the latest weekly survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group representing the real estate finance industry.

For the week ending Oct. 12, the index was 656.3, up 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the association said; this week's results include an adjustment to account for the Columbus Day holiday.

On an unadjusted basis, the index was up 0.7 percent compared with the same week one year earlier, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:05 AM | Comments (0)

Axcelis lowers forecast

Axcelis Technologies Inc. lowered its guidance today for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, and said it anticipates that "continuing market softness is likely to put pressure on its base business into the fourth quarter."

The Beverly-based provider of productivity solutions for the semiconductor industry said that it expects third-quarter revenues to be "slightly below the $110 million to $120 million range previously provided" and that the net loss per share for the quarter is expected to be 8 cents.

The company added in a press release: "Gross margins are also forecasted to be lower than anticipated due to timing of shipments and product mix. Additionally, Axcelis has decided to cease future product development in rapid thermal processing and curing to focus on profitable growth within the company's core ion implant and dry strip business."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:04 AM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2007

HRPT Properties prices share offering

The real estate investment trust HRPT Properties Trust, of Newton, today said it priced a public offering of 12 million shares at $10.07 per share.

The company said settlement of the sale is expected Friday.

HRPT plans to use the proceeds, plus loans under its revolving credit facility, to redeem all or a part of its $300 million outstanding 8.75 percent preferred shares.

Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets, and UBS Investment Bank are joint underwriters. The underwriters of the offering have a 30-day option to buy up to another 1.8 million shares to cover any overallotments.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:43 PM | Comments (0)

Curis to get $3m payment from partner

Drug developer Curis Inc. will get a $3 million payment as partner Genentech Inc. starts an early stage study of its cancer treatment candidate.

The compound being studied, called a Hedgehog antagonist, is aimed treating advanced cancers that have not responded to treatment, standard therapy, or for which there are no therapies.

Curis, of Cambridge, today said it will receive a $3 million payment from Genentech as part of the collaboration.

On Monday, Genentech reported third-quarter earnings that barely beat analysts’ estimates, making them skeptical the company can maintain its momentum.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)

Kraft Group energy grant opposed

A paper shipping box manufacturer owned by the Massachusetts parent company of the New England Patriots is running into opposition over its request for state grant money to generate electricity at its mill.

The Office of Consumer Counsel on Monday filed an objection with state utility regulators over a proposal by Rand Whitney Containerboard for a multimillion-dollar grant to increase power generation at Montville.

Rand Whitney is owned by The Kraft Group, which also owns the Patriots.

The General Assembly revised state law allowing companies to seek grants that would help finance electricity generation. The legislation intended to reduce the load on the regional power grid and improve energy efficiency.

More than 200 applications from schools, hospitals, companies and other organizations have been submitted to the state Department of Public Utility.

"We're talking little guys who operate machine shops, restaurants up to mega corporations," said Beryl Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Utility Control.

But the Office of Consumer Counsel told the DPUC that the company has no right to seek a $6.4 million grant based on 14.2 megawatts at its power plant because its upgrade is by 1.9 megawatts to a 12.3-megawatt plant already online.

The consumer advocate says Rand Whitney is instead entitled to seek funding of, at most, $855,000.

"OCC is outraged by Rand Whitney's effort to obtain a grant from ratepayers reflecting the 12.3 megawatts that they had already decided to install in 2005 in their own economic interest," the state agency said.

James Cobery, general counsel for Rand-Whitney, said in a statement that the Office of Consumer Counsel misunderstands "both the letter of the law as well as the intent of the law."

The General Assembly intended that financial incentives should be available not just for electricity created now but also for future power generation, he said.

"Prior to this plant coming online, Rand Whitney purchased its power directly from the electric grid," Cobery said. "That it no longer is drawing that amount of power from an over-stressed infrastructure and that Rand Whitney is willing to invest in more generating capacity to further reduce this burden are precisely the reasons behind these incentive programs." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

Riverside buys 2 firms

Riverside Partners LLC, a Boston private equity firm, announced today that it has bought two medical-device manufacturers and merged them into a combined operating company.

Financial details of the acquisitions were not disclosed.

One of the acquired companies is New England Precision Grinding Inc. of Holliston, an outsourced manufacturer for original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, of engineered wires and precision ground needles, Riverside said.

The other company is Accu-Met Laser LLC of Cranston, R.I., an outsource manufacturer for OEMs focused on laser welding, cutting, engraving, and other capabilities, Riverside said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

2 new tenants at Chapel Business Center

Two new tenants have signed leases for a total of about 25,000 square feet of office space at the Chapel Business Center in Newton, the leasing agent for the building's owner said today.

The agent is the Codman Co., a Boston-based real estate firm, and the owner is an entity controlled by Fairlane Properties Inc., a Boston commercial real estate investment firm.

The new tenants are the Share Group, a direct marketing firm with offices in Somerville, and Quantia Communications, a wireless and Internet software communications company based currently in Cambridge's Kendall Square, Codman said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

Rutland builder restrained by Mass. AG

The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said it has obtained a restraining order against Blair Enterprises Inc. for allegedly discharging sediment into Boston's drinking water supply on repeated occasions.

Attempts since Friday to get comment from Blair's lawyer were unsuccessful.

According to Coakley's office, Blair is building the Bear Hills Estates subdivision in Rutland, near a tributary to the Quabbin Reservoir.

In a complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Coakley's office alleges that Blair failed to comply with state and local permits, in part by improperly implementing and maintaining erosion control measures at its construction site.

The lawsuit also alleges that seven acres of wetlands were destroyed as a result of Blair's actions.

A court hearing on the complaint is scheduled for later this month, a Coakley spokeswoman said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

Boloco goes "cage-free"

Boloco, a Boston-based chain of burrito restaurants, is now only serving eggs from "cage-free" hens, the Humane Society of the United States said today.

According to the society, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for animal welfare, Boloco uses "318,000 eggs' worth of liquid eggs each year."

Boloco president and chief operating officer Mike Harder said in a statement: "Caging hens is stressful on the bird in many ways physically. We believe that respect for animal dignity in farming practices is the right thing to do and results in better food for our customers."

According to the society, Boloco joins such chains as Finagle A Bagel and food services at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in implementing "cage-free egg policies."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:47 AM | Comments (0)

BNY Mellon signs up Conn. firm

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing of Boston said today that it will provide managed accounts and institutional back office outsourcing support for O'Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC, a quantitative investment firm based in Connecticut.

Services that BNY Mellon will provide to O'Shaughnessy include account administration, transaction processing, portfolio accounting, custodian reconciliations, performance measurement, client reporting, and client billing, BNY Mellon said.

BNY Mellon Asset Servicing is a division of the Bank of New York Mellon Corp., a global financial services company.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

Optimal Engineering sold to Cal. firm

A California company said today it has acquired Optimal Engineering Partners Inc., a Westford-based provider of full lifecycle product engineering services.

The buyer is Symphony Services, a Palo Alto-based provider of product engineering outsourcing services.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

A spokeswoman said that no jobs at Optimal would be lost and that three Optimal cofounders will become executives at the combined company; Optimal has 130 engineers and 20 support and sales staffers, the spokeswoman said.

Combining Symphony and Optimal improves Symphony's ability to meet the global needs of clients, particularly for those in such highly competitive industries as communications and mobile devices, Symphony president and chief executive Gordon Brooks said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

Judge rules against Carr in WRKO case

Radio talk show host Howie Carr, whose tortuous contract negotiations have kept him in limbo between two stations, remains under contract with his current employer, WRKO-AM, a judge ruled today.

But the ruling, issued this morning by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel, sharply ratchets up Carr’s salary to match the offer given by a competing radio station.

At issue is a contract that Carr signed with WRKO that was due to expire in late September. The station is owned by Entercom Boston.

Prior to its expiration, Carr fielded a lucrative contract from a suitor station, WTKK-FM, which reportedly has offered the popular talk show host and Boston Herald columnist $7 million over five years.

“Entercom, by exercising its right of first refusal, continued Carr’s services beyond the Sept. 19, 2007 original expiration date of the Agreement, upon the compensation arrangement and the term of employment offered by the other station,” van Gestel wrote in the seven-page ruling.
The judge sharply rejected Carr’s July 10 statement to the media that the Entercom contract transforms him into a “virtual indentured servant.”

“Carr is not, as he argues in his brief, ‘in essence [subject to] a lifetime employment agreement’ with Entercom,” the Judge wrote. “And wherever he legally finds himself, it is of his own conscious doing. He has not, as he publicly claims, been placed into some form of high-paid indentured servitude by this Court.”
(By Diedtra Henderson, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)

Converge opens California trading center

Converge, a Peabody-based distributor of electronics components, technology, and supply-chain services, announced today the opening of a new trading center in Irvine, Calif.

"We're committed to expand our company's footprint both internationally and domestically, with Irvine playing an integral part in our global trading network," Converge chief executive Frank Cavallaro said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)

Nano-C lands $2.9m from US institute

Nano-C Inc. said today it has been awarded a $2.9 million in research-and-development funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The Westwood company is a developer of nanostructured carbon materials that can be used in such applications as alternative energy and improved medical therapies.

Nano-C said that its grant is for developing a novel manufacturing process for nanostructured carbon materials that will increase yields and reduce costs.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

Mintera raises $19 million

Mintera Corp. said today it has raised a $19 million Series C round of venture capital financing.

The Acton company is a provider of high bit-rate optical transport systems solutions.

Polaris Venture Partners, a firm with offices in Waltham, and RRE Ventures of New York, co-led the financing round, Mintera said.

Joining the round as an investor and a strategic partner was JDS Uniphase Corp., or JDSU, a California-based provider of communications test and measurement solutions and optical products for the telecommunications industry.

The partnership will offer optical network equipment manufacturers product that combine both Mintera and JDSU technologies, Mintera said.

"Internet traffic growth is again accelerating, with the major new drivers being video, mobile, and embedded networking," Bob Metcalfe, a Polaris general partner and Mintera board member, said in a statement. "Upgrades of core DWDM plumbing are now moving to 40 Gbps in metro and back-bone ultra long haul. These upgrades are led by Mintera, which is already preparing for 100 Gbps a few years ahead of service provider network requirements."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

State Street income soars

Financial services firm State Street Corp. said today that third-quarter net income increased 29 percent from the year-ago quarter due to increasing revenue from servicing fees and trading services.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, earnings climbed to $358 million, or 91 cents per share, from $278 million, or 83 cents per share, during the same quarter a year ago.

Operating income, which excludes merger and integration costs from State Street's acquisition of Investors Financial Services Corp. was $449 million, or $1.15 per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast earnings of 94 cents per share. Analysts do not always include one-time charges in their earnings forecasts.

State Street's servicing fees increased 37 percent to $937 million from $685 million during the third quarter of 2006. The increase came as State Street added new customers from its acquisition of Investors Financial Services and increased business from new and existing customers.

Trading services revenue, which includes foreign exchange trading and brokerage fees, increased 87 percent to $320 million. Increasing exchange trading volume helped boost trading services revenue. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:24 AM | Comments (0)

IRobot gets $8.8m Army order

Burlington's iRobot Corp., a company whose products include battlefield robots that can detect explosive devices, announced today it has received an $8.8 million delivery order from the US Army.

The battlefield robots are called PackBots, and iRobot said this order is for 40 PackBots, plus spare parts and equipment.

The order is from the Army's Robotic Systems Joint Project Office at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, iRobot said; to date, PackBot orders from this office total $45 million.

For the order announced today, iRobot said it expects to complete delivery by June.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:21 AM | Comments (0)

WPI launches robotic program

The Worcester Polytechnic Institute is marking the launch of its robotics engineering program with a symposium today on the robotics revolution.

As of this fall, WPI is offering what it describes as the nation's first bachelor's degree program in robotics engineering.

The list of scheduled speakers for the symposium at WPI's campus center includes Helen Grenier, co-founder and chairman of iRobot Corp., the Burlington company known for such products as military robots that can detect explosive devices and the household floor-cleaning robot known as the Roomba; and Dean Kamen of Deka Research & Development Corp., a company known for such products as the Segway Human Transporter, a self-balancing two-wheeled scooter.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)

Court Square offers biotech services

Court Square Data Group Inc., a Springfield-based consulting firm focused on information technology, announced today that is offering special services designed for emerging biotech firms.

"Emerging biotechs and biopharms should focus on science, not the IT infrastructure or the applications they use," Court Square chief executive Keith Parent said in a statement. "These companies need a cost-effective and supportive IT environment that meets their current requirements yet can scale as their company grows and moves through the drug development life cycle."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

18 Tremont sold

Jones Lang LaSalle, a Chicago-based real estate money management and services firm with a big presence in Greater Boston, said it negotiated the $49.5 million sale of 18 Tremont St., a 12-story office building in Boston's Financial District, on behalf of Meritage Properties LLC.

According to its website, Meritage Properties LLC is a real estate firm with offices in Scarsdale, N.Y.

The buyer was BPG Properties Ltd., a private equity real estate fund manager based in the Philadelphia area.

BPG senior vice president Roy C. Perry said in a statement, "We will continue the upgrade program which was started by the previous owner with our own multi-million dollar improvement program to further enhance the building's facade as well as the lobbies, rest rooms, and common areas."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:08 AM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2007

Carr awaits ruling on return to the airwaves

Radio talk show host Howie Carr, whose tortured contract negotiations have kept him in limbo between two stations, may learn as early as tomorrow morning whether he can return to the airwaves on a rival channel.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel this afternoon heard arguments from attorneys representing Carr, his current employer, WRKO-AM, and his suitor station, WTKK-FM, which reportedly has offered the popular personality and Boston Herald columnist a more lucrative contract worth $7 million over five years.

Media accounts suggest that Carr earned $790,000 in 2006. A spokeswoman today declined to comment on those figures.

Van Gestel, in statements from the bench, disagreed with Carr's attorney and suggested his contract with WRKO remains valid.

"We’re looking forward to reviewing Judge van Gestel's opinion," said Nancy Sterling, Carr's spokeswoman. "We'll have a comment once we've had an opportunity to read the ruling and determine our next course of action."

Carr has been off the air since Sept. 19.
(By Diedtra Henderson, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 5:32 PM | Comments (0)

Raytheon, Cisco to build emergency network

Raytheon Co. will collaborate with network equipment maker Cisco Systems on a wide-area communications network for emergency responders and military personnel, the Waltham company said today.

The interoperable system will allow users to share information over a variety of electronic devices, including cellphones, hand-held radios, and computers.

Raytheon's JPS Communications subsidiary is expected to provide hardware, while Cisco will design the network.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:47 PM | Comments (0)

AG: Foreclosures will hit suburbs, too

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley today said the home foreclosure crisis is far from over and will spread beyond urban areas to the suburbs.

Coakley was among several speakers at a congressional hearing in Roxbury, during which officials offered a range of solutions, among them a program to help struggling homeowners in a handful of cities.

There have been 1,000 home foreclosures in Boston in the past six months, clustered in minority and low-income neighborhoods, Coakley said.

But "you are going to see foreclosures in some of our middle and more tony communities, and that is going to affect everybody's health and well-being in the market,’’ she said.

US Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said federal data show that minority borrowers were more likely to be given subprime loans, even when their income level is equal to white borrowers.

Subprime mortgages are risky for lenders because borrowers often have poor credit. They usually involve high interest rates.

"If you are African-American or Hispanic in this country, and unfortunately particularly in Boston, you are less likely to get a mortgage and if you do get a mortgage, you pay more," said Frank, adding that he will support a federal bill to toughen regulations.

Governor Deval Patrick outlined a plan to have lenders accept less than the full values of their loans, so homeowners could sell at current market prices and pay off the smaller amount in order to avoid foreclosure. He said it would be applied in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and other cities with high foreclosure rates. An overview of Patrick's was the subject of a page one story in this morning's Boston Globe.

The foreclosure rate is up 76 percent in the past year in Massachusetts, he said.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:40 PM | Comments (0)

Nixon Peabody hires a chief operating officer

Karen B. Greenbaum has joined Nixon Peabody LLP, an international law firm with offices in Boston, as chief operating officer and managing director. She joins Nixon Peabody from Mercer, a human-resources consulting firm.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)

Halloween for grown-ups: sexy celebs and beer kegs

Young trick-or-treaters are snapping up costumes inspired by the TV show "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical." But what about adults? What's their Halloween haberdashery of choice? According to one retailer, many adults will dress up as objects.

"Beer-keg outfits and whoopie-cushion outfits are very big this year," said Sal V. Perisano, chief executive of iParty Corp., a Dedham-based chain of 50 stores where the October merchandise is heavy with Halloween-themed goods.

What's more, many adult celebrants of Halloween are demanding outfits that are sexy, he added - though it's challenging to imagine an object of desire pinked out in high-decibel whoopie-cushion attire.

Adults hankering for Halloween hijinx comes as no surprise to Shopzilla.com, an online comparison shopping site. According to a Shopzilla.com survey, 65 percent of East Coast consumers feel that Halloween is shifting from a children's oriented holiday to more of an adult oriented holiday.

And with its large population of college students, Greater Boston seems particularly keen on celebrating Oct. 31 as an adult holiday, with no shortage of sophomores eager to go partying while masquerading as a beer keg.

At an iParty store, college kids will try on and model many costumes and wig-hats while one of their group records the scene with a Camcorder or a cellphone camera; later clips that are part fashion show, part horror show, will appear on Youtube, a website for sharing video content, Perisano said.

Many adults want to dress up as sexy celebrities, either real of imagined, he noted. There are now sexy Goldilocks outfits, and a costume called "Not guilty," which comes with a wig and handcuffs for the trick-or-treater who wants to impersonate Paris Hilton.

Add such accessories as temporary tattoos and eyelashes, along with a different wig, and an intrepid party goer can also achieve an Amy Winehouse effect, said Perisano, referring to a troubled songbird known for body art and hard living.

When it comes to Halloween and adults this year, Perisano said, "Sexy is a megatrend."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)

Audax completes AIS purchase

Audax Group, an investment firm with offices in Boston, said today it has completed the acquisition of Affordable Interior Systems Inc., or AIS, a Hudson-based manufacturer of office systems furniture.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed in a statement issued by Audax.

The senior management of AIS, including chairman and cofounder Arthur Maxwell and chief executive and cofounder Bruce Platzman, will continue to own a significant postiion in AIS and they will continue to lead the company, Audax said.

The plan is to "grow the company organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions," Geoffrey S. Rehnert, co-chief executive of Audax, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Gas prices at lowest level since April

The average price for gasoline in Massachusetts has dropped another penny in the last week, and is now at it lowest level since early April.

A statewide survey by AAA Southern New England finds self-serve regular selling for an average of $2.64 per gallon.

AAA says the state average is the lowest since April 2, when it stood at $2.63 per gallon.

The current price is 11 cents below the $2.75 national average. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

Kimball named to Boston Bar position

Richard N. Kimball has been named co-chair of the Business Law Section of the Boston Bar Association, the association said today.

Kimball is a partner at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP.

The Business Law Section participates in the consideration and enactment of laws relating to corporations, banking, business practice, and commercial activity, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)

Citizen's: We're #1 SBA lender in region

Citizens Bank said today that it ranks as the number one small business lender in both Massachusetts and New England.

Citizens Bank, part of Citizens Financial Group Inc. of Providence, said the rankings were based on data from the Small Business Administration.

During the SBA's most recent fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, Citizens topped all SBA lenders in the number of small business loans in Massachusetts; Citizens said that it originated 384 such loans in the Bay State totaling nearly $16 million.

With 1,014 loans totaling more than $36.7 million in New England, Citizens said it was also the number one SBA lender in the region.

It was the seventh straight year that Citizens was number one in SBA loans in both Massachusetts and New England, Citizens said.

Citizens Financial Group is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

Velcade approved for expanded use

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that the US Food and Administration has granted approval for expanded use of its Velcade blood-cancer drug.

The Cambridge company said that Velcade can now be used, without dose adjustments, in patients with impaired kidney function, including those requiring dialysis.

Velcade, which is being codeveloped with New Jersey drug maker Johnson & Johnson, has been used to treat multiple myeloma, a hematologic malignancy and a disease that is predominantly a cancer of the elderly, Millennium said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

Au Bon Pain now trans fat free

Au Bon Pain, a Boston-based chain of roughly 200 bakery cafes, announced today that it will now use all-natural chicken in its salads and sandwiches.

The company said that in conjunction with the introduction of all-natural chicken, its products in every cafe now contain zero grams of trans fat.

The elimination of artificial trans fats from 100 percent of Au Bon Pain's menu items marks the culmination of an effort begun more than four years ago, Au Bon Pain said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

Dynamics Research gets Army grant

Dynamics Research Corp. announced today that it was awarded a $4 million task order by the US Army.

Dynamics Research, an Andover-based provider of technology management services for government programs, said the task order is from the Army's Armor School and Center Directorate of Training, Doctrine, and Combat Development.

Under the terms of the contract, Dynamics Research said it will support the Armor Force by providing combat development and assessment at Fort Knox and at the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:22 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. Hospital School celebrates 100th

The Massachusetts Hospital School said it will celebrate its 100th anniversary with an event that honors two local civic leaders: Dr. Arthur M. Pappas and Jack Connors Jr.

The school is a provider of medical, rehabilitative, educational, and other services to children and young adults with multiple disabilities.

Pappas is known for his work in sports medicine, and he was the medical director of the Boston Red Sox from 1978 to 2003, the school noted.

Connors is a founding partner and chairman of Boston ad agency Hill Holliday.

The gala is scheduled for Nov. 5 at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel, the school said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

Critical Therapeutics starts Phase III trial

Critical Therapeutics Inc. of Lexington announced today the start of patient enrollment in a Phase III trial of zileuton in patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

The purpose of this trial aims to examine the effectiveness of the company's Zyflo zileuton tablets at reducing the length of a hospital stay for adults hospitalized for a COPD exacerbation or a worsening of their COPD symptoms, the company said.

Enrollment of 520 patients is planned for 19 hospitals at 10 academic centers in the US, Critical Therapeutics said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)

Elan claims multiple Tysabri options

Elan Corporation Plc. said today it has several options for its share in the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri if partner Biogen Idec Inc. is bought.

On Friday, Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen said it was exploring a possible sale of the company and already has interest from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has recently bought up shares.

Ireland-based Elan has a 50 percent interest in Tysabri. If Biogen is sold, Elan said it has the right to acquire for fair value the 50 percent interest in Tysabri held by Biogen or the right to sell its interest. It can also continue the existing agreement.

There is a possibility it could restructure the agreement with Biogen's buyer.

Elan said it engaged Lehman Brothers to assist in analyzing the options.

Shares of Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen rose $13.27, or 19.1 percent, to $82.70 in premarket trading. Shares of Ireland-based Elan rose $2.76, or 12.4 percent, to $25.11 in premarket trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:22 AM | Comments (0)

Aylus launches ImageRing application

Aylus Networks Inc. announced today the launch of its ImageRing application, which aims to bring "next generation voice and multi-media sharing services to millions of users worldwide."

The Westford company is a provider of real-time multimedia sharing solutions for mobile networks.

According to Aylus, the new application will enable calls to be enhanced by "enabling subscribers to share 'live video,' video clips, images, and even screen displays with another caller in real time while they continue their conversation."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:19 AM | Comments (0)

Sepracor add executives

Sepracor Inc., a Marlborough drug maker perhaps best known for the sleep aid Lunesta, said today it is beefing up its senior management team by hiring executives from major pharmaceutical companies.

Joining Sepracor from Swiss giant Novartis AG Mark Iwicki and Jay Smith; Iwicki has been appointed to the newly created position of executive vice president and chief commercial officer while Smith has been appointed to the position of senior vice president of sales, Sepracor said.

Joining Sepracor from GlaxoSmithKline PLC, a British-based company, are Dean Giovanniello, who will be Sepracor's vice president of marketing, and Thomas Hoover, who has been appointed to the position of vice president of new products planning, Sepracor said.

Sepracor is in the process of executing a plan to nearly double the size of its headquarters, a Globe story noted last month.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)

FDA extends Tysabri review

Biogen Idec Corp. of Cambridge and Elan Corp. PLC announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has informed them that it requires additional time to review their Tysabri application to treat Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disorder of the bowel; Tysabri has already been approved as a multiple sclerosis drug.

Today Biogen and Elan of Ireland said that the FDA will extend its regulatory review of Tysabri as a treatment for Crohn's disease by up to three months.

Tysabri was initially approved in the US as a multiple sclerosis drug in late 2004, but was temporarily removed from the market after it was linked in a handful of cases to a rare brain disease; the drug went back on sale in mid 2006 after an extensive safety review.

On Friday, a number of news organizations, including The Boston Globe, reported that Biogen, the state's largest biotech company, may be up for sale.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:08 AM | Comments (0)

Mortgage hearing today in Roxbury

US Representative Barney Frank has scheduled a hearing this morning at Roxbury Community College to discuss patterns of mortgage lending in the Greater Boston area.

Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, is the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services.

According to Frank's office, the hearing will focus on mortgage lending disparities in the Boston area, including data that reveal that black and Latino borrowers were much more likely than whites or Asians in this area to receive higher priced loans.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:06 AM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2007

Biogen Idec up for sale

Billionaire Carl Icahn, who already owns 1 percent of Biogen stock, is believed to be interested in buying the company.

Biogen Idec Inc., the state's largest biotech company, is on the market.

The Cambridge firm said late this afternoon that it will consider offers from suitors, after receiving multiple "expressions of interest," including one from billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn.

Icahn, who recently disclosed he owned 1 percent stake in the Cambridge biotech company through one of his investment companies, won antitrust approval in August to take an even bigger stake in the company, raising speculation that Biogen Idec could become a likely takeover target.

Biogen Idec noted its financial outlook as a stand-alone company is healthy. But in a written statement, Biogen Idec said it wanted to check to see if "major pharmaceutical companies" might make an offer than is even more attractive than remaining independent.

After Biogen Idec said it would entertain being bought, shares in the company soared 17 percent in after-hours trading to more than $81 a share, up from $69.43 when the market closed Friday afternoon.

Possible buyers include other biotech companies, such as Genentech, or drug companies, like Pfizer Inc., which are trying to increase their biotech capabilities.

(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:52 PM | Comments (0)

Maggiore to develop 2 Taunton buildings

The Maggiore Companies announced that it will develop two flex buildings in Taunton at the Liberty and Union Business Center.

Maggiore, a Woburn-based development company, said that CB Richard Ellis Group, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate firm with a big presence in New England, will be the leasing agent of the properties, which will have 240,000 square feet of space.

Construction on one building began last month and it should be ready for occupancy in mid December, Maggiore said.

Plans call for construction to begin on the second building in the spring, with occupancy expected for summer, the firm said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:24 PM | Comments (0)

Calling all toadies: Boss Day approaches

Before you start focusing on Halloween, keep in mind that an important event looms large on the holiday calendar: Next Tuesday is Boss Day, a day when even the most unruly of underlings are impelled to fawn, grovel, and toady.

For a few bucks, the good folks at Hallmark, the greeting card company, will sell you a card that plays "Hail to the Chief" or an audio clip from the TV show, "The Office," and if money is no object, Hallmark guarantees to "leave her speechless" and "make him blush on Boss Day, with a brilliant bouquet or other grateful gift."

And for yes-men eager to earn a black belt in brown-nosing, a North Carolina corporate coaching firm, Pyramid Resource Group Inc., has thoughtfully compiled a list of suggestions for building a stronger relationship with your boss - and not just on Tuesday but on all the work days of the year.

Herewith are a sample of recommendations from the Pyramid Resource Group:

Understand your job is to help the boss win. Listen for their best intentions when they speak. Bless your boss on the way to work. And stop gossiping, especially about your boss. (What, "Laugh loudly at the boss's lame jokes" is not on the list?)

Who knows? Lowly worms who diligently heed such advice may one day oil their way to the corner office.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:00 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. health plan review: "mixed"

Feedback so far on the effectiveness of the new Massachusetts health care reform law is "mixed", according to a new report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

The report is titled, "Do Massachusetts Health Care Reform And California Proposals Foreshadow A National Plan?"

"We are monitoring the Massachusetts law's progress to determine if the commonwealth's not-for-profit hospitals, health systems, and the commonwealth overall are under financial pressure," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Jennifer Soule said in a statement. "Our credit concerns are whether the funding currently allocated for the law will be sufficient to cover the full cost of implementing it over time and how any funding shortfalls, either near- or long-term, may affect the commonwealth's financial position and the profitability of its providers."

To date, the law hasn't caused Standard & Poor's to take rating action on the commonwealth, or any of its stand-alone hospitals or health systems, and health care reform is still viewed as credit neutral on the commonwealth's credit quality, the ratings services said.

The law's impact in Massachusetts is being watched closely by officials in California, where health care reform proposals are on the table, Standard and Poor's said, and there's national interest as well because of the possibility that the next president could propose a national health care coverage plan that takes some cues from the Massachusetts law.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

Independent buying Slade's Ferry

Shares of Somerset, Mass.-based community bank Slade's Ferry Bancorp skyrocketed in trading today after the company said it was being acquired by Independent Bank Corp. for $105 million in cash and stock.

Shares of Slade's Ferry rose $8.86, or 57.9 percent, to $24.16 in morning trading. Shares reached a 52-week high of $24.55 earlier in the day.

Rockland, Mass.-based Independent Bank, parent of Rockland Trust Co., agreed to acquire Slade's Ferry for $105 million in cash and stock. The agreement calls for 75 percent of the outstanding Slade's Ferry shares to be converted to 0.818 shares of Independent Bank, while 25 percent of the shares will be purchased for $25.50 per share.

The $25.50 represented a 67 percent premium over Slade's Ferry's closing price Thursday of $15.30.

Independent Bank expects the acquisition to boost earnings in 2008, excluding one-time acquisition transaction charges. Rockland Trust has about $2.7 billion in assets, while Slade's Ferry has about $628 million in assets.

Shares of Slade's Ferry had traded between $13.11 and $19.29 during the past year.

Independent Bank shares rose 24 cents to $30.49. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

Harvard Biosciences buys Panlab

Harvard Biosciences Inc. said it has completed the $5 million purchase of a Barcelona company that will enable it to expand its distribution channels by establishing a subsidiary in Spain.

Holliston-based Harvard Biosciences is a global developer, manufacturer, and marketer of a broad range of specialized products, primarily scientific instruments and apparatus used for life-sciences research at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, and government laboratories.

The Spanish company that Harvard Biosciences has purchased is Panlab s.l., which develops, manufactures, and distributes products and software for life-sciences research.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)

Acumentrics lands $850k US grant

Acumentrics Corp. said it has received an $850,000 grant from the US Department of Energy to improve fuel cell efficiency.

The Westwood company is a manufacturer of fuel-cell power-generation systems and uninterruptible power supplies.

The company said the grant is partly to build prototypes of a hybrid ceramic-metallic heat exchanger for solid oxide fuel cells.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

PerkinElmer starts ViaCell offer

PerkinElmer begins tender offer to buy ViaCell for $7.25 per share in cash

Health and industrial sciences company PerkinElmer Inc., began a tender offer to buy biotech company ViaCell Inc. for $7.25 per share in cash, the companies said today.

Based on ViaCell's 38.8 million outstanding shares as of Aug. 7, the deal is worth about $281.6 million. On Oct. 1, when the acquisition was announced, PerkinElmer valued it at about $300 million, or $260 million net of cash.

PerkinElmer said it is buying ViaCell to expand its product line in the neonatal and prenatal markets. ViaCell makes ViaCord, which preserves umbilical cord blood.

The tender offer expires at midnight Nov. 8.

PerkinElmer's shares rose 21 cents to $28.42 in morning trading and ViaCell rose a penny to $7.20. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:22 AM | Comments (0)

Odyssey Systems gets Air Force contract

Odyssey Systems Consulting Group said it has been awarded an Air Force task order valued at $65.8 million over five years.

Wakefield-based Odyssey provides technical, engineering, and management services to government clients.

Odyssey said that the Air Force order is to provide advisory and support services to integrate and fuse data from various intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)

Senior Housing raises dividend

Senior Housing Properties Trust on Thursday said it raised its quarterly dividend by a penny to 35 cents per share.

The Newton, Mass.-based company will pay the dividend on or about Nov. 15 to shareholders of record Oct. 22. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

2 MIT business competitions align

Two business competitions with roots at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said they will "align in 2008" as a way to enhance benefits and funding to clean-energy start-ups in New England.

The MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition and the MIT Enterprise Forum's "Ignite Clean Energy Business Presentation" Competition said they will combine resources.

"While both competitions will remain separate entities, by aligning resources, we will provide a higher quality and a more comprehensive set of support programs and a better overall platform for energy entrepreneurs," Clark Waterfall, the 2008 Ignite Clean Energy chair, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:17 AM | Comments (0)

Myvu launches new personal viewers

Not long ago, myvu personal media viewers - a.k.a. special eyeglasses that allow consumers to view downloaded movies from their iPods - were seen mostly on the sightly mug of bad-girl celebutante Paris Hilton.

But now the Westwood company that makes them, Myvu Corp., has come out with a cheaper, "universal" model for $199.95, and the universal model enables portable private viewing to be expanded to include video content from mobile phones, portable DVD players, and personal media players such as Archos, Zen, and Microsoft Corp.'s Zune, the company said.

The myvu universal also supports any fifth generation video iPod and, later this fall, it will also support the newly introduced iPod Touch, iPod Nano, and iPod Classic, Myvu said.

According to the company, myvu personal media viewers are perfect for folks who hate to lug around those bulky laptops to enjoy video, or who "hate nosy neighbors peeking over their shoulders" while they're enjoying a favorite movie or TV show.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2007

CombinatoRx will sell up to $35m worth of stock

CombinatoRx Inc. will sell up $35 million worth of common stock in a registered direct offering, the Cambridge biopharmaceutical company said today.

CombinatoRx said it will sell up to 5.6 million shares at a price of $6.25 per share, 6.5 percent less than its Wednesday closing price. The company will use net proceeds of about $33.1 million for drug testing and development.

Lazard Capital Markets LLC will be sole placement agent for the offering. CombinatoRx expects the transaction to close on or about next Tuesday.

CombinatoRx shares fell 35 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $6.34 in midday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)

Momenta drug candidate shows promise

Cambridge biotechnology company Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. today released promising early-stage results for its anti-clotting drug candidate and initiated a midstage study.

On the Nasdaq Stock Market, shares rose 83 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $13.28 in midday trading. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $9.05 and $21.98.

The drug, M118, is a blood thinner for patients with acute coronary syndromes, such as heart attacks and unstable angina. As part of treating ACS, anticoagulant drugs are routinely administered to prevent blood clots.

In the first early-stage study of intravenously administered M118, Momenta enrolled 36 healthy adult volunteers to evaluate its safety, tolerability and performance profile. The Phase 1 study showed M118 is safe and well-tolerated with no serious side effects, according to Momenta.

The company also said M118 produced rapid, measurable increases in anti-blood clotting activity.

The primary objective of the Phase 2 trial is to evaluate the safety and feasibility of using M118 as an anticoagulant during percutaneous coronary intervention -- procedures used to treat diseased heart arteries.

The study is expected to enroll about 600 patients with stable coronary artery disease who are planning to undergo a PCI. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)

Ice cream giveaway will salute the Sox

Brigham's Ice Cream believes it has a sure-fire way to jinx the Cleveland Indians and get Red Sox Nation's mojo working. The plan? Offer free "Curse Reversed" ice cream bars to fans on Red Sox game days between now and the end of the season.

As fans know, the Carmine Hose take on the Indians, starting tomorrow night in the American League Championship Series.

As fans may not know, Brigham's of Arlington takes some credit for the Sox winning the World Series three years ago.

In May of 2004, Brigham's debuted a flavor called Curse Reversed and had the recipe blessed by spiritualists in hopes of exorcising the Bambino curse that had allegedly dogged the hapless Sox for so many decades - or so company legend goes.

In any event, the rest was baseball history, with the Sox winning their first World Series in memory.

Earlier this year, Brigham's decided to change the name of the flavor to Dice-Kream in honor of Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, but fans can rest assured that the recipe remains the same: vanilla ice cream loaded with chocolate-covered peanut "baseballs" and chocolate-covered caramel "bases," and lest anyone experience a chocolate deficiency, the recipe also features a generous infusion of fudge sauce.

If locals down enough Dice-Kream, Brigham's reasons, Cleveland's sure to suffer an ALCS meltdown.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:43 PM | Comments (0)

Worcester's City Square names agents

Berkeley Investments Inc., a Boston real estate firm, has selected Kelleher & Sadowsky and Jones Lang LaSalle as the leasing agents of City Square, a mixed development project in Worcester with 2.2 million square feet of space.

Located on 20.2 acres in the heart of Worcester, CitySquare will combine upscale urban residences with medical and professional office space as well as stores, restaurants, and "park-like" open space, Berkeley said.

In leasing the development's 500,000 square feet of commercial space, Kelleher & Sadowsky of Worcester will focus efforts locally, while Jones Lang LaSalle will provide regional and national brokerage services.

Jones Lang LaSalle is a Chicago-based real estate money management and services firm with a big presence in Massachusetts.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

3 colleges get MassDevelopment funds

MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development authority, today announced $118 million in low-cost tax-exempt bond financing for three local colleges.

The colleges are the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wheelock College, and Babson College, MassDevelopment said.

The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will use proceeds from a $56 million bond issue to construct a new health science academic building and refinance some existing debt, and Wheelock plans to use some of a $42 million bond issue to build a new campus center, MassDevelopment said.

As for Babson, it will use $20 million in tax-exempt bond proceeds to refinance existing debt, the authority said.

Providing lower-cost financing to institutions of higher education, a critical driver of the Massachusetts economy, "makes fiscal sense," MassDevelopment president and chief executive Robert L. Culver said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

Medford condos to be auctioned

Developers of the Skyline Condominiums at Station Landing, the 127-unit development along the Mystic River in Medford, will auction off unsold condominiums in the project on Nov. 11.

Amid strong sales in the downtown Boston's condo market, Skyline Condominiums has sold 42 units -- or one-third of the total -- in the project, which officially opened this summer but was on the market prior to that, said Robert Cole, president of The Collaborative Companies, a marketing firm that handling the auction through its Velocity Marketing division.

"We're in a buyer's market now, and we really do believe the auctions -- where buyers determine the price -- are the best way to move product," Cole said.

National Development boasts the project's magnificent views of Boston's skyline and easy access to the Wellington subway stop. Station Landing is in a heavily commercial district near Route 93 North.

Thirty units will be auctioned, with minimum prices set at about two-thirds of the original list price. Bids will start at $535,000, for example, for a 12th floor penthouse, and at $275,000 for a one-bedroom on a middling floor.

"That price point is soft in this market," said Cole.
(By Kimberly Blanton, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

A123 Systems powers electric car

A Chevy Volt, a battery powered electric vehicle that uses technology developed by a Watertown company, will be touring local locations over the next few days, General Motors Corp. said.

The Watertown company is A123 Systems, which is a supplier of high-power lithium ion batteries that use a proprietary Nanophosphosphate technology initially developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to the company's website.

Unlike hybrid vehicles, the Volt does not use fuel to propel itself - fuel is only used to power the generator if the battery gets low on long trips, GM said.

Plans call for the Volt to be on view over the next few days at such locations as Quincy Market, South Station, the MIT Museum, and just before Monday night's scheduled Maroon 5 concert, the TD Banknorth Garden, GM said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

E Ink wins workforce grant

The administration of Governor Deval L. Patrick today presented a $115,700 workforce training fund grant to E Ink of Cambridge.

E Ink, a provider of electronic paper displays, plans to train more than 120 employees in a manufacturing protocol.

One of the goals of the grant is to ensure that E Ink will have a permanent group of skilled workers who can train new hires in the future, the Patrick administration said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

Babson tops entrepreneurial list

Babson College topped the list of the fifth annual ranking of undergraduate schools with entrepreneurial programs.

The list was compiled by Entrepreneur magazine and the Princeton Review. The University of Southern California was first among graduate schools with entrepreneurial programs.

Babson of Wellesley ranked second among graduate schools, according to the list.

In all, 900 schools were surveyed as part of the rankings, Entrepreneur and the Princeton Review said.

Northeastern University ranked 24th on the list of undergraduate programs.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

PerkinElmer releases new analyzer

PerkinElmer Inc. today announced the release of an analyzer that can detect certain forms of food contamination.

Waltham-based PerkinElmer provides products, instruments, and services to companies in the health sciences and photonics markets.

PerkinElmer said its new product can determine melamine adulteration in protein-based foods; melamine, the company notes, was the substance recently detected in the wheat gluten of imported pet food that contributed to the deaths of cats and dogs around the United States.

The company said its melamine analyzer is "the first in an anticipated new series of complete application solutions designed to help laboratories analyze food safety and quality."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)

Xcellerex raises $31 million

Xcellerex Inc. announced today that it has raised $31 million in Series C financing.

The Marlborough company said it plans to use the funding to advance the development of its proprietary manufacturing system, which seeks to produce vaccines and biotherapeutics and to develop an internal pipeline of biomolecule products.

Xcellerex said the Series C financing round was led by a new investor, VantagePoint Venture Partners, which has offices in California, New York, and Montreal, according to the firm's website.

VantagePoint Venture partner David E. Thompson will join the company's board of directors, Xcellerex said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

IPG Photonics settles with Scientific Atlanta

IPG Photonics Corp., a maker of fiber lasers and amplifiers, said Thursday it settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Scientific-Atlanta, a unit of networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc.

Terms were not disclosed. The company said the settlement will not affect its financial statements or condition.

IPG said the agreement settled Scientific-Atlanta's claims against the company as well as IPG's counterclaims. Scientific-Atlanta sued IPG in April 2005 claiming patent infringement.

Cisco bought cable TV box maker Scientific-Atlanta in February 2006. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

Abiomed gets FDA request

Medical device maker Abiomed Inc. said today that the Food and Drug Administration has requested additional information on its Impella 2.5 Circulatory Support System, which provides patients with bloodflow while undergoing surgical procedures.

In August, the FDA approved a study of the system at up to 150 hospitals, but on the condition that Abiomed submit additional information.

The recent request outlines four areas of concern. Two of the questions request information relating the labeling of the product. A third question requests more information on bench-testing of the device and a fourth question asks for an updated clinical review.

Abiomed said it still expects FDA approval sometime between November and March.

Shares of Abiomed fell 30 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $13 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

Ariad partners with Icon Medical

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge announced today that it has entered a nonexclusive license agreement with Icon Medical Corp. to develop and commercialize drug-eluting stents.

Stents are wire mesh tubes that keep arteries open after they're cleared of blockage during a medical procedure; Icon, a Cleveland-based medical device company, is working on Nuloy, a proprietary metal alloy that it said allows for stents with extremely thin struts.

Icon envisions using Nuloy stents to deliver Ariad's lead drug candidate - deforolimus, a small molecule inhibitor that prevent restenosis, or reblockage, of injured blood vessels.

As part of the agreement between the two companies, Ariad said it will receive an equity stake in Icon, up to $27 million in milestone payments for two products, and royalties on worldwide sales of all Icon medical devices delivering deforolimus.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. woman charged with art fraud

A Massachusetts woman was arrested Wednesday on charges she sold fake works of art on the Internet.

Angela Hamblin, 58, of Revere, Mass., was charged with one count of mail fraud. She was arrested in Boston on a criminal complaint brought in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Authorities accused her of claiming that works she was selling on the Internet were created by accomplished artists such as Joseph Mallord William Turner, a British watercolorist and printmaker or Milton Avery, an American abstract expressionist painter.

They said the paintings actually were not authentic works of art, despite her claims that she acquired the pieces from long-dead relatives or through other family connections.

If convicted, Hamblin could face up to 20 years in prison the mail fraud count brought against her.

It was not immediately clear who would represent Hamblin in court. There was no telephone listing for Angela Hamblin. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

TJX reports strong September

TJX Cos. reported solid September sales today, further evidence that many shoppers are apparently undismayed by news earlier this year that hackers stole millions of credit and debit card numbers by breaching a company computer system that stored customer data.

The Framingham-based retailer, which operates such chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright, said that sales for the five-week period ending Oct. 6, were $11.7 billion, a 7 percent increase over the same period last year.

Sales at stores open at least a year, which TJX refers to as "consolidated comparable store sales," rose 2 percent in September over last year, TJX said.

In a statement, TJX president and chief executive Carol Meyrowitz said in a statement, "Our consolidated comparable store sales increase of 2 percent was in line with our expectations and was achieved on top of last year's September performance, which was one of the strongest in the company's history."

While unseasonably warm weather in many places "negatively impacted sales in September," the company has seen "business accelerate significantly where the weather has turned seasonable," Meyrowitz added.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

BJ's sales rise

BJ's Wholesale same-store sales increase 3.9 percent in September on strong food sales

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., the nation's No. 3 warehouse club, said Wednesday same-store sales rose 3.9 percent in September, helped by improved sales of food products.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected same-store sales to rise 2.5 percent.

Results were helped 0.2 percent from gasoline sales and hurt 0.4 percent from the absence of pharmacy sales compared with last year.

On a same-store sales basis, food sales grew by 6 percent and general merchandise sales grew by 1 percent. Coffee, dairy, frozen juices, meat and milk were strong sellers in September, BJ's said.

Total sales for the five weeks ended Oct. 6 rose 8.6 percent to $798.9 million.

For the 35-week period ended Oct. 6, same-store sales rose 3 percent while total sales rose 7.5 percent to $5.72 billion. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:42 AM | Comments (0)

BIND Biosciences lands NIST grant

BIND Biosciences Inc. announced today that it has received a three-year $2 million award from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology.

The Cambridge company's mission is to "dramatically improve patients' lives by developing breakthrough targeted nanoparticle therapies," president and chief executive Glenn Batchelder noted in an e-mail.

BIND said the award will enable the company to further develop its technology platform for high-throughput formulation and selection of targeted nanoparticles.

According to BIND, its technology aims to concentrate "drugs at the intended site of action while minimizing systemic exposure, thereby improving efficacy and reducing off-target effects."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:35 AM | Comments (0)

Schaefer joins Mascoma as CFO

Mascoma Corp. today announced that George Schaefer has joined the company in a new position as its chief financial officer.

The Cambridge company specializes in low-carbon energy biotechnology.

Before joining Mascoma, Schaefer served as chief financial officer of ASAlliances Biofuels LLC of Dallas, Mascoma said.
((By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

Jeanne Geiger Centers wins award

Citizens Bank and New England Cable News named the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center a Champion in Action, and the center will receive a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

With offices in Amesbury and Newburyport, the center is being recognized for "empowering women and children to live free from fear, intimidation, violence, or the threat of abuse by providing support, advocacy, and education," Citizens and NECN said.

As part of the award, the center will receive a $25,000 award from the Citizens Bank Foundation and promotional support from NECN, Citizens and NECN said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)

IBasis targets small businesses

Burlington's iBasis Inc., a wholesale carrier of international long-distance telephone calls, said its Pingo online calling service has launched an initiative aimed at small to medium-size businesses, or SMBs.

The company described Pingo Business as a VoIP telephony service that delivers the savings on international calls without requiring specialized equipment, phones, or software.

"Increasingly, SMBs are eager to take advantage of the cost savings of VoIP solutions but are hesitant because of a reluctance to add new devices to their networks," iBasis president and chief executive Ofer Gneezy noted in a statement.

But by using Pingo Business, employees of SMBs can use company-owned and their own fixed-line and mobile phones and achieve up to 90 percent cost savings on international calls, iBasis said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:05 AM | Comments (0)

Pro-Pharmaceuticals reports "promising" data

Pro-Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Newton reported "promising early data" from a Phase II trial of a colorectal cancer treatment.

The trial is for a first-line treatment of patients with metastatic, unresectable colorectal cancer who are unable to tolerate intensive chemotherapy, the company said.

Pro-Pharmaceuticals reported that three of seven evaluable patients in the test have experienced tumor shrinkage of greater than 30 percent; in addition, none of the patients in the test experienced severe side effects.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:01 AM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2007

Dial Directions service comes to Boston

Dial Directions said today its free voice-activated directions service is now available in Boston.

According to the San Francisco company, any cellphone user can call DIR-ECT-IONS (347-328-4667) and say where they are and where they want to go; the user then receives a text message with driving directions.

While the service from Dial Directions is free, a user's cellphone carrier may assess a text message fee, the company said.

Instead of a specific destination, cellphone users can also ask for directions to the nearest Starbucks, Walgreens, or a sample of other chain-store locations, the company said.

Dial Directions said its service is built on a platform designed by specialists in voice interfaces, speech recognition, and navigation.

The service had already been available in such cities as San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, and now it is also available in cities such as Boston, Atlanta, and Detroit, Dial Directions said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:04 PM | Comments (0)

Weir Valves buys Ipswich building

Weir Valves & Controls USA bought an Ipswich manufacturing building for $6.74 million after it considered building a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina, a broker involved in the transaction said.

The broker is Klemmer Associates LLC, a Winchester-based commercial real estate firm.

Weir, a subsidiary of Glasgow-based Weir Group PLC, plans to move out of its existing facilities in Salem to larger, more modern space in Ipswich around January, Greg Klemmer of Klemmer Associates said.

The seller of a manufacturing building with 106,897 square feet of space is Kortec Inc., a supplier of co-injection systems; Kortec plans to remain in a portion of the building as a tenant, Klemmer Associates said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:01 PM | Comments (0)

Verizon's FiOS is coming to Braintree

The board of selectmen in Braintree granted a cable franchise to Verizon Communications Inc., Verizon said today.

The vote paves the way for Verizon's FiOS TV service to become available to roughly 11,500 households, Verizon said.

According to Verizon, its FiOS TV service is superior to those offered by other rivals.

Verizon said FiOS TV is currently available to more than 390,000 households in 55 Massachusetts communities.

According to a filing with state regulators, FiOS TV had fewer than 12,000 Massachusetts customers at the end of 2006. Verizon said that FiOS TV has seen much growth in the Bay State since, but it is not disclosing the current number of Massachusetts subscribers for "competitive reasons."

Headquartered in New York, Verizon delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless services to mass market, business, government, and wholesale customers.
(By Chris Reidy and Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

Liberty Mutual buys Brazilian insurer

Global insurer Liberty Mutual of Boston announced today that a subsidiary has agreed to buy a company that will make it the 10th largest property and casualty insurer in Brazil and the sixth largest auto insurer.

The subsidiary, Liberty International Brasil Ltda, signed an agreement to buy 100 percent of Indiana Seguros S.A., said Liberty Mutual, which added that the financial terms of the agreement were not being disclosed.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in Brazil, and when the transaction is completed, it "will expand our presence significantly in the most important cities in Brazil," Liberty Mutual chairman, chief executive, and president Edmund F. Kelly said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

uLocate launches 3 GPS widgets

ULocate Communications Inc. of Boston said today that it released Global Positioning System, or GPS, widgets for three customers, including Zipcar Inc., the Cambridge-based car-sharing company.

According to uLocate, its Where wireless GPS widget platform can provide "location-enabled content" to consumers with cellphones who subscribe to the Sprint or Alltel networks.

For example, Sprint subscribers could use their cellphone and Where's Zipcar widget to view and reserve Zipcar vehicles based on their current locations, uLocate said.

ULocate said it also released Where widgets for Yelp, a local online guide where users can submit reviews about neighborhood restaurants and businesses.

Another Where widget, uLocate said, was released for Topix LLC, which according to its website is a California firm owned by several media giants, including Gannet Co.

Topix describes itself as an online news community that seeks to link users to local news based on their zip codes.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Targanta lowers IPO price

Shares of Targanta Therapeutics Corp. are expected to begin trading today after the biopharmaceutical company's initial public offering priced at $10 per share, well below the anticipated price range.

Targanta expected the offering, which totaled 5.8 million shares, to price between $12 and $14 per share.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company is focused on developing and marketing antibiotics for serious infections treated in or picked up in hospitals and other institutional settings.

Targanta plans to use net proceeds from the offering to fund expenses related to its new drug application and other regulatory filings, for clinical trials and development, to fund commercial launch-related expenses, to make payments on existing debt facilities and for general corporate purposes and potential acquisitions.

Credit Suisse is the lead underwriter. Cowen and Co., Lazard Capital Markets and Leerink Swann are also underwriting the offering. The company has granted the underwriters an option to buy up to 862,500 additional shares to cover any overallotments.

Targanta's shares will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "TARG." (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

AS&E gets $3.9m US order

American Science and Engineering Inc. said today it has received $3.9 million in US government orders for screening systems that can detect explosives, contraband, and stowaways at congested checkpoints.

The Billerica company specializes in X-ray detection technology, and it said the government contract is for the purchase of a Z Portal drive-through screening system and for reorders of three Z Backscatter Vans.

Those products are designed to inspect trucks and passenger cars in high-volume traffic areas, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

Oscient issues forecast

Oscient Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Waltham said today that it expects to record third-quarter revenues of about $15.5 million, up from $12.4 million a year ago.

That increase reflects the company's acquisition of Antara tablets, an adjunct treatment for high cholesterol; the acquisition was completed in August 2006, halfway through the third quarter of that year, Oscient said.

Oscient said it expects to record about $12.5 million in revenue from Antara and about $3 million from Factive, a treatment for acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis and for community acquired pneumonia.

Oscient said it plans to announce full results for its third quarter late this month.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

Bioenvision, Genzyme want new vote

Bioenvision Inc and Genzyme Corp said on Tuesday that they filed a petition with a Delaware court seeking to reconvene a special meeting of shareholders to vote on their planned $345 million merger.

Bioenvision and Genzyme are pursuing the deal despite opposition from SCO Capital Partners LLC, a major Bioenvision shareholder.

SCO Capital, which holds about 13.4 percent of Bioenvision, has said it would vote against Genzyme's proposed takeover of the company, saying the $5.60-per-share offer was inadequate.

Bioenvision and Genzyme said they would like to reopen the polls to ensure that all Bioenvision shareholders are afforded an opportunity to vote.

A Bioenvision spokeswoman declined to comment on the result of a shareholder vote held on Oct. 5. Genzyme was not immediately available for comment.

In a release from Oct. 4, when the special meeting began, Bioenvision said that 47 percent of the company's issued and outstanding common and preferred stock had indicated their approval of the merger.

The companies said the filing seeks to correct errors made in connection with last week's shareholders meeting that may have disfranchised some Bioenvision shareholders. It did not specify the nature of the errors.

The companies hope to hold another special meeting in late October. (Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

Point bought by DARA BioSciences

Biotechnology company Point Therapeutics Inc. said today that it is being bought by privately held DARA BioSciences for an undisclosed amount.

DARA shareholders will hold 96.4 percent of Point Therapeutics stock after the buyout. Point will change its name to DARA BioSciences Inc. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2008.

The acquisition is intended to be a tax-free reorganization under Internal Revenue Code rules. The companies also expect the deal to be considered a "reverse merger" by Nasdaq, and DARA will file for initial listing on the exchange.

Point Therapeutics currently faces being delisted from the Nasdaq, because it does not meet the exchange's $1 minimum share price requirement.

Shares of Point Therapeutics gained 11 cents at 15 cents in premarket trading after closing at 4 cents Tuesday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

Dynamics Research lands Air Force contract

Dynamics Research Corp. said today it was awarded $1.34 million in task order and modifications under an Air Force contract.

The Andover company is a provider of technology management services for government programs.

Under a 12-month task order, Dynamics Research and subcontractor Wyle Corp., a California-based provider of specialized engineering, scientific, and technical services to the Department of Defense, will perform quantitative and analyses addressing maintenance practices, failure modes, and spare and repair parts usage, Dynamics Research said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:59 AM | Comments (0)

Network Engines buys Alliance Systems

Network Engines Inc., a provider of storage and security server products, said today that it will acquire Alliance Systems Inc. for $40 million in cash and stock.

Network Engines will fund the purchase with $35 million in cash and about 2.7 million shares of common stock. The cash portion will also be used to pay off some of Alliance's debt.

The acquisition will provide new markets for Network Engines and help diversify the company's customer base. Plano, Texas-based Alliance Systems provides server applications and computer infrastructure to support telecommunications and enterprise communications.

The acquisition will add about $100 million to Network Engines's annual revenue and immediately boost earnings, excluding stock compensation expense and acquisition-related charges.

The deal is expected to close within one week.

Shares of Network Engines closed at $1.97 Tuesday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:49 AM | Comments (0)

GlaxoSmithKline, Synta partner on drug

GlaxoSmithKline Plc. and Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. said today that they are collaborating on a late-stage study to develop a skin cancer treatment.

Lexington-based Synta will fund all development of drug candidate STA-4783 aimed at treating the most deadly form of skin cancer, metastatic melanoma. The companies will share costs for development in other indications and outside the U.S. They will jointly sell the drug in the U.S., with Synta receiving a tiered profit share.

Synta will receive an upfront payment of $80 million and will be eligible for milestone payments of up to $135 million for the metastatic melanoma indication and up to $450 million for other indications. The company is also eligible for $300 million in commercial milestone payments, based on sales.

GlaxoSmithKline could also buy up to $45 million in Synta's common stock.
Shares of Synta closed at $10.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market and shares of U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline closed at $53.60 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)

IRobot gives preliminary 3q results

Burlington's iRobot Corp. said today that its third-quarter financial results will be impacted by production delays and by unanticipated litigation expenses related to legal actions against a former employee and his company.

The production delays are for its Roomba 500 Series of vacuum-cleaning robots, iRobot said.

"Our financial expectations for 2007 remain unchanged," iRobot chief executive Colin Angle said in a statement. "However, the production ramp-up by our new contract manufacturer was slower than our initial targeted projections and, consequently, revenue from delayed shipments will be recognized in the fourth quarter, resulting in revenue for the third quarter of between $63 million and $64 million. This shift from the third to the fourth quarter, coupled with unexpected litigation expenses associated with our legal actions against a former employee and his company, will result in a pre-tax loss of $1 million to $1.5 million for the third quarter."

A former iRobot engineer is accused of stealing iRobot secrets.

In US District Court in Boston, iRobot asked a judge to issue an injunction to halt Robotic FX, the former engineer's company, from making the Negotiator, a military surveillance and bomb-disposal robot similar to iRobot's PackBot machines, the Globe has reported.

According to a recent Globe story, the US military has intervened in the case. Last month, the Pentagon awarded Robotic FX of Illinois a contract to build battlefield robots for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military fears an injunction would deprive military personnel of a lifesaving technology for detecting booby traps and roadside bombs.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:51 AM | Comments (0)

Tribe promotes Rubin to top spot

Tribe Mediterranean Foods Co. LLC announced the promotion of general manager Bruce Rubin to president.

The Taunton company creates and distributes a line of Mediterranean food products that include several flavors of hummus, tahini, tabouli, and baba ganoush.

According to the company, Rubin was "instrumental in helping make Tribe's hummus a household name."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:47 AM | Comments (0)

US mortgage applications up

Mortgage applications increased in the week ending Oct. 5, according to a weekly index compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group representing the real estate finance industry.

The latest reading for the weekly index was 652.0, an increase of 2.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, the association said.

On an unadjusted basis, the index was up 8.6 percent compared with the same week one year earlier, the group said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)

Greenthal joins Akamai board

Akamai Technologies Inc. today announced the election of Jill A. Greenthal to its board of directors.

The Cambridge company is a global service provider for accelerating content and applications online.

Greenthal is a senior advisor in private equity at the Blackstone Group LP, an alternative asset management company headquartered in New York, Akamai said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

RBJ brokers US, European leases

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm, said that its national brokerage services group recently brokered 14 leases in 12 cities in the United States and Europe.

RBJ said it brokered leases totaling 16,267 square feet for Forrester Research Inc., a Cambridge-based technology research group, in Dallas and a submarket of Paris.

RBJ also said it brokered an entire floor sublease for office space in London for the Yankee Group, a Boston-based research firm that bills its people as "global connectivity experts."

In addition, RBJ said it brokered three leases totaling more than 35,000 square feet for Sapient Corp., the Cambridge-based technology consulting firm, in San Francisco and suburban Washington, D.C.

RBJ also said it brokered eight leases and lease renewals around the country for OneBeacon Insurance Co., which has a big presence in Canton.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:33 AM | Comments (0)

Mass foreclosure activity continues to rise

Foreclosure auctions in Massachusetts rose in August, but the increase was not as dramatic as in recent months, according to a report out today from the Warren Group.

August 2006 was a busy month for foreclosures so the smaller rate of increase in August 2007 may be "misleading," said the Warren Group, a Boston-based provider of real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Auction announcements rose 52 percent from 757 in August 2006 to 1,151 in August 2007, the Warren Group said.

Auction announcements "may not have risen in August as dramatically as they have over the past several months, but many Massachusetts residents are still in danger of losing their homes, and we don't see the numbers of foreclosures decreasing any time soon," Timothy Warren, chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement. "It is important to note that while auction announcements rose 52 percent in August when compared to August 2006, they are up 259.7 percent over the number of announcements in August 2005. Increased foreclosure activity in Massachusetts remains a very real cause for concern."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2007

CVS ad campaign's focus is women

CVS/pharmacy has launched a new national ad campaign with the tagline "For all the ways you care."

With roughly 6,200 retail locations, the chain is a division of CVS Caremark Corp., of Woonsocket, R.I.

The campaign, which includes a TV ad about a woman's act of caring, seeks to honor "women's roles as nurturers and caregivers in our society," CVS said.

Some of the campaign's content can be viewed at forallthewaysyoucare.com.

The campaign was created by Boston ad agency Hill Holliday, one of many ad agencies owned by the Interpublic Group of Cos. of New York.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

Law firm completes Japanese transaction

Bingham McCutchen LLP, a US law firm with a large office in Boston, has completed a joint venture combination with a Japanese law firm known as New Tokyo International Law Office.

Bingham and New Tokyo have officially combined operations in Tokyo and moved into larger space, Bingham said today.

The combination increases Bingham's Tokyo presence to more than 50 Japanese lawyers and six foreign lawyers, the firm said.

The transaction was first announced in June.

Earlier this year, Bingham combined with another Japanese firm, Sakai & Mimura.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:07 PM | Comments (0)

WMR BioMedical moving to Watertown

WMR BioMedical Inc., a medical device company, has signed a new lease and is moving its headquarters to a larger space in Watertown.

Broker Meredith & Grew today said that WMR will lease 27,311 square feet from Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., a California real estate investment trust that is AMR's current landlord in Cambridge, where it occupies about 7,500 square feet.

Alexandria was represented in the transaction by CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., Meredith & Grew said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:19 PM | Comments (0)

MassHousing names a rental director

MassHousing, the state's affordable housing bank, has appointed Henry Mukasa as director of rental management.

He will be responsible for MassHousing's oversight of more than 900 privately owned and managed rental developments with more than 101,000 apartments, MassHousing said today.

Mukasa has been with MassHousing since 1993 and has held a number of titles there, including senior portfolio manager in the Section 8 Contract Administration program.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)

Roche Bros. agrees to pay back wages

Roche Bros. Supermarkets Inc., a Wellesley-based company with 17 stores, has agreed to pay employees about $283,000 in back wages, the US Department of Labor said today.

The payment follows a Labor Department investigation that found that the company failed to pay adequate overtime wages to 687 employees during 2005 and 2006, the department said.

According to the Labor Department, its investigation found many instances of store managers inappropriately editing the time cards of employees.

"Once these practices were brought to the attention of Roche Bros. upper management, the company cooperated fully in our investigation and pledged immediate changes to those practices," George Rioux, district director of the Wage and Hour division of the Labor Department, said in a statement.

In a statement of its own, the company said: "Roche Bros. Supermarkets Inc. recently concluded a self-audit supervised by the US Department of Labor. Roche Bros. cooperated fully with the department throughout the process. The department identified some issues concerning changes that had to be made to employees' time punches. Roche Bros. has agreed to provide back compensation to employees to address these issues. It has done so, and the matter has been resolved to the complete satisfaction of the Department of Labor."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:28 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. gas prices dip 2 cents per gallon

Gasoline prices in Massachusetts have dipped 2 cents from a week ago, extending a recent trend of stable prices.

A statewide survey by AAA of Southern New England found an average price of $2.65 for a gallon of regular, self-serve gasoline, compared with $2.67 last Monday.

The average price also stood at $2.65 a month ago, and has varied just a few cents above and below that level in recent weeks.

AAA says the current national average for regular unleaded is $2.76 per gallon.

A year ago, the average Massachusetts price was $2.23. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

MIT gets $100m cancer research grant

Industrialist David H. Koch is giving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a $100 million gift to fund cancer research, the university said today.

The gift will be used to create the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, which will bring together MIT scientists and engineers from various disciplines to work at a new research facility expected to open in 2010.

Researchers will try to develop new ways to detect, diagnose, treat and manage cancer, including through the use of nanotechnology, the emerging field of changing or creating materials at the atomic and molecular level.

"David Koch's extraordinary generosity will make possible a level of collaborative, cross-disciplinary research and training unparalleled in the world," MIT President Susan Hockfield said. "The convergence of life sciences and engineering enabled by his gift will chart a new course for cancer research, for which we are deeply grateful."

Koch, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from MIT, is an executive vice president and board member of Koch Industries, Inc., a Wichita, Kan.-based company with 80,000 employees and about $90 billion in annual revenue. The privately held firm and its subsidiaries are in such industries as commodities trading, petroleum, chemicals and fertilizers. Koch is a son of company founder Fred C. Koch.

The $100 million is to be spread out in awards over 10 years, said Tyler Jacks, an MIT biology professor who will serve as the Koch Institute's director. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)

Rocket Software buys SmartDB

Rocket Software of Newton said today that it has acquired a data-integration product line from SmartDB Corp. of California for an undisclosed amount.

Rocket is a software development firm that builds and services enterprise infrastructure products; it said it is purchasing the SmartDB Workbench, a tool that integrates with the Oracle E-Business Suite that information-technology professionals use to simplify data conversions and interface projects.

"A key part of our strategy has been to acquire market-leading products and add them to our arsenal," Rocket chief executive Andy Youniss said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Sirtris reports positive test results

Shares of biopharmaceutical company Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose sharply Tuesday on positive preclinical results for its oral drug candidate to treat eye disorders.

Sirtris stock jumped $1.17, or 6.9 percent, to $18.19 in morning trade. In the past year, the stock has traded between $9.81 and $19.68.

The company said the drug, SRT501, was shown to be neuroprotective in an animal model of optic neuritis, a disease of the optic nerve that can cause complete or partial vision loss. Neuroprotective agents generally aim to protect nerves or neurons from degeneration.

The progressive loss of such neurons with age may underlie a variety of debilitating neurological disorders including optic neuritis, the company said.

SRT501 is a member of an enzyme family called sirtuins, which appear to affect the aging process in mammals and increase the number and function of mitochondria, according to Sirtris. Mitochondria are part of cells outside the nucleus and convert energy into forms usable by the cell.

The study findings were presented at the 132nd Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

Luminus enters solid state lighting market

Luminus Devices Inc. announced plans today to enter the solid state lighting market.

The Billerica company specializes in light-emitting diode, or LED, technology, and one of its products can give a high-definition TV set a brighter picture while using less energy.

Luminus Devices said that David Sciabica has joined the company as director of sales for the company's emerging general illumination business.

Before joining Luminus Devices, Sciabica held several sales management positions at Philips Lumileds Lighting Co. of San Jose, Luminus Devices said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

Hearn buys Springfield complex

Boston real estate firm Hearn Properties Inc. purchased a 266-unit multifamily complex in Springfield for $11.2 million, a broker involved in the transaction said today.

The broker is Apartment Realty Advisors of Burlington, which said the seller was John M. Corcoran & Co. of Braintree.

The purchase of the mill conversion property known as Morgan Square makes Hearn "one of the largest operators of market-rate apartments in downtown Springfield," Terence Scott, senior vice president of Apartment Realty Advisors New England, noted in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

Reebok/NHL store open in NYC

Reebok International Ltd. of Canton and the National Hockey League announced today the formal launch of a special hockey store in the New York building that houses NHL offices.

Featuring such high-tech touches as e-commerce kiosks, the store will be as much about high theater as a place to buy sticks, skates, and puck bags.

Called "NHL Powered by Reebok," the store aims to "create an unprecedented shopping experience for players and fans around the world," said Reebok, an athletic footwear and apparel brand that is now part of the adidas Group of Germany.

One Reebok line is the CCM hockey brand, and Reebok recently designed a new uniform for the Boston Bruins, the local NHL entry.

In a statement, NHL vice president Brian Jennings said, "The 'NHL Powered by Reebok' store will serve as a year-round showcase for the sport of hockey and bring the game to life through a multi-sensory experience."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Scientific gets European approval

Boston Scientific Corp. of Natick today announced that it has received European approval for its "next-generation implantable defibrillator."

The approval represents the first Boston Scientific-branded cardiac rhythm management device to treat sudden cardiac death, the medical device company said.

Sudden cardiac death is the abrupt loss of heart function, usually due to an electric rhythm dysfunction in the lower chambers of the heart, called ventricular fibrillation, the company noted.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)

Survey: identity theft concerns on the rise

A national survey out today found that 72 percent of Americans are more concerned about identity theft today than two years ago.

The survey was conducted by Staples Inc., a Framingham-based retailer of office supplies whose product line includes shredders designed to help consumers destroy documents that contain sensitive personal information.

The survey found that 52 percent of respondents said they were unsure about whether they were doing enough to protect themselves, Staples said, and 43 percent said they wished they had more information about how to protect themselves.

The survey also found that only 51 percent of Americans are shredding junk mail, such as credit card offers, which can be an unsuspected source of identity theft, Staples said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:30 AM | Comments (0)

Baylor taps Nuance technology

Nuance Communications Inc. said today that the Baylor Health Care System of Texas will use many Nuance speech and Dictaphone products and software as part of a Baylor plan to lower costs and improve the quality of its clinical documentation.

Headquartered in Burlington, Nuance is a supplier of speech and imaging solutions.

Nuance said Baylor has selected Nuance dictation, transcription, and speech recognition solutions.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:27 AM | Comments (0)

Report: check processing going paperless

By 2012, only 25 percent of all checks written will be cleared as paper, according to a new report from Aite Group LLC, a Boston-based research firm focused on technology and financial services.

In 2000, by contrast, nearly 100 percent of all checks written were cleared as paper, the report noted.

"The nature of check processing is changing rapidly, and though a number of electronic instruments will dramatically reduce the number of paper checks processed for clearing and settlement, billions of paper checks will still be written each year," Nancy Atkinson, an Aite Group senior analyst, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

Mintz Levin gets family friendly honor

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C. said it has been named to Yale Law Women's second annual list of family friendly law firms.

Mintz Levin, which noted that it was the only Boston-based firm to be so recognized by Yale Law Women, added that it was recently named the best law firm for women by Working Mother magazine.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:20 AM | Comments (0)

Penny Savings Bank condos open

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is scheduled to join executives from the development company Stonegate Group LLC to celebrate the grand opening this morning of the Residences at Penny Savings Bank in the South End.

According to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning agency, Stonegate completely restored the historic bank at the corner of Washington and Union Park streets into residential housing and retail space.

The result of a $19 million redevelopment project, the complex has 23 residential units, three of which comply with affordable housing guidelines, Menino's office said.

The Penny Savings Bank building was two stories high and constructed in the Classical Revival style between 1911 and 1917; as part of the redevelopment project, the building's historic facade was restored, and three stories were added to the original structure, the city said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:13 AM | Comments (0)

Talbots announces strategic brand review

Talbots Inc. new chief executive said today that the Hingham-based retailer of women's clothing has hired a "leading global consulting firm" to assist management in a "strategic review of the company with a focus on brand positioning."

In its release, Talbots did not identify the consulting firm, but added that the consulting engagement is expected to be completed by the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

Trudy F. Sullivan took over as Talbots president and chief executive in early August.

Sullivan said in a statement: "The decision to evaluate the positioning of our brands in the marketplace is one of the most important initiatives that our team is undertaking. Talbots remains a strong brand that resonates powerfully with our customers, the insights derived from these efforts will help us build on that strength and keep our brand relevant, fresh, and consistent."

Talbots operates roughly 1,400 stores, including 257 under the J. Jill brand name.

In September, Talbots announced plans to conduct a competitive review of advertising agencies for its Talbots brand advertising account.

Citing disappointing sales and higher markdowns, Talbots reported in August a second-quarter loss of $13.3 million, compared with a loss of $3.9 million for the same quarter a year earlier; at stores open at least a year, second-quarter sales fell 4.8 percent.

At that time, Talbots said its second-quarter performance partly reflected "a weak customer response to our spring and summer assortments."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 8, 2007

Acusphere says its imaging agent is different

Shares of Acusphere Inc. rose 11 percent to $1.50 in aftermarket trading today after the Watertown drug developer said its experimental imaging agent is structurally different from similar products that have come under government scrutiny.

Earlier today, the shares plummeted 31 cents, or 18.7 percent, to $1.35 after news reports said the government is seeking new warning labels for certain contrast agents, used to sharpen images of heart scans.

The FDA confirmed it is investigating reports of death and heart problems in patients treated with drugs from Bristol-Myers Squibb and General Electric. The agency asked them to add warnings about the risks to their product labels.

The drugs are delivered via injection prior to an ultrasound of the heart, to improve visibility of the image.

Acusphere is preparing to submit its own contrast agent, Imagify, to the FDA later this year. It said there have been no reported deaths in more than 1,000 patients who were tested with the drug.

Acusphere currently has no products on the market.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)

Akamai shares surge with new service

Akamai Technologies Inc. today introduced a service designed to expand its client base to business customers beyond online media, a move that sent its shares up 10 percent.

Cambridge-based Akamai is best known for helping media companies deliver graphics, video, and music to consumers by finding less congested routes over the Web.

Amid increased competition from Limelight Networks Inc. and other rivals, Akamai launched a service called IP Application Accelerator to boost the speed and quality of e-mail, voice over Internet protocol services, and file transfers within an organization.

The service also speeds up access for employees using wireless and remote fixed-line networks and will help boost sales to a wide range of businesses, Akamai said.

"Akamai is now expanding its product portfolio to focus on enterprises, making enterprises more efficient in using applications," said Willie Tejada, vice president of product management.

Akamai said the need for such services is increasing as more companies expand their global operations, with employees and business partners becoming more dispersed.
(Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)

Inverness to acquire Australian firm

Inverness Medical Innovations Inc., a Waltham medical diagnostics company, has agreed to buy out Panbio Ltd., a Australian diagnostic equipment maker, for $37 million.

The deal is subject to several conditions, including approval by Panbio shareholders.

Panbio makes diagnostic tests, including tests to detect viruses. Inverness hopes to capitalize on Panbio's position in the dengue fever market.

Last month, Inverness completed the $326.3 million buyout of Cholestech Corp., which also makes diagnostic products.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)

October 5, 2007

Mass. insurance chief bans credit scores

The Massachusetts insurance commissioner has banned use of credit scores in auto insurance coverage decisions under a final set of rules reforming the state's auto insurance market.

Commissioner Nonnie Burnes added a provision that had been sought by consumer advocates and some auto insurance companies.

Draft rules that Burnes proposed in August would have forbid insurers from using data from credit reports in setting individuals' rates during a one-year transition to the new market.

The final rules from Burnes go further by banning use of credit information not only in setting rates, but also in decisions by insurers on whether to cover someone or not.

The ban would remain in effect during the one-year market transition to allow more study of the issue. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:59 PM | Comments (0)

Dunkin' Donuts issues glow-stick recall

Dunkin' Brands Inc. said today it is recalling about 1 million pink-and-orange glow sticks distributed as part of a promotion at its Dunkin' Donuts coffee-and-baked goods chain.

The Canton-based company said it is voluntarily recalling the glow sticks because they were not labeled properly to warn customers that the cap and lanyard are a choking hazard to children under the age of three when the pieces are dislodged from the glow stick.

Dunkin' Donuts distributed the glow sticks free with every purchase of a box of 25 or 50 Munchkins donut holes beginning the week of Sept. 24.

The company said it has not received any complaints or reports of injury.

Dunkin' Brands recommended taking the glow sticks away from children and throwing them away. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. settles with drug company

The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said today it has reached a $2 million settlement with Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. to resolve allegations of improperly reporting drug prices.

In agreeing to the settlement, New Jersey-based Barr denied any wrongdoing.

The commonwealth sued Barr subsidiaries Barr Laboratories Inc. and Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., along with nearly a dozen other generic drug manufacturers, for allegedly inflating the prices that they reported to national price reporting services; state Medicaid programs use those reported prices to determine how much they will pay for drugs dispensed by pharmacies to their Medicaid recipients.

The settlement resolves the commonwealth's claims against Barr, said Coakley's office, which added that litigation is ongoing against other drug companies in the suit.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. AG sues subprime lender

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley this morning announced that her office has filed suit against Fremont Invesment & Loan, a California company that was one of the largest subprime lenders in the Bay State.

Coakley charged Fremont with "engaging in predatory lending in Massachusetts" by taking advantage of borrowers through a broker-fueled system that compensated them with commissions but left their customers with mortgages they could not afford to pay.

A Fremont spokesman said a response was not immediately available.

The attorney general is seeking civil penalties and restitution to borrowers.

"Fremont issued thousands of subprime loans, with multiple layers of risk, through mortgage brokers who regularly provided Fremont with false information that Fremont intentionally, recklessley or negligently failed to verify or audit," said the suit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court.
(By Kimberly Blanton, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)

Bentley Motors will move to Boston

Bentley Motors Inc. said today that it will relocate its North American corporate headquarters from Michigan to Boston as part of a strategic realignment.

The relocation is expected to be completed by summer 2008, said the company, which has its central operations in Crewe, England.

"The US is our biggest market by a considerable margin, and we are making these changes now to ensure our long-term viability and success in North America," Stuart McCullough, member of the board, sales and marketing, for Bentley, said in a statement. "This move will allow Bentley to stake out its future in a concerted and defined manner, led by our new leadership team of Geoff Dowding and Chistophe Georges."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

Riverside acquires specialty manufacturer

Riverside Partners LLC, a Boston private equity firm, said today it has partnered with company management to acquire an Ohio-based manufacturer that makes such products as military robots for iRobot Corp. of Burlington.

The Ohio company, which also has facilities in Thailand, is Gemcity Engineering & Manufacturing, a manufacturer of highly engineered products and specialized equipment.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Riverside said.

Riverside indicated that it believes that Gemcity, or Gem as its known, is poised for growth under its present management team, which will remain at the company.

"In today's environment, many customers are seeking out a contract manufacturer with the engineering skills of Gem to improve product design and manufacturability leading to higher quality and reduced costs," Steven F. Kaplan, a general partner at Riverside, said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

Cantata acquired by Canadian firm

Dialogic Corp., a Canadian provider of systems platforms, said today it has acquired Cantata Technology Inc. to expand its software portfolio and its customer base in the service provider market.

Needham-based Cantata was established in 2006 through the combination of Brooktrout Technology and Excel Switching Corp.; Cantata provides "enabling communications hardware and software that empowers the creation and delivery of anytime, anywhere IP-based communications applications," according to Cantata's website.

Without providing further details, Dialogic described the acquisition as a share-based transaction, adding that the former shareholders of EAS Group Inc., parent company of Cantata, are now minority shareholders in Dialogic.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

HRPT declares dividend

HRPT Properties Trust on Thursday announced a regular quarterly dividend of 21 cents per common share.

The Newton, Mass.-based company will pay the dividend Nov. 21 to shareholders of record Oct. 23. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)

Retailers, credit card firms clash on security

Retailers and the credit card industry are at odds as they try to restore consumer confidence after recent massive thefts of credit card information.

The National Retail Federation on Thursday urged a card industry organization to stop requiring retailers to keep customers' card numbers for up to 18 months.

The stored data helps track product returns and disputed or suspicious transactions. But retailers say the data would be more secure if only credit card companies and banks that issue the cards stored it.

"It makes more sense for credit card companies to protect their data from thieves by keeping it in a relatively few secure locations than to expect millions of merchants scattered across the nation to lock up their data for them," David Hogan, the retail federation's chief information officer, said in a strongly worded letter.

He said he was putting "the credit card industry on notice."

The biggest recent retail data breach involved TJX Cos., the Framingham, Mass.-based discount retailer, which said early this year that information from at least 45 million customer credit and debit cards had been exposed to potential fraud. Last month, Canadian investigators concluded TJX had kept data with insufficient encryption -- and for years after it should have been purged.

One credit card company said it doesn't require retailers to store the data.

Less than half the nation's biggest merchants appear to be complying with card industry security standards -- which include encryption and other safeguards -- despite a Sept. 30 deadline set by Visa USA, which plans to levy monthly fines up to $25,000 against merchant banks that noncompliant retailers rely on.

Visa, the nation's largest credit card network, said that, as of Aug. 31, 44 percent of big retailers had complied with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. That's up from 40 percent compliance in July. Those retailers account for about half of nationwide Visa transactions.

Banks could try to pass along the fines, but noncompliant retailers' biggest burden is the higher fees they pay for each transaction if they don't comply with the standards, said Avivah Litan, a Gartner Inc. analyst.

"If they're not compliant, that can cost millions of dollars," Litan said.

Visa USA Vice President Rosetta Jones said the card network considers noncompliant merchants "delinquent," which will lead to fines for large banks starting this month and for medium-size retailers' banks in January.

Visa originally set a September 2004 compliance date for large merchants. But it wasn't until the latest deadline passed that banks faced fines.

The retail federation's Hogan said U.S. retailers are increasingly at odds with the card industry over the security standards, known as PCI.

Despite spending $1 billion on meeting the standards the past three years, their attempts to comply "are not enough to accomplish the ultimate goal of protecting the consumer," Hogan said. "Data breaches have continued to occur at an unacceptable rate."

"We believe the time has come to rethink the assumptions behind PCI," he said.

Hogan said in an interview that retailers routinely hold onto information because credit card companies ask them to produce data from transactions as old as 18 months to verify product returns and protect against fraud. If retailers can't produce data showing the product was legitimately purchased, they can end up reimbursing banks and card companies, Hogan said.

In a statement Thursday, MasterCard called the retail federation's claims "inaccurate and unjustified."

MasterCard said merchants that keep card data may store it in a "truncated format which minimizes risk. In addition, a merchant may choose to store no cardholder data at all based on their own risk assessments and individual approaches to managing data storage according to their own business needs."

Hogan responded that "all they are really saying is that a merchant who does not keep credit card data gives up protections against disputed charges under the card company rules.

"This is the very regulation NRF wants to have changed. There is no reason for the card companies to force retailers to keep customers' full card numbers, if they retain an approval code and a truncated receipt," Hogan said. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)

KB Toys pulls more Chinese toys

The latest recall of Chinese-made products includes thousands of wooden toys imported and sold by Pittsfield-based KB Toys.

The items -- including wagons and learning blocks -- were manufactured in China and sold at KB Toy stores nationwide between August 2005 to September 2007.

Senior vice president of human resources Gerry Murray tells the Berkshire Eagle that the company acted quickly to pull the toys off the market after weeks of lead paint testing by KB and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In all, the commission says more than a half-million products were recalled Thursday because they contain dangerous levels of lead. The list includes coin-shaped "Pirates of the Caribbean" flashlights and soft, textured Baby Einstein blocks. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)

Grant Mill building in Providence sold

The Brooks Company LLC, a Boston-based real estate development and investment firm, said it has sold the Grant Mill building in Providence for $2.4 million.

The buyer is a joint venture of Starr Development of Massachusetts and Brady Sullivan Properties of New Hampshire, Brooks said.

Located within walking distance of downtown Providence, the Grant Mill building was built in the early 1900s by the cotton manufacturing firm of B.B. & R. Knight, which was best known for its "Fruit of the Loom" products, Brooks said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. General expands LiveData tech rollout

LiveData Inc., a Cambridge display technology company, today announced that Massachusetts General Hospital has expanded its deployment of LiveData OR-Dashboard.

According to the company, its OR-Dashboard presents information about a patient to an entire operating-room team in real-time while integrating data from patient records, administrative systems, physiological monitors, and medical devices.

MGH's plan is to make the LiveData OR-Dashboard an integral part of MGH's design for new and renovated operating rooms, LiveData said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:31 AM | Comments (0)

OXiGENE reports positive study results

OXiGENE Inc. of Waltham announced encouraging interim results from a study of a potential treatment designed to deprive the blood supply to certain kinds of tumors.

The data were from an ongoing Phase 1b study of OXiGENE's lead product candidate, Zybrestat; in the study, Zybrestat was administered in combination with another drug to patients with advanced solid tumors.

In the study, the combination appeared to be "safe and well tolerated" and it resulted in "significantly enhanced tumor blood-flow reductions," the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

Freeman joins Mintz Levin

Law firm Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C. announced the addition of Eric J. Freeman to its Boston office.

The addition of Freeman is part of continuing effort to expand its national real estate practice, Mintz Levin said.

Freeman was most recently a director in the real estate group of another law firm, Goulston & Storrs, Mintz Levin said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)

NextPhase sets recycling event date

Converge said its NextPhase division has scheduled a free computer recycling event at its Peabody headquarters for Saturday, Oct. 13.

NextPhase's "Take Back" recycling event will accept all PCs and laptops, in addition to printers, monitors, TVs, stereos, PDAs, keyboards, and electronic game consoles, Converge said.

There is a maximum of five products per category per person, and only one TV per person, the company said of an event set for 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Four Technology Drive in Peabody.

"There are serious environmental and security risks involved in improper disposal of unwanted IT assets for business and consumers," NextPhase director Chris Adam noted in a statement.

Converge is a distributor of electronic components, technology products, and supply-chain services.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:15 AM | Comments (0)

GW & Wade bought by Focus Financial

GW & Wade, a private wealth advisory firm with offices in Wellesley, has been acquired by Focus Financial Partners LLC of New York, Focus said.

As the industry consolidates, GW & Wade was one of several firms that Focus acquired; another was Dion Money Management, which according to its website, has offices in Williamstown and Burlington.

A press release issued by Focus did not include financial details of the transactions that made these firms its "partners."

"Through the transaction, Focus partners realize part of the equity value that they have created in their successful companies," Focus said in its release. "At the same time, the partners maintain their operational independence."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:04 AM | Comments (0)

Stop & Shop starts school program

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. is kicked off a program today to benefit local public schools in New Hampshire and Western Massachusetts.

Customers in those areas that sign up for the A+ BonusBucks program automatically earn points, which are converted into cash grants for their selected schools, whenever they use their Stop & Shop card, the company said.

The Quincy-based chain, which operates 389 stores throughout much of the Northeast, said last year's program awarded $150,000 to area schools.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2007

Verdict delayed on Genzyme bid for Bioenvision

Genzyme Corp., the Cambridge biotech giant, will have to wait another day to find out if its bid to buy Bioenvision Inc. will succeed.

A Bioenvision spokeswoman said the New York company decided to extend its shareholder vote on Genzyme’s acquisition proposal until late Friday morning, because the vote is so close to passing.

So far, shareholders controlling 47 percent of shares have voted in favor of Genzyme’s bid -- just shy of the majority voted needed for approval. But Bioenvision pointed out that many votes haven’t been cast, creating the possibility that the merger could still be approved.

Bioenvision’s board has already approved the merger.

The companies share the rights to clofarabine, a treatment for a type of leukemia. By purchasing Bioenvision, Genzyme would gain full control over the drug. Genzyme currently sells clofarabine in the United States, while Bioenvision sells it is Europe. Both companies hope to expand the drug into new markets.

Genzyme has bought 22 percent of Bioenvision shares in a tender offer, but is hoping to acquire the 78 percent of shares it doesn’t own for $5.60 per share, which values the entire company at $345 million.

Two major shareholders, Elliott Associates LP. and SCO Capital partners LLC, have publicly complained the offer is too low. In addition, several shareholder advisory firms have recommended shareholders reject the deal.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:48 PM | Comments (0)

Fidelity hires former JPMorgan Chase executive

The former chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s worldwide securities services unit, Michael K. Clark, will head Fidelity Investments’ institutional services business, the Boston mutual fund company said today.

Clark, 50, will report to Fidelity’s president, Rodger Lawson.

Clark joined JPMorgan in 1994 and became head of its institutional trust services business in 2000. In January 2005, he also became head of the company’s investor services unit. Later that year, JPMorgan combined both units into its worldwide securities services, with Clark as the CEO.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:08 PM | Comments (0)

Activist gets $25,000 award from law firm

The Reverend Gloria White-Hammond, a Boston community activist and a pediatrician, will receive a $25,000 leadership award from law firm Duane Morris LLP, the firm said today.

At an event planned for this month at the Museum of Fine Arts, White-Hammond will receive an award that recognizes her "invaluable contributions and humanitarian achievements," particularly with regard to easing the suffering in Darfur, said a statement from Duane Morris, a national law firm with offices in Boston.

According to Duane Morris, White-Hammond will donate the monetary award to a group she cofounded, My Sister’s Keeper, which describes itself on its website as a "women-led, women-focused, humanitarian action group."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:43 PM | Comments (0)

Chmieleski joins Psychemedics

Psychemedics Corp. announced today that Jennifer Chmieleski has joined the company as vice president, controller.

The Acton company provides testing for drug abuse using hair analysis.

Previously, Chmieleski served as controller for Edgewater Technology Inc., a technology management consulting company based in Wakefield.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:13 PM | Comments (0)

Charlesbank invests in MasterCraft Boat

Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC and another investment firm announced today that they have partnered with the management of the MasterCraft Boat Co. to buy the company for an undisclosed amount.

Charlesbank Capital is a private equity with offices in Boston and New York; the other investment firm is Transportation Resource Partners, which has locations in Michigan and New Jersey.

Tennessee-based MasterCraft is a builder of water ski, wakeboard, and luxury performance powerboats.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

Utterz debuts Facebook application

A Maynard company called Utterz announced today that it has debuted an application that lets any Facebook.com user with a cellphone instantly post voice, pictures, text, or video directly to their page on the Facebook social networking site - for free.

"Don't wait to get back to your dorm room to update your Facebook page," chief executive Michael Bayer of RPM Communications Inc., parent company of Utterz, said in a statement. "Utterz lets you post instantly, with just your cell, no matter what phone or carrier you have."

With Utterz, Facebook users can send videos, pictures, and text from their cellphones to go@utterz.com or record a voice "utter" by dialing 712-432-Mooo (6666), the company said.

When consumers make a cellphone call to update their Facebook page, Utterz is paid a small fee by wireless carriers, and down the road, Utterz further hopes to monetize its offering by selling advertising and sponsorships as well as selling premium services to users, Bayer said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

GuitarStar expands distribution

GuitarStar is going global, in what should be grand news for worldwide advertisers, according to GuitarStar developer AdME of Somerville.

Thanks to "beat-matching technology" that "synchronizes visual movements with the beat" of an underlying musical sound track, GuitarStar enables consumers to have a gaming experience somewhat similar to that produced by the popular game Guitar Hero, only on a cellphone, AdME said.

Over the summer, AdME announced that GuitarStar was being made available on the AT&T wireless network.

Now Player X, a British mobile media company, will distribute GuitarStar in many other markets around the world, AdME said.

GuitarStar is not just a game, AdME hastens to point out; GuitarStar can also do duty as a "highly versatile promotional platform, providing entertainment and consumer brands with an entirely new mobile medium to promote their products."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

US mortgage rates ease slightly

The average for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 6.37 percent for the week ending Oct. 3, down from the previous week's average of 6.42 percent, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said today.

Last year at this time, the average was 6.30 percent, Freddie Mac said.

"Mortgage rates eased slightly this week following three weeks of increases," Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft said in a statement. "The initial effects of the credit market turmoil that began in August are starting to emerge in housing statistics."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

Jurys Boston Hotel goes green

An Irish-owned hotel in Boston looks to get even greener.

So says Constellation Energy Group Inc. of Baltimore, adding that one of its subsidiaries, Constellation NewEnergy, has entered into a "green electricity purchase agreement with the Jurys Boston Hotel."

"Working with Constellation NewEnergy to match 100 percent of the hotel's energy demands further underscores our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint," Jurys Boston Hotel general manager Stephen Johnston said in a statement included in a Constellation Energy press release.

The hotel is operated by Jurys Doyle Hotel Group Ltd. of Dublin.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

Bain selling SigmaKalon

Bain Capital, a Boston-based alternative asset management firm, has agreed to sell SigmaKalon Group, a Dutch company in the global markets for protective and industrial coats, SigmaKalon's prospective buyer said today.

The buyer is PPG Industries, a Pittsburgh-based supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, and other products.

PPG valued the proposed purchase price at 2.2 billion euros, or about $3.1 billion.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

Monotype Imaging added to Russell indexes

Monotype Imaging Inc., a Woburn-based provider of text-imaging solutions, announced today that it has been added to the Russell 3000 and Russell 2000 indexes.

The Russell 3000 measures the performance of the 3,000 largest US companies based on total market capitalization, and the Russell 2000 measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index.

Monotype Imaging, which completed its initial public offering in July, said it was one of 35 companies making recent IPOs to be included on the indexes.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

Mass. accidentally sends out personal info

State regulators inadvertently distributed disks containing personal data, including Social Security numbers, of 450,000 licensed professionals in the state.

The problem occurred when the state began using new software to distribute the names and addresses of professionals licensed by the Division of Professional Licensure and the Division of Health Professions Licensure.

Marketing firms and other businesses routinely ask for the information under the state's public records law.

The new software, which the state began using on Sept. 11, failed to delete the Social Security numbers of those on the lists -- including engineers, nursing home administrators, certified public accountants and other professionals -- when transferring the information to disks.

When a staff member discovered the error, officials said they immediately contacted all those who had been sent the disks, requesting the disks not be used and be returned immediately.

Of the 28 disks mailed out, all but two have been recovered.

The two remaining disks -- which including the names and personal information of about 16,000 individuals -- are believed still to be in the mail and officials said they have contacted the intended recipients and requested they alert them when the disks are received.

The state also received signed affidavits by most of recipients that they haven't opened the disks, officials said.

Officials say they have received no complaints about possible identity theft and are launching an investigation into the incident. The process of filling such information requests was immediately suspended pending a review of the system.

"We take any situation where an individual's personal information may have been compromised extremely seriously," said Daniel Crane, director of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. "We are taking steps that will insure that such an incident can not occur again."

Those steps include hiring an independent security firm to help put new security procedures in place.

The Division of Professional Licensure has notified both the Secretary of State and the Attorney General's offices and has begun the process of contacting each individual whose personal information was contained on the disks, officials said.

The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development also said it will begin a review of the process and will put in place new rules for the distribution of sensitive information.

"We plan to implement strict guidelines and create protocols to insure the personal information of the Commonwealth's license holders is protected," said Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Dan O'Connell.

Individuals who are concerned about their personal information can contact the Division of Professional Licensure for assistance. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:44 AM | Comments (0)

Acceleron wins Web Marketing award

Acceleron Pharma Inc., a Cambridge company focused on therapeutics that modulate the growth of tissues including bone and muscle, announced today that its website won an excellence award from the Web Marketing Association.

Acceleron said its website was created to inform all key target audiences about its research-and-development strategy, product pipeline, and corporate vision.

Acceleron said its website was designed, developed, and launched by Embarc Inc., a Newton interactive marketing agency.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)

EMC buys Berkeley Data Systems

Information infrastructure technology provider EMC Corp. said today that it acquired Berkeley Data Systems Inc., a privately held provider of online information backup and recovery services.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Utah-based Berkeley provides Mozy Online backup services, which is a natural fit with EMC's protection and security products and services, EMC's senior vice president of corporate development and new ventures Tom Heiser said in a statement.

EMC said the acquisition would have no material impact on revenue or earnings per share for the remainder of the year.

Shares of EMC closed at $21.13 Wednesday. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:32 AM | Comments (0)

GE Transportation taps DRI Corp

DRI Corp. said today it has received a $1 million order from the Canton-based global signaling division of GE Transportation Systems.

"This order for the Digital Recorders Passenger Train Information System includes the Digital Recorders Voice Announcement and Automatic Vehicle Locating systems," DRI chairman, president, and chief executive David L. Turney said in a statement. "The order will benefit the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's heavy rail fleet. The project is already underway, and product delivery is expected to conclude in first quarter 2009."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:21 AM | Comments (0)

Berkeley Investments buys Everett GE land

Berkeley Investments Inc. purchased 40 acres of land in Everett formerly occupied by the General Electric Co., a broker involved in the transaction said.

The broker is Burgess Properties Inc. of Malden, and it said that Berkeley, a Boston-based real estate investment and development firm.

The price was $5 million, and the seller was D&C Real Estate LLC, industry sources said.

The site is situated along the Malden River and just off of Route 16 and Wellington Circle, Burgess said.

Richard M. Griffin, vice president of acquisitions for Berkeley, said in a statement, "We will be exploring many options; we have no concrete plans, and we look forward to working with the city of Everett and surrounding communities toward the creation of a master development plan."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)

Leiden joins Millennium board

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today the election of Jeffrey M. Leiden to its board of directors.

The Cambridge biopharmaceutical company markets a cancer product called Velcade.

Leiden is a managing director at Clarus Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on life sciences companies; the firm has offices in Boston and San Francisco.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)

Arnold wins top prize at Hatch Awards

Boston ad agency Arnold Worldwide won "best in show" at the 47th Annual Francis W. Hatch Awards, a ceremony sponsored by the local Ad Club to honor regional marketers and ad agencies.

Arnold was honored for an ad titled "Singing Cowboy" for the American Legacy Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based group that seeks to discourage smoking among young people.

Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. won the award for "marketer of the year."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:04 AM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2007

Guitar Center stock soars ahead of takeover

Shares of Guitar Center Inc. came close to a two-year high today, ahead of an expected $1.9 billion takeover by Bain Capital Partners, a Boston private equity group.

In a deal announced in June and expected to close this month, shareholders will receive $63 per share for the Westlake Village, Calif., company.

A C.L. King & Associates analyst, William R. Armstrong, said the surge in share price could be due to investors becoming more confident the deal will close.

"‘That's the only possible explanation," Armstrong said. "Just because it's stated doesn't mean it will happen, but investors are more confident that Bain will get the financing to go through with the deal."

The last time the shares rose as high was Oct. 25, 2005, when they hit $62.45. The shares have traded between $40.98 and $60.76 during the past 52 weeks.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Thermo Fisher buys NJ logistics firm

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. said today it has acquired Priority Solutions International, a New Jersey-based logistics provider to the pharmaceuticals and healthcare industries, following anti-trust clearance.

Waltham-based Thermo Fisher is a large supplier of laboratory equipment for life sciences companies and universities.

The purchase price of the acquisiton was not disclosed.

Thermo Fisher said the addition of Priority Solutions will make its biopharma services business an even stronger partner for biotechnology and pharmaceuticals customers looking to outsource the management of clinical trials.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)

Caliper lands $7m environmental contract

Caliper Life Sciences Inc., which makes software used for drug development, said today that it received a contract from the National Institute of Environmental Health Services worth up to $7 million for a period of up to 10 years.

Under terms of the agreement, Xenogen Biosciences, the in-vivo drug discovery services unit of Caliper, will supply National Institute of Environmental Health Services investigators with genetically modified mouse models for research purposes, beginning immediately.

A mouse model is a laboratory mouse used in medical research with specific characteristics that resemble a human disease or disorder.

Caliper Life Sciences shares rose 15 cents to $5.72 in midday trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

$11.9m Air Force contract goes to Raytheon

Defense contractor Raytheon Co. said today that it has received an $11.9 million contract for initial production of radar devices for the U.S. Air Force.

Raytheon will manufacture its ALR-69A(V)-model radar-warning receiver systems for the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia. The value represents the first phase of the contract, which calls for continued development of the system, as well as 13 digital receivers.

The company expects to deliver the systems from November 2008 through May 2009.

Raytheon shares fell 57 cents to $63.44 in morning trading. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

Nasdaq shares jump on Boston purchase

Shares of Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. jumped at the opening bell Wednesday after analysts lauded the exchange's plan to purchase the Boston Stock Exchange.

Though the deal is small -- Boston Stock Exchange lists just 40 companies and Nasdaq is paying $38 million cash and assuming certain costs from the company -- analysts said it gives Nasdaq certain advantages.

Primarily, Nasdaq lists only companies with four-letter ticker symbols. This makes it tough for companies with one-, two- or three-letter ticker symbols to switch to Nasdaq. By buying a different exchange, Nasdaq can lure clients from rivals without forcing the companies to change symbols.

Citigroup analyst Donald Fandetti wrote in a client note the deal has some "real strategic merits." The exchange provides Nasdaq another quote and market center, and can be used as a testing grounds for new products.

Also, Nasdaq purchased a license to operate an options exchange with the deal. Fandetti said Nasdaq, which is opening its own options exchange in two months, can use the second license to offer two types of options trading.

Shares of Nasdaq Stock Market gained 97 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $39.72 in morning trading. The shares closed Tuesday at $38.75, up 25.9 percent. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

Fidelity launches new retirement products

Boston mutual funds giant Fidelity Investments announced the launch today of retirement income products and services designed to make it easier for retirees to convert their savings into regular, monthly income payments.

The new offerings include a series of mutual funds - the Fidelity Income Replacement Funds - which combine professionally managed asset allocation with a withdrawal program, Fidelity said.

Another new product is a deferred variable annuity, called Fidelity Growth and Guaranteed Income, which provides a guaranteed withdrawal benefit for the lifetime of the investor, Fidelity said.

To complement those products, Fidelity said it launched dedicated retirement-income portals within its retail and advisor websites, where investors and advisors can find new tools, investment strategies, and multimedia product videos to make building a retirement portfolio easier.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

Linear invests in Downtown Crossing

Linear Retail Properties LLC announced today that it purchased the lower two floors, including the retail space, of 50-60 Franklin St. in Boston's Downtown Crossing shopping district for $7.1 million.

The 23,654-square-foot property includes four ground-level retail spaces, and current retail tenants include a D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches shop and the London Harness Company, said Linear, a Burlington-based real estate acquisition and operating company.

One 1,570-square-foot ground-floor retail space is available for lease, Linear said.

Linear said that it had purchased the property from two trusts and that the Dartmouth Company of Boston was the sole broker in the transaction.

Downtown Crossing is poised for a massive makeover; one estimated $625 million project plans to redevelop the historic Filene's building into a 38-story tower of condos and hotel rooms as well as office and retail space.

Linear said the purchase of 50-60 Franklin St, which is diagonally across the street from the Filene's redevelopment project, was its third recent purchase in downtown Boston.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Putnam renews Post Office Sq. lease

Money manager Putnam Investments has renewed its lease at One Post Office Square in Boston's Financial District through 2019, the building's owners said today.

The building's owners are Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Equity Office, which is now owned by the Blackstone Group, an alternative asset manager based in New York.

Occupying 230,000 square feet of space, Putnam is the largest tenant at One Post Office Square, the owners said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)

Swartz joins Cabot, Cabot & Forbes

Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, a Boston-based real estate development firm, said today that Jeffrey B. Swartz will join the company as managing director of leasing.

Among Swartz's duties will be the marketing and leasing of Westwood Station, a huge mixed-use project planned for Westwood; plans call for the project to have 1.5 million square feet of office and technology space, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

Paradigm names Cammarata to top spot

Paradigm Tactical Products Inc. announced today that it has recruited Vincent Cammarata as its new chief executive.

The Georgetown-based company provides non-lethal defense and security solutions to the corrections, law enforcement, and security industries; one key product is the FriskerPRO, a portable metal detector that can be worn on the hand while leaving the fingers free.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

Analyst gives Dyax a positive nod

Credit Suisse analyst Y. Katherine Xu initiated mostly positive coverage on several biotechnology companies today, citing several drug development technologies and treatment candidates.

Among the companies she cites was Cambridge, Mass.-based Dyax Corp., which she gave an "Outperform" rating with a $7 price target, citing its lead drug candidate DX-88. The drug is being studied as a possible treatment for acute attacks in hereditary angiodema, which is a severe swelling of the skin; and to prevent blood loss during cardiothoracic surgery, which focuses on organs inside the chest.

She said the drug could see peak sales of $150 million for angiodema, and $770 million for the surgery indication.

Xu also initiated coverage of Berkeley, Calif.-based Dynavax Technologies Corp. with an "Outperform" rating and a $8 price target, citing the potential for its lead product candidate, Heplisav, a developing hepatitis B vaccine.

She estimates peak sales of $420 million for the drug.

Xu initiated coverage of South San Francisco, Calif.-based Poniard Pharmaceuticals Inc. with an "Outperform" rating and a price target of $10. She cited the company's chemotherapy drug compound Picoplatin.

She initiated coverage of East Brunswick, N.J.-based Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. with an "Outperform" rating and a $23 price target, citing blockbuster potential for the company's gout treatment candidate Puricase. Gout is a severe form of arthritis, which is an inflammation, or swelling, of the joints.

She initiated coverage of Branford, Conn.-based Neurogen with a "Neutral" rating and a price target of $8. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)

Goodwin Proctor, Mass. Mutal st