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March 31, 2008

Northland forms multifamily joint venture

Northland Investment Corp. of Newton is joining with Tarragon Corp. of New York to form a company that will own and manage 83 multifamily properties in 12 states.

Northland, a real estate firm, will hold a 77.5 percent controlling interest in the new company, Northland Properties LLC, which it said in a press release yesterday will be worth about $2 billion and will be among the top 50 multifamily companies in the United States.

Tarragon, a mixed-use property developer focusing on apartments and condominium residences, will contribute 7,433 units to the portfolio of the new company, bringing the total held to more than 21,000.

Founded in 1970, Northland Investment Corp. is privately held and owns about 22 million square feet of property of all types in 15 states as a result of the merger with Tarragon.
(By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 6:38 PM | Comments (0)

Vertex shares jump on test data for hepatitis drug

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped today after the company presented data from a midstage study showing hepatitis C patients responded to its experimental drug telaprevir.

The study involves 54 patients receiving telaprevir in combination with peginterferon and another treatment, ribavirin. The Cambridge company presented the results at the 43rd annual meeting of the European Association for Study of the Liver.

The stock rose $4.71, or 25.2 percent, to $23.35 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares have traded between $13.84 and $41.42 over the last 52 weeks.

Vertex's telaprevir is being developed at the same time that competitor Schering-Plough Corp. of New Jersey works on the hepatitis C treatment candidate boceprevir.

Robert W. Baird analyst Thomas Russo reaffirmed a "Neutral" rating with a $24 price target on the stock, saying that telaprevir is the most advanced pipeline candidate for hepatitis C, as it nears late-stage studies.

"Upside potential may be several-fold greater if it (telaprevir) can tap into hepatitis C treatment-experienced group." he said.

There are about 250,000 people in the U.S. who have already received some for of hepatitis C treatment, but have failed to respond to therapy.

Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Brian Abrahams, meanwhile, reaffirmed a "Outperform" rating and raised his price target to $43 from $38, citing telaprevir's clinical advantage so far over future competitor boceprevir. He cited better patient responses to telaprevir. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)

Worcester bank sues TD Bank over name change

A Worcester-based bank has filed a federal lawsuit against the parent of TD Banknorth Inc. over its plans to begin doing business in Massachusetts under the name "TD Commerce Bank."

The trademark infringement lawsuit was filed today by Commerce Bank & Trust Co., which has 12 branches and has operated in Massachusetts since 1955.

Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group, parent of TD Banknorth, was expected to complete its $8.5 billion purchase today of Commerce Bancorp, based in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Officials from the Worcester-based bank said customers will be confused if TD Bank is allowed to use the name TD Commerce Bank. They are asking a judge to issue an injunction to stop TD Bank from using the Commerce name in Massachusetts.

Representatives of TD Bank did not immediately return calls seeking comment. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)

BoltBus tickets go on sale April 7

BoltBus, a division of Greyhound Lines Inc., will launch service between Boston's South Station and New York's Penn Station area on April 24. Tickets go on sale April 7 at www.boltbus.com.

At least one seat on every bus will cost just $1 one way, plus a booking fee of 50 cents, and the remainder will be priced according to market demand. Fares will rise the longer passengers wait, up to a maximum of $20 for a walkup fare.

BoltBus, which will have 12 daily departures on this route on weekdays and more on the weekends, will be the first low-cost carrier on this popular route to offer free Wireless internet access.

MegaBus, another new entrant in the competitive Northeast Corridor market, also will offer $1 seats and free WiFi once service starts on May 30. BoltBus is celebrating by offering every seat between April 24 and April 27 for $1. MegaBus has done one better by offering every seat for free during its first week of service.
(By Nicole C. Wong, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:24 PM | Comments (0)

Boston Scientific rival reports stent test results

Abbott Laboratories said today that a clinical trial showed its Xience V stent was more effective in preventing serious heart problems than a product from rival Boston Scientific Corp., a Natick medical device maker.

Boston Scientific, which distributes a version of the Xience stent called Promus, said the results for the two stents were statistically insignificant.

(A Boston Scientific stent is shown at right.)

Abbott Laboratories, an Illinois company, reported results from a two-year trial today. It said patients implanted with the Xience stent were 40 percent less likely to suffer a major adverse event, which includes heart attacks and death, than patients using Boston Scientific's Taxus stent.

Xience V patients were 44 percent less likely to require another treatment, Abbott said.

Stents are mesh-wire tubes that prop open arteries after they have been cleared of plaque during a medical procedure. Some stents are coated with drugs to stop the arteries from closing again. Xience is coated with a drug called everolimus, which is licensed from Novartis AG while Taxus elutes paclitaxel.

A total of 300 patients were treated in the Spirit II trial. Abbott said 6.6 percent of the Xience patients suffered an adverse event, while 11 percent of the Taxus patients experienced those problems.

Abbott shares rose $1.92, or 3.6 percent, to $54.99 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of Boston Scientific rose 30 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $12.91 on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)

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

Galvin slams plan to overhaul financial regulation

The top securities regulator in the Bay State is calling the White House's proposal to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system "a disastrous step backward."

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin (right) says the proposal released today would pre-empt the role of state regulators and give too much power to the federal government.

Galvin argues that the federal government has repeatedly failed to protect investors from financial troubles such as the subprime mortgage mess, while states have often taken the lead.

The proposal by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (left) would give the Federal Reserve more power to protect the stability of the entire financial system. Paulson also wants to create one super agency in charge of business conduct and consumer protection. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:55 PM | Comments (0)

Chambers breaks ground on tony new dealership

Auto dealer Herb Chambers has scheduled a ground-breaking ceremony this afternoon for a new Infiniti dealership in Westborough, where plans call for an art gallery-style layout to showcase the luxury vehicles.

When Herb Chambers Infiniti of Westborough opens, something expected to happen at the end of the year, seating areas will fan out around some of the new cars so prospective buyers can admire them in a contemplative setting, Chambers said.

Chambers may have set the New England standard for new car showrooms when he opened a Lexus dealership in Sharon last year. With a price tag of more than $30 million when the costs of acquiring the land were included, the 110,000-square-foot Sharon dealership features such over-the-top amenities as a coffee bar, a "Zen garden," and marble flooring, not to mention a lounge with plasma-screen TVs.

The 34,000-square-foot Infiniti dealership in Westborough will be more modest - a pocket battleship compared to the Sharon dreadnought - though still pretty snazzy in comparison to the showrooms of 20, or even five, years ago.

A smaller footprint is one reason why his Infiniti dealership on four acres of Westborough real estate won't eclipse his Lexus dealership on 13 acres of Sharon real estate, said Chambers, who also noted that Lexus is currently a more popular brand in Greater Boston than Infiniti.

"Infiniti is more about performance," Chambers said. "Lexus is more about luxury."

Chambers (left) already owns the land in Westborough - he operates Herb Chambers Ford on the same property - and he estimates building costs for the Infiniti dealership will be about $10 million.

Regent Associates Inc., the Westborough architectural firm that designed the Lexus dealership in Sharon, will also design the Westborough Infiniti dealership.

Principal Mark Regent said the firm has been building or remodeling auto dealerships for nearly two decades.

His first dealership, a Saturn in Worcester, opened in 1991.

"It was pretty bare bones," he said.

Because auto dealers are selling identical products, areas where they can differentiate themselves include customer service and a superior shopping experience that can be provided by a state-of-the-art showroom, Chambers said.

"My Lexus is the same as somebody else's Lexus," he said of rival dealers.

Plans for the new Infiniti dealership call for lots of frosted glass and, inside, mesh curtains can be draw around the space where individual vehicles are exhibited.

The idea is to "build the suspense" of the Infiniti brand, Regent said.

Some auto companies are very strict in dictating what dealers are permitted to do in building new showrooms.

"They're telling us what carpets to use, what tiles to use, and what kind of lighting," said Regent, who added that Lexus was "pretty flexible" when it came to building the Chambers Lexus dealership in Sharon.

Plans call for the new Infiniti dealership to have a coffee counter, a "quiet lounge where people can read," and a lounge with plasma TVs, Regent said.

While it may be awhile before Chambers tops Sharon, he's also planning this year to build a new location in Sudbury for his BMW dealership and a new location for a Porsche-Audi dealership in Burlington.

In 2007, his 42 dealerships had sales of $1.85 billion on transactions involving about 64,000 vehicles, Chambers said.

Given that many of his customers are shelling out $30,000 or more for a car and given that many of them return to the dealership for service appointments, providing them with a free cup of coffee or an apple isn't a significant expense, Chambers said.

Showrooms with espresso machines are a far cry from the first dealership that Chambers bought in 1985; that Cadillac dealership in New London, Conn., featured a pool table among its decor.

As for the opulence of his Lexus dealership in Sharon, Chambers said, "I may have gotten carried away."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:50 PM | Comments (0)

Gas prices up two cents in Massachusetts

Gas prices are up two cents a gallon this week in Massachusetts, after a decline of a penny last week.

A statewide survey released on Monday by AAA Southern New England found an average price of $3.14 per gallon of self-serve regular. The average was $3.12 last week, when the price declined for the first time in six weeks.

The auto club says Massachusetts is 14 cents below the national average price of $3.28 per gallon.

But prices remain well above what they were a year ago, when a gallon averaged $2.63 in the state. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

MIT, Bank of America unveil banking research center

The MIT Media Laboratory and Bank of America Corp. announced the creation of a research center to explore new ideas and technologies in banking.

Bank of America said it is committed to spending $3 million to $5 million per year during a planned five-year collaboration.

The Center for Future Banking, which will be located on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, will seek to "transform the ways banking will be conducted in a world of rapidly changing social, economic, and information landscapes," the MIT Media Lab and Bank of America said.

Bank of America is a financial services company with headquarters in North Carolina.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:32 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Scientific sells aortic repair unit

Natick medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. announced today the sale of its aortic repair program as part of an ongoing plan to divest itself of nonstrategic assets.

The company said it sold Boston Scientific Santa Rosa Corp., formerly known as TriVascular Inc., to TV2 Holding Co., a privately held company in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Terms of the sale included $30 million in cash and a warrant allowing Boston Scientific to purchase a minority interest in TV2, Boston Scientific said.

Boston Scientific said it acquired TriVascular, which was founded to develop devices and procedures for treating abdominal aortic aneurysms, in 2005.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Report: Foreclosure crisis hits three-decker owners

The foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts is hitting two- and three-family homes at a more devastating rate than single-family homes and condominiums, the Warren Group said today.

Three-family dwellings, sometimes known as three-deckers, have iconic status in Massachusetts and over the years, they have served as affordable housing for many a working-class and immigrant family. (At right, a three-decker in Worcester that was foreclosed late last year.)

A Boston real estate data firm that publishes Banker & Tradesman, the Warren Group said it can't give a precise explanation for this phenomenon but suspects that one reason may be that many two-and three-family homes are owned by absentee investors who are "quicker to walk away when the going gets tough."

In a statement, Warren Group chief executive Timothy Warren Jr. (left) noted a second possible explanation for the troubles in the multifamily home market: "Maybe it's that many owners of small multifamilies are very dependent on rents and are more likely to default if they can't fill their apartments every month."

Petitions to foreclose are the first step in the foreclosure process; for all property types in Massachusetts, there were 2,835 such petitions in February, up 27 percent from the same month in 2007, the Warren Group said.

Of those petitions, 635, or 23 percent of the total, were filed against owners of multifamily homes even though two-and and three-family homes represent only 11 percent of the Massachusetts housing stock, the Warren Group said; in February 2008, there were 1.8 petitions to foreclose filed against two-and three-family homes for every sale transaction for that property type.

Petitions to foreclose for all property types fell 11.7 percent from the 3,212 that were filed in January 2008, the group said.

In February, foreclosure deeds, which denotes the final step in the foreclosure process, rose 145.7 percent from 350 a year ago to 860, and up 7.5 percent from the 800 foreclosure deeds recorded in January 2008, the Warren Group said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:54 AM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2008

Galvin issues subpoenas in debt securities probe

Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin said today that he has issued subpoenas to business units of three large financial services companies as he seeks more information for his investigation into auction rate market securities.

Galvin's office said he has issued subpoenas to UBS Securities LLC; Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.; and Bank of America Investment Services Inc., all of which are registered as Massachusetts broker dealers.

Galvin's investigation focuses on whether Main Street investors were properly informed by broker dealers and asset managers of the risks of putting money into these types of securities.

"The recent freezing of the auction market coincided with the decision by a number of major brokers to stop supporting the auction market and appears to be yet another after-effect of the subprime lending crisis and the subprime market meltdown," Galvin said in a statement. "Within the last couple of weeks, my office has received calls from many people who thought they were investing in safe, liquid investments only to find that they had, in fact, purchased auction market securities that are now frozen, and they cannot get their money."

A spokeswoman for Bank of America said the bank doesn't comment on whether it receives subpoenas. A UBS spokesman declined comment. And attempts to reach Merrill Lynch were not immediately successful.

Last month, Galvin's office said it sought information from nine asset managers on their "experiences with closed-end funds in the wake of auction failures in the auction rate securities market."
(By Chris Reidy and Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

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

Sovereign Bank readies new marketing push

Sovereign Bank plans to kick off a spring marketing offensive Sunday with newspaper ads that tell consumers how they can get $150 in incentives for opening a premier checking account.

The underlying theme of the campaign is "getting more" because Sovereign wants Boston's business more, said Partners + Simons, Sovereign's Boston-based advertising agency, which added that $150 is the largest incentive that Sovereign has ever offered.

The campaign will also later feature radio and TV ads as well as swarms of Segway riders swooping into such locations as North Station and South Station to blanket the area as they hand out magnet clips with promotional flyers, the agency said.

Plans also call for the Segway marketers to be on hand for the Red Sox home owner at Fenway Park, Partners + Simons said.

Sovereign TV ads in the Boston area will again feature Jerry Remy, a Red Sox announcer on NESN and a former Red Sox player, as well as the tag-line that Sovereign debuted two year's ago, "Sovereign Bank: America's neighborhood bank," the ad agency said.

Newspaper ads are set to appear in The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald as well as in other area newspapers, the ad agency said.

With 750 branches and 2,300 ATM's in the Northeast, Sovereign Bank is part of Sovereign Bancorp Inc., a holding company based in Pennsylvania.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

Program your cellphone to avoid speeding tickets

First, the highway patrol set up radar guns. Then motorists who hate speed limits got radar detectors. And now a California inventor is proposing a new wrinkle - a cell-phone social network that aims to share information and help members avoid getting speeding tickets by issuing real-time cellphone warnings when they approach speed traps.

The California inventor is Pete Tenereillo, and his firm, Trapster.com, partly relies on Skyhook Wireless, a Boston company that provides location-based positioning services based on WiFi access points.

Trapster, which bills itself as a speed-trap sharing system, also depends on Global Positioning Systems, which uses satellites, and other systems that use cell towers to determine the exact whereabouts of an individual cellphone user who happens to be zipping along happily well above the speed limit.

To view a video of an interview with Tenereillo that recently aired on CNN, click here.

Here's how this warning system is supposed to work: Go to Trapster.com and sign up for free membership. Next down-load some special software to your cellphone. According to Tenereillo, most newer generation cellphones and personal digital assistants can support Trapster.

Now when you're motoring about and spot a police officer with a radar gun, hit "pound one" on your cellphone. Trapster knows your location, and if any other Trapster members are driving in the vicinity, they'll get an audio alert on their cellphone when they near the speed trap: "Live police! Live police!"

For cellphones with screens, members can also see a road map of their whereabouts with speed traps clearly marked.

Still in the beta-testing mode, Trapster is planning an official launch in early April, Skyhook noted.

It would seem that Trapster would need a critical mass of members for its speed-trap early-warning system to be effective, with input coming from many widely dispersed cellphone-equipped motorists.

But according to Tenereillo, that isn't necessarily the case. A video-sharing network like Youtube.com has a "high leech rate," he said; in other words, only a tiny fraction of users are sharing content and posting videos, while maybe 95 percent of visitors to the site are simply viewing videos and not contributing videos of their own.

But so great is the public aversion for speeding tickets that nearly half of Trapster members in beta testing have contributed data.

"My leech rate is only 60 percent," Tenereillo said proudly.

One subject he won't discuss is how many cellphone users have signed up for Trapster so far.

"With a Web 2.0 business, that's like telling people your Social Security number," Tenereillo said.

Trapster sounds cool enough, but what about a business model?

While companies have approached him about advertising on the Trapster network, a Trapster bottom line isn't an immediate concern, said Tenereillo, 46, who claims to have made enough money from writing code for networking products giant Cisco Systems Inc. that he is at the moment gloriously free from the immediate need of a positive cash flow from Trapster.

"I'm going to worry about that later," he said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

The IRS is gearing up for "Super Saturday"

The Internal Revenue Service is billing tomorrow as "Super Saturday."

In an effort to help retirees, veterans, and low-income workers receive their economic stimulus payments - the individual checks that the Bush administration is hoping will help jump-start a sluggish economy - the IRS is opening hundreds of offices across the country tomorrow, including several offices in Massachusetts.

It's all part of an effort to reach out to Americans who are eligible for the economic stimulus payment but who are normally not required to file an income tax return, either because their income is too low or because their income is not taxable, the IRS said.

Massachusetts IRS offices where people can get help include 15 New Sudbury St. in Boston, 1 Montvale Ave. in Stoneham, 166 Main St. in Brockton, and 120 Front St. in Worcester, the IRS said.

For many Americans, including low-income Americans, filing a tax return is not routine, IRS spokesperson Peggy Riley said in a statement, "but this year, filing a 2007 tax return is the only way to receive an economic stimulus payment."

According to the IRS, millions of Americans who do not pay federal income taxes may be eligible for a $300 payment, or a $600 payment for married couples, if they have at least $3,000 in qualifying income.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:58 AM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

TJX settles with government over data breach, avoids fines

More than a year after millions of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls customers found out their credit card information had been hacked into, the discount stores' operator agreed to have its information audited but avoided paying federal fines.

TJX Cos. was one of three firms that agreed to settle charges that each "failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security for sensitive consumer information," federal regulators said today in two unrelated data-breach decisions. A copy of the TJX settlement can be viewed here.

Data broker Reed Elsevier PLC and its Seisint subsidiary also avoided fines but have agreed to obtain third-party audits biennially for 20 years under a separate settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The agreements, which will be finalized after a 30-day public comment period, also require the companies to implement comprehensive information security programs.

"These cases bring to 20 the number of complaints in which the FTC has charged companies with security deficiencies in protecting sensitive consumer information," FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said in a release.

TJX said last March that at least 45.7 million cards were exposed to possible fraud in a breach of its computer systems. Court filings by banks that sued TJX estimated the number of cards affected at more than 100 million.

Sherry Lang, TJX's senior vice president for investor and public relations, said the company disagreed with the FTC's allegations, but agreed to the settlement "which is consistent with the agreements between the FTC and other retailers that have been victimized by cyber crime."

The Framingham, Mass.-based company's 2,500 stores include the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains.

"We have been at work for over a year implementing a comprehensive, improved information security program designed to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of our customers' personal information," Lang said in a statement.

The FTC did not impose financial penalties against the companies because it lacks the authority to do so. The commission has asked Congress for such authority since 2005.

The breach is believed to have begun in mid-2005 but wasn't detected until December 2006. A judge on July 15 will consider whether to approve the settlement reached last September. The FTC said it coordinated its investigation of TJX with 39 state attorneys general, lead by Massachusetts.
(AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:18 PM | Comments (0)

Simon Property plans $450 million investment in New England malls

Simon Property Group Inc. said today that it will have invested $450 million in upgrading and expanding its 20 New England malls when it completes a five-year renovation plan in 2010.

Details of some of those plans have been previously announced, but Simon Property, an Indiana company with a portfolio of 380 shopping centers in North America, Europe, and Asia, including 14 in Massachusetts, hadn't publicly put a dollar figure on its New England renovations before.

The company said that major renovations are planned for Northshore Mall in Peabody, South Shore Plaza in Braintree, and Burlington Mall - a Nordstrom Inc. department store is set to mark its grand opening at Burlington Mall tomorrow.

Last week, Simon made public additional details about expansion plans at its Copley Place shopping complex in Boston.

Simon's vision for that site includes building a 569-foot tower that would include about 300 luxury residences above an expanded Neiman Marcus department store; the residential tower's budget is not included in the $450-million mall renovation budget, said a local spokeswoman for Simon.

When the details of Simon Property's proposal for Copley Place were unveiled last week, a company official said that Simon Property had no cost estimate for the project yet and added that he estimated that the project could be completed in 2011 or 2012.

Simon Property malls in Massachusetts include Arsenal Mall in Watertown, the Mall at Chestnut Hill, and Square One Mall in Saugus.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:26 PM | Comments (0)

Verizon's Seidenberg calls for less red tape

Verizon Communications Inc. chief executive Ivan G. Seidenberg called for a streamlined cable franchising process and cautioned politicians to be careful when considering new taxes or regulations.

Speaking at the Boston College Chief Executives' Club of Boston, Seidenberg jokingly referred to Mayor Thomas M. Menino several times during his speech. The mayor supports a recent Appellate Tax Board decision that Verizon should pay taxes on telephone poles and wires over public ways, but the company has said it will appeal the ruling.

Seidenberg mentioned Verizon's recent announcement that it would invest $200 million in Massachusetts this year, and plans to offer its television service, called FiOS, to 30 more communities, but said that even though the company has had success negotiating cable franchises with individual towns and cities, the process has been more costly and uncertain than elsewhere.

In other states where Verizon has gotten streamlined rules for offering video service, part of the negotiations of the legislation included broader commitments about its FiOS buildout, Seidenberg said. "We'd be willing to address the breadth of our rollout."

Menino, who sat at the same table as Seidenberg, said he did not bring up telecom tax issues. If the city is able to tax poles and wires over public ways, it would add an estimated $7.5 million to Verizon's tax bill.

Menino also said he has no timeline for Verizon to offer television service in Boston, and is more concerned in ensuring that the eventual buildout of service occurs equally, across all neighborhoods.
(By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe staff)

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

Abiomed medical device wins European approval

Danvers medical-device company Abiomed Inc. said today that it has gotten the approval of European Union regulators to market a power-pack (right) for one of its heart pumps in EU countries and countries that recognize EU approval.

A heart pump such as Abiomed's AB5000 ventricular-assist device, or VAD, helps patients with weak hearts, but patients must remain in the hospital close to a power source.

By connecting a VAD to the company's new Portable Driver, an 18-pound device featuring new battery technology, a patient using a VAD can be discharged from the hospital, Abiomed said

Abiomed has submitted the Portable Driver to the Food and Drug Administration so the device can be marketed in the United States, but the FDA has asked the company for additional information, Abiomed said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:53 PM | Comments (0)

More than a dozen flights canceled at Logan

More than a dozen flights from Boston's Logan International Airport were among the 725 flights that American Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. canceled in the last two days as they conduct inspections to address safety issues.

The carriers are scrambling to make sure a bundle of wires associated with operating the plane's landing gear are laced together properly so they meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

American, which ranked as Logan's largest airline last year by carrying 16.7 percent of the passengers, canceled five flights yesterday and four today that were headed to Chicago, Dallas, and St. Louis.

Delta, the No. 2 carrier with 16.2 percent of the passengers, would not say how many flights were canceled at Logan. But the airport website's real-time flight database shows Delta canceled nine of today's flights that were going to or from New York LaGuardia, Fort Lauderdale, and Atlanta. It was not clear, however, if the safety inspection was the reason for each of those cancellations.

The decisions to cancel flights were made the night before, American spokesman Ned Raynolds said.

Both airlines expect to finish the inspections tonight and proceed with tomorrow's flights as planned.

The inspections come almost three weeks after the FAA ordered a check of all US airlines' maintenance records. That check was ordered after controversy erupted over the agency's handling of missed safety inspections at Southwest Airlines Co. of Dallas.
(By Nicole Wong, Globe staff)

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

Harvard endowment names new chief

The chief investment officer of Wellesley College was named today as the next executive to oversee Harvard University's $34.9 billion endowment.

Jane Mendillo was named as the new chief execuitve of Harvard Management Co., the university's organization responsible for the world's largest academic endowment. Mendillo succeeds Mohamed El-Erian, who left at the end of last year after a tenure of less than two years. Her appointment will become effective July 1.

Mendillo had been Wellesley's chief investment officer since 2002. Previously, she worked at Harvard Management for 15 years. Mendillo served as vice president in charge of external investments, a category that accounted for about a third of the entire endowment, in her last post at Harvard.

"Jane Mendillo has an excellent record as one of the most able and accomplished investment managers in the endowment world, as well as an extensive knowledge of the Harvard endowment nad a deep commitment to higher education," said Harvard treasurer James Rothenberg, who is also chairman of the Harvard Management Co. board.

Harvard said the Wellesely endowment had earned average annual returns of 13.5 percent during Mendillo's five year tenure. The endowment grew from $1 billion to $1.7 billion during that period.
(By Steven Syre, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)

Syre to join Finneran talk show on WRKO

Local talk radio station WRKO-AM said today that Boston Globe business columnist Steven Syre will be a regular contributor on Finneran's Forum, the weekday morning talk show of Tom Finneran, a former speaker of the Massachusetts House.

Starting Monday, Syre will fill the 7:30 a.m. slot vacated by Steve Bailey, another Globe business columnist.

Earlier this month, Bailey announced that he is leaving the Globe after three decades to move to London to join Bloomberg News as a senior enterprise editor.

Syre has been covering the Boston business scene for 20 years and has been with the Globe since 1995.

WRKO is owned by Entercom Communications Corp., a Pennsylvania company with a portfolio of more than 100 radio stations.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

2008 could be even worse for local foreclosures

Home foreclosures in Massachusetts are estimated to increase by at least 15 to 25 percent above the historic highs reached in 2007, ForeclosuresMass.com reported today.

With the economy slowing and home prices declining as many home owners face an increase in their monthly payments as a result of an adjustable mortgage, February was the fourth highest month for Massachusetts foreclosures on record, with 2,861 filings, up 28.5 percent from filings in February 2007, ForeclosuresMass.com said.

Still, February's number was down 11.4 percent from the 3,230 foreclosures in January 2008, the single highest monthly total in Massachusetts history, according to ForeclosuresMass.com, a Framingham firm that provides foreclosure data to investors, real estate investors, and mortgage brokers.

For the 12-month period that ended Feb. 29, lenders initiated 31,516 foreclosures statewide against home owners, up 45.6 percent over the comparable 12-month period a year ago, ForeclosuresMass.com said.

“2007 was the worst year in history for Massachusetts homeowners, and our forecast for 2008 is even gloomier,” Jeremy Shapiro, president and cofounder of ForeclosuresMass.com, said in a statement. “2007 ended with two consecutive record quarters, and the surge is continuing this year."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:51 AM | Comments (0)

1366 Technologies lands $12.4 million in funding

Lexington start-up 1366 Technologies said it has secured $12.4 million in a first round of financing.

The company aims to make silicon solar cells competitive with coal as a source of energy, and it has just taken space in Lexington to build its pilot solar-cell manufacturing facility.

Company founder Ely Sachs, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is taking a leave of absence from MIT to help get the company off the ground.

According to his resume, Sachs previously invented the String ribbon wafer technology that is being commercialized by Evergreen Solar Inc., a Marlborough company that makes solar panels.

The financing round for 1366 Technologies was co-led by North Bridge Venture Partners, a venture capital firm with an office in Boston, and Polaris Venture Partners, a venture capital firm with an office in Waltham.

As for the significance of the company's name, 1366 is the earth's solar constant, the average amount of solar radiation just above the atmosphere, the company said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)

Vertex drug improves lung function in study

Cambridge biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that its oral drug candidate VX-770 improved lung function in cystic fibrosis patients during a midstage study.

The Phase IIa clinical trial compared the drug candidate with placebo, which had no observed effect. The interim results come from 20 patients receiving various doses of VX-770 or placebo.

The company is moving on with the second part of the study and plans to meet with regulators to discuss the most rapid development path for the drug candidate.

Cystic Fibrosis affects about 30,000 people in the U.S. and around 70,000 people worldwide, the company said. (AP)

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

MIT creates global network for supply-chain research

The MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics announced the creation of an international alliance of leading research and education centers dedicated to supply-chain innovation and excellence.

The MIT Global SCALE Network initially has centers in Cambridge; Zaragoza, Spain; and Bogota, Colombia, the center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.

Plans call for expansion into Asia and Africa.

The MIT Global SCALE Network - SCALE stands for Supply Chain And Logistics Excellence - will allow faculty, researchers, students, and affiliated countries to pool their expertise and to collaborate to create supply-chain and logistics innovations with global applications, the MIT center said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Schilling fat? No way, blogger Jim Rice says

Did Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling have a weight problem last year? Former Boston baseball great Jim Rice doesn't think so.

On a new baseball blog sponsored by Sullivan Tire & Auto Service of Norwell, Rice writes of Schilling, "If you see him in the locker room, he's not fat, he just has a bad body."

Rice added of the burly hurler, "I thought Schilling was in fantastic shape."

Sullivan Tire is keen on sports marketing - with Comcast SportsNet, it's sponsoring a competition that lets basketball fans get an opportunity to name the Celtics "sixth star" and get a chance to win C's play-off tickets.

And one of Sullivan Tire's latest sports marketing ventures is Rice's new blog, www.ask14.com, which mixes Rice's baseball commentary with Sullivan Tire online ads. During Rice's career with the Sox from 1974 to 1989, he wore number 14, hence the name of the blog.

Questions, comments, and feedback can be submitted to Rice, who also does baseball commentary for the New England Sports Network, at www.ask14.com, and by visiting the blog, fans can also enter to win a Sullivan Tire gift certificate every week, the company said.

And now let's return to blog musings of Rice on weight: "When you talk about 'shape,' it could mean two different things. Are we talking body wise or baseball shape? If you look at Babe Ruth, he was a heavy guy but he was in 'baseball shape' and didn't have trouble doing his job."

Schilling, as many fans know, has his own blog, www.38pitches.com.

As a big guy with plenty of opinions he can't keep to himself, perhaps Schilling will soon weigh in on Rice's racing lines and body type.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:32 AM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2008

Boston buyout firms sue banks to force $19b Clear Channel deal

Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners have filed lawsuits against six banks to try to force them to finance the $19.5 billion buyout of Clear Channel Communications Inc., a deal that was inked last year but has imploded with the crash of the credit markets.

The lawsuit is a remarkable bookend on a period of loose credit that fueled multibillion-dollar acquisitions in 2006 and early 2007 -- a period that abruptly ended in July. At no time in recent memory have Bain or THL, both Boston-based buyout firms, sued their banking partners over a deal.

In a joint statement, Bain Capital and THL said, "We are disappointed and dismayed that the banks have chosen not to fund the transaction under the terms of the binding commitments they entered into almost a year ago. It seems clear that lenders' remorse set in when credit markets worsened."

The banks, for their part, are trying to save themselves from losses of $3 billion to $4 billion that they would now incur. Under the terms they offered in May, executives involved in the deal said, the banks would immediately lose money in today's market, because the slices of the loans they ordinarily sell off to investors are trading at 75 cents to 80 cents on the dollar.

The banks being sued are Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Wachovia Corp. They had promised to provide $22.1 billion for the $39.20-a-share acquisition of Clear Channel, a San Antonio, Texas, media giant that owns radio and television stations and advertising bill boards. Clear Channel is a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits.

Kevin Landry, a well-known private equity executive and chairman of TA Associates in Boston, said it's no surprise the banks want out. "It's just another way overpriced '07 deal, and anybody in their right mind would try to get out of it."

The banks, as a group, claimed they were still willing to do the deal. In a statement, they said, "The bank group presented the sponsors with credit agreements fully consistent and compliant with the commitment Letter. The Bank Group has been and remains prepared to honor the obligations as set forth in that letter. We believe the suits are without merit and will contest them vigorously."

However, an executive involved in the Clear Channel deal said that in recent days and weeks, the banks have, in fact, back-pedaled on the original deal. They banks wanted to raise the interest rate they were offering, a proposal the private equity firms rejected. And most recently, they inserted what one dealmaker called a "poison" term that would have limited Clear Channel's ability to use its cash flow or revolving credit lines to refinance some older debt on its books.

Those were terms the private equity investors would not accept, the executive said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the pending lawsuit.

The lawsuits were filed in state courts in New York and Bexar County, Texas. The Texas suit alleges that the banks are "refusing to execute necessary documents in an overt effort to 'run out the clock' and cause [their] merger agreement to collapse" and are "fabricating false reasons to refuse to proceed with the transaction." The deadline to complete the deal is June 12.
(By Beth Healy, Globe staff)
A copy of the New York complaint can be viewed here; a copy of the Texas complaint can be viewed here.

Posted by globebusiness at 7:56 PM | Comments (0)

Robot competition is coming to Boston University

Co-founders of Apple Inc. and iRobot Corp. will be among the judges of a student robotics competition called the Boston FIRST, which is scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday at Boston University's Agganis Arena.

The obstacle course that robots designed by student teams must negotiate is shown at right.

Steve Wozniak of Apple fame and Colin Angle of iRobot, the Burlington company that makes reconnaissance robots for the battlefield and vacuuming Roomba robots for the home, will join Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe, now a general partner in the Waltham office of the venture capital firm Polaris Venture Partners, on the panel of judges for this year's event.

The letters that make up FIRST stand for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," a competition founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, creator of the Segway personal transporter.

About 40 regional FIRST competitions are now held around the country, and this is the third year for the Boston FIRST, a spokesman for the Boston competition said.

More than 50 teams from high schools in the region are participating in this year's Boston FIRST.

Their challenge? Design a robot that can race around a large, oval track while moving gigantic balls above and below obstacles along a designated path.

Teams have about six weeks to design such a robot and can spend no more than $3,500 on their project, the Boston FIRST spokesman said.

Typically, teams have corporate sponsors; for example, the Tewksbury Titans, a team from Tewksbury Memorial High School, is sponsored by Waltham defense contractor Raytheon Co., the Boston FIRST spokesman said.

The judges recognize teams for robot design excellence and competitive play, among other categories, but many students can also qualify for college scholarship and win intern opportunities from some of the corporate sponsors.

According to Boston FIRST, there is a rock 'n' roll quality to the event, and to gin up extra energy, the theatrical troupe Blue Man Group has been booked to put on a brief Saturday show.

The event is free and open to the public.

Last year, more than 3,000 people attended the Saturday session of the competition, the Boston FIRST spokesman said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:58 PM | Comments (0)

Workers at National Grid center authorize a strike

Local 369 of the Utility Workers Union of America said 125 workers at a National Grid PLC call center in Northborough have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if a new contract is not agreed to.

The existing contract with National Grid, which supplies gas and electricity to 2.1 million customers in Massachusetts, is set to expire March 31, Local 369 said.

According to the union, the two sides are divided over "stressful and unsafe working conditions," cuts in benefits and wages, and outsourcing.

National Grid spokeswoman Jackie Barry said, "We are in negotiations with the union, and our goal is to successfully reach an agreement that is fair to employees, customers, and the company."

In August, National Grid, a British energy giant, completed a $7.3 billion acquisition of KeySpan Corp., the Brooklyn company that supplied gas to many Massachusetts customers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)

Shareholders OK Thomson acquisition of Reuters

Shareholders of Thomson Corp. and Reuters Group PLC have approved Thomson's $16.3 billion acquisition of the London-based news and information company.

The approval is a key step in creating an enormous supplier of financial news and information. When the deal was first disclosed last year, Thomson's head count in its Boston operations was 900 people.

Thomson says its shareholders approved the deal today in a meeting in Toronto. It says Reuters shareholders approved the deal during a meeting in London.

The acquisition has already been approved by the US Department of Justice as well as regulatory officials in Europe and Canada, where Thomson is based.

The deal must also be approved by courts in Canada and the United Kingdom before it closes in April.

The valuation is based on share prices. Thomson shares fell 68 cents to 34.88 in trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange; Reuters U.S. shares fell 40 cents to $72.01 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:26 PM | Comments (0)

NASA extends Raytheon contract for astronaut training

Raytheon Co. of Waltham said today it has received a $56.9 million contract extension to support astronaut training for NASA.

The contract is for work at the Johnson Space Center and the Sonny Carter Training Facility, both in Houston, where astronauts train for space missions, in some cases by doing underwater simulations of tasks that will be performed in zero-gravity or partial-gravity situations on the space shuttle or during space walks.

The contract extension for the defense contractor, which begins April 1 and ends Sept. 30, 2010, includes a one-year pre-priced option that could increase the contract value to $78.3 million, Raytheon said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Repligen starts trials on pancreas test

Waltham biotechnology company Repligen Corp. said it has started a Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate an imaging agent that would help MRI tests better detect abnormalities in the ducts of the pancreas.

The imaging drug is called RG1068, a designation for synthetic human secretin.

Repligen noted that about 150,000 pancreatic MRI's are conducted in the United States each year.

In November, the company reported positive results from a midstage clinical trial for another of its drug candidates, this one a potential treatment for bipolar disorder.

In September, New York drug maker ImClone Systems Inc. agreed to pay Repligen and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology $65 million to settle claims that ImClone had infringed on a patent that MIT licenses to Repligen; the suit involved an ImClone cancer treatment called Erbitux.

When not developing drug candidates in its pipeline, Repligen makes money by providing recombinant Protein A, which other pharmaceutical companies use to produce a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

Income up 6 percent in Mass. last year

Average per person incomes in Massachusetts rose 6 percent in 2007, the eighth fastest rate of growth in the nation, the Commerce Department reported today. Nationally, per capita income rose 5.2 percent.

The state's per person, or per capita, income increased to $49,082 from $46,299 in 2006. Massachusetts has the third highest per capita income in the nation, 27 percent above the national average of $38,611. Connecticut ranks first, at $54,117, followed by New Jersey at $49,194. Lousiana had the fastest income growth, 9.2 percent, followed by New York, 7.6 percent; Mississippi, 6.7 percent; and Connecticut, 6.6 percent. (A spreadsheet with state-by-state breakdowns can be viewed here.)

The Commerce Department said professional services, healthcare, and finance contributed the most to income growth over the past year. All are major employment sectors in Massachusetts.

(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:27 AM | Comments (0)

Chamber, Ad Club highlight diversity achievements

Paul Francisco, an executive with the staffing company Veritude, and Massachusetts General Hospital will be among those honored today with Arnold Z. Rosoff Awards for their work to promote diversity.

Deloitte LLP and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority will also be honored at a luncheon ceremony at Fairmont Copley Plaza.

The awards are presented by Boston's Ad Club and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

The awards are named after Arnold Z. Rosoff, founder of Boston ad agency Arnold Worldwide and an advocate for diversity in the workplace.

A former football star at Boston University and later a player with the New England Patriots, Francisco is also the executive vice president of the Boston chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, said the chamber, which added that Francisco maintains "a special focus on developing, mentoring, and supporting youth, the underprivileged, and minority populations."

Francisco joined Veritude, a subsidiary of Boston mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, in 2005 and previously held positions at Bank of America Corp. and Gillette Co.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:11 AM | Comments (0)

PerkinElmer opens facility in Singapore

PerkinElmer Inc. today marked the opening of a new research and manufacturing facility in Singapore.

The Waltham company supplies life sciences firms and research laboratories with services and equipment; it also makes products to help screen newborns for diseases.

PerkinElmer said its "center for excellence" in Singapore will focus on the development of new precision instrumentation and chemistries for such applications as drug discovery and development, environmental monitoring, food safety, and sustainable energy.

The company reported 2007 revenues of $1.8 billion and has a global work force of 9,100 employees.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:55 AM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2008

South Shore Plaza seeks to make room for Nordstrom

South Shore Plaza in Braintree, one of the largest malls in New England, is looking to get a bit bigger.

South Shore Plaza's owner, Simon Property Group Inc. of Indiana, said it will present mall expansion plans to the Braintree planning officials tonight.

Simon Property's blueprint calls for adding about 123,000 square feet of retail space at the back of a mall that currently has about 1.5 million square feet of space, room for 180 stores, and anchor tenants Lord & Taylor, Macy's, and Sears.

Plans also call for demolishing and rebuilding about 250,000 square feet of space that was once occupied by a Macy's department store, Simon Property said.

It has been previously announced that Nordstrom Inc., the Seattle-based luxury department store chain, plans to build a store at South Shore Plaza, with an expected opening in the spring of 2010.

After Macy's corporate parent bought Filene's corporate parent in 2005, the Filene's closed, and the Macy's at South Shore Plaza relocated to the space previously occupied by Filene's. The former Macy's space has since remained vacant, a mall spokeswoman said.

The plan is for the Nordstrom to attach to the new space that Simon Property is seeking Braintree approvals for. Simon Property is hoping to begin construction this summer and complete the expansion by the spring of 2009.

The new space is expected to accommodate as-yet unnamed "upscale retail shops," Simon Property said.

When Nordstrom opens in 2010, it is expected that South Shore Plaza will have 1.62 million square feet of space.

Simon Property owns several malls in Eastern Massachusetts, including the Northshore Mall in Peabody and the Burlington Mall.

A Nordstrom store is scheduled to have its grand opening at the Burlington Mall on Friday.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:40 PM | Comments (0)

A first look at Seaport Square

The developers of the proposed Seaport Square project will give the public a first look at their plans for the South Boston Waterfront tonight.

Seaport Square is proposed as a massive 20-block, 20-building development with 2.65 million square feet of residential space, 1.5 million square feet of offices, 1.25 million square feet of retail stores and restaurants, a half-million square feet of hotels, and 600,000 square feet of cultural, arts, and educational use, including a proposed private Nations Academy School.

It would include two parks and may involve the relocation of the Barking Crab, a well-known seafood restaurant on the Fort Point Channel adjacent to Seaport Square, and St. Vincent de Paul Parish's Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel.

The developers are Gale International, run by John B. Hynes III of Boston, and the financial firm Morgan Stanley. Gale also is developing the old Filene's building in Downtown Crossing and New Songdo City in South Korea, a new, $25 billion community.

Gale has filed a notice of intent of its plans with the city, but has not filed a formal proposal. It is showing it to community groups and the public to gauge reaction to its concepts before finalizing the details.

The meeting will be held tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the J. Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse on Fan Pier in South Boston.
(By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:20 PM | Comments (0)

Consumer group to buy downtown office space

The National Consumer Law Center, a Boston-based advocacy group that helps low-income consumers nationwide, plans to buy a commercial condominium in Boston's Downtown Crossing to serve as its permanent headquarters.

The center said it has rented space in various Boston buildings since its founding in 1970.

The purchase of a commercial condo at Winthrop Square is partly made possible by the actions of the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, which has issued $6.4 million in tax exempt bonds for the center.

The center will use proceeds from the bonds, which were purchased by Boston Private Bank & Trust Co., to buy and renovate space for its headquarters, MassDevelopment said.

The consumer law center expects to complete the relocation to its new home by the summer.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Realtors data confirms February price drop

The number of Massachusetts single-family homes sold in February was 1,857, down 22.9 percent from sales in February 2007, and the median selling price fell 4.6 percent to $310,000 last month, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported today.

In February, 827 condos were sold in the Bay State, down 34.6 percent from the same month a year ago, said the association, which added that the median selling price for a Massachusetts condo in February was $252,000, down 6.7 percent.

The association's number showed a similar pattern to numbers out yesterday from the Warren Group, a Boston publisher of New England real estate data.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors reports only sales that involve a real estate agent so its data sample is smaller than that of the Warren Group's.

February numbers for both Massachusetts and the nation reflected a slight improvement over January numbers, offering some hope that housing sales may be nearing a bottom.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Survey says: Red Sox fever is rampant

Red Sox fans may be even more rabid than feared, according to a new survey from Bank of America Corp. A team tattoo? Bring it on. Letting junior play hooky to catch the Fenway home opener? No problem.

According the survey, 35 percent of locals would blow off an important business meeting to attend the first baseball game of the season at Fenway Park; by comparison, only 20 percent of baseball fans nationwide share such a cavalier disregard for job obligations, and only 23 percent of Yankee fans would cancel a business meeting for a chance take in the first home game at Yankee Stadium, the bank said.

What's more, 59 percent of Sox fans would allow their child to skip school for an opening day game, and nearly 20 percent of Sox fans would consider sporting a Sox-themed tattoo, the survey found.

In New York, 50 percent of Yankee fans said the first home game of the season was an acceptable excuse for skipping school.

The bank commissioned the survey, which contacted about 1,400 fans nationwide, including 300 in the Boston area, in part to highlight a program called MLB Banking, which allows baseball fans across the country to show their loyalty by opting for team-specifc credit and debit cards and checking accounts, the bank said.

Red Sox-themed credit cards have been available from the bank for a few years, but now the bank is also making available a bundled product offering so customers can get team-themed credit cards, debit cards, and personal checks for the Major League Baseball team of their choosing. The availability of team-themed debit cards is new, and for the first time, the bank is offering this product suite for all 30 Major League Baseball teams.

Bank of America launched similar programs with NASCAR and the National Football League last year, noted bank spokesman Joe Goode, and those programs, sometimes referred to as affinity banking programs, have big appeal for consumers.

Based on last year's results, affinity banking is trending toward contributing 10 percent of year-to-year deposit growth for Bank of America, Goode said.

Customers who sign up for the MLB Banking program can qualify for special rewards and be eligible to win prizes such as special on-field access during warm-ups before a game or tickets to the All-Star game.

Bank of America has sponsor relationships of some kind with 10 Major League clubs, and it is the official bank of the Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the San Francisco Giants, among others, Goode said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Akamai shares slip on future tax-burden concerns

Shares of Akamai Technologies Inc. were down slightly this morning, as an analyst said the provider of online media technology is likely to face a significant tax burden starting in 2011.

Shares of Cambridge-based Akamai were down 39 cents at $32.48 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Akamai pays minimal taxes now because of past operating losses and a related deferred tax asset of $349 million.

According to Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert, Akamai should move from a cash tax rate of about 2 percent now to a blended rate of 33 percent for federal, state and foreign taxes in 2011. She estimates the increase will reduce Akamai's earnings per share by about 84 cents.

Egbert rates Akamai at "Hold."

Yesterday, Akamai shares rose along with the broader market as a Pacific Crest analyst reiterated an "Outperform" rating, predicting the company will meet or exceed first-quarter profit estimates. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

Zipcar heats up car wars in Philly

The car-share competition is heating up in Philadelphia.

Zipcar Inc. is making a drive to grab Philadelphia's government, business, and residential Web-based car-share market.

Zipcar, a Cambridge-based car sharing service that allows its customer to rent vehicles by the hour, bought Seattle-based Flexcar last fall and plans to convert its 100-vehicle fleet to the Zipcar brand today.

Robert Fox, the head of Philadelphia's Office of Fleet Management, says Zipcar is bidding to replace local not-for-profit PhillyCarShare Inc. as the city government's car-share supplier.

Zipcar is offering promotional pricing that includes free gas, mileage and insurance.

Deputy executive director Clayton Lane says PhillyCarShare is also expanding to Wilmington, Del., and is making deals with car-sharing groups in Chicago, San Francisco and other big cities. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)

Casual Male 4th-quarter earnings down 98 percent

Canton retailer Casual Male Retail Group Inc. said today that its fourth quarter profit dropped 98 percent due to falling customer traffic and hefty write-downs for inventory adjustments.

For the quarter ended Feb. 2, net income fell to $638,000, or 2 cents per share, from $38.7 million, or 83 cents per share in the prior year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of 15 cents per share.

Revenue fell 8 percent to $133.9 million from $144.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. Analysts predicted revenue of $137.3 million.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, fell 0.3 percent for the quarter. Same-store sales is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

The company said sales in the year-ago quarter were helped by an extra selling week in the year.

Customer traffic also fell nearly 8 percent. Casual Male said promotional discounts meant to minimize excess seasonal inventory also hurt margins and profit.

The company added it cleared out Rochester Big & Tall merchandise and made other inventory adjustments, which resulted in write-downs of about 8 cents per share. The year-ago quarter included a tax benefit of $30.5 million or 64 cents per share.

For the year, profit dropped 99 percent to $414,000, or 1 cent per share, from $42.6 million, or 98 cents per share in the prior year.

Revenue fell less than 1 percent to $464.1 million from $465.4 million in 2006.

Casual Male Retail Group Inc. also said today that its fiscal 2008 earnings per share would be in the range expected by Wall Street analysts.

Casual Male expects earnings between 25 cents and 30 cents per share for the year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast profit between 16 cents and 40 cents per share, with a mean of 28 cents per share.

The retailer predicted sales of $470 million to $480 million. Analysts anticipate revenue of $486.9 million.

The company said same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, will be flat to down 2 percent.

Most retailers have struggled to keep same-store sales growing as consumers cut back on discretionary spending to deal with high gas and food prices and the weak housing market. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:57 AM | Comments (0)

Fans watch Sox at Fenway's State Street Pavilion

Dice-K may have struggled early in Tokyo, but that hardly dampened the zeal of 300 people who came to the State Street Pavilion in an empty Fenway Park this morning to watch the game on big screen TVs.

The host of this baseball-and-breakfast event was State Street Corp., the big Boston firm that provides financial services to institutional investors.

State Street, which acquired naming rights to the State Street Pavilion two years ago, is also a major sponsor of the Red Sox road trip to Japan - indeed chief executive Ron Logue (left) is in Tokyo - while back at Fenway Park, State Street guests this morning were lining up to get autographs from such baseball legends as Luis Tiant (right) and Jim Lonborg, along with their bacon and eggs from the buffet spread.

State Street executives said that the company's baseball sponsorships have helped its growing business in Asia.

"It has opened some doors," vice chairman Jay Hooley said.

In all, foreign business now accounts for 43 percent of State Street revenues, he noted, and the company employs about 400 professionals in Japan.

Groups that State Street invited to Fenway this morning included representatives from the Asian American Civil Association, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, and North Quincy High School.

They couldn't have been too thrilled to see the Sox opponent, the Oakland A's, jump out to an early 2-0 lead, but going into the fourth inning, the atmosphere at the State Street Pavilion remained upbeat and noisy.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:43 AM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2008

Comcast rolls out phone service for small business

Comcast Corp., the state's largest cable provider, said it would offer voice services to businesses, adding new competition to the business telecommunications landscape.

Comcast disclosed in January that it had become the fourth-largest residential phone provider in the nation, with its digital voice offering for residential customers. Now, the company is targeting small- and medium-sized businesses. The company will offer a "Triple Play" for businesses, similar to the bundle of phone, high-speed Internet, and television that they offer to residential customers.

"Comcast already delivers reliable voice service to thousands of business owners where they live," Ed Gallagher, vice president and general manager of business services for Comcast's NorthCentral Division in a statement. "These business owners now have the option of choosing Comcast for all of their communication needs where they work."
(By Carolyn Johnson, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 4:11 PM | Comments (0)

Globe's Howe to join New England Cable News

Peter J. Howe, who has written more than 6,000 stories in his 22 years at The Boston Globe, will become a business reporter for the New England Cable News network next month, NECN said today.

Howe will replace Mont Fennel, NECN's business reporter for the past 16 years; Fennel is joining DigiNovations Inc., a Concord firm specializing in video production and Internet TV, NECN said.

At the Globe, the 42-year-old Howe has covered such beats as transportation, energy, airlines, travel and tourism, telecommunications, and technology.

For the last four years, he also has been editor or co-editor of the Globe 100, an annual special section that focuses on the top-performing publicly traded companies in Massachusetts.

Howe's work has won awards from the Associated Press and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:22 PM | Comments (0)

Boston Beer chairman exercises stock options

The chairman of Boston Beer Co., brewer of the Sam Adams beers, exercised options for 10,000 shares of common stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

In two Form 4 documents filed Friday with the SEC, C. James Koch reported he exercised the options Thursday for $14.47 to $20.98 apiece and then sold all 10,000 shares on the same day for $46.45 to $48.32 apiece.

Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.

Boston Beer is based in Boston.

In mid afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, company shares were trading at $49.25. (AP)

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

For 2008, free furniture requires a sweep

A display at a Jordan's Furniture store in Reading advertising last year's promotion. (Globe staff file photo/Wendy Maeda)

Jordan's Furniture is betting again on a Red Sox win, this time a sweep of the World Series. Jordan's chief executive Eliot Tatelman revealed today at Fenway Park that if the Boston Red Sox sweep the 2008 World Series by winning the first four games, customers who make a purchase between March 25 and April 27 will receive sofas, sectionals, dining room tables, beds, mattresses, and rugs for free as part of its new "Monster Sweep" promotion.

The promotion is more stingy than last year's offer, when Jordan's, the official furniture store of the Boston Red Sox, offered free furniture if the hometown team simply won the World Series. Like last year, Jordan’s has taken out an insurance policy for Monster Sweep 2008, with the anticipation of an even bigger response than last year, Tatelman said.

When the Boston Red Sox won the 2007 World Series, more than 24,000 customers of Jordan’s Furniture received free furniture following to the company’s “Monster Deal” promotion. The Red Sox open their season against the Oakland A's tomorrow morning in Tokyo.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. gas prices drop for the first time in six weeks

Gas prices in Massachusetts are down a penny, for the first decline in six weeks.

A weekly survey by AAA Southern New England found a gallon of self-serve regular averaging $3.12 Monday, down one cent from the same time last week.

The auto club says Massachusetts is 14 cents below the national average price of $3.26 per gallon. According to the Lundberg Survey of about 7,000 gas stations, prices nationally rose 6.9 cents, to $3.26 a gallon for self-serve regular.

Prices in Massachusetts remain well above what they were a year ago, when a gallon averaged $2.55 in the state. (AP and Reuters)

Posted by globebusiness at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

Home prices fall sharply in Mass., US

Sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts fell 19 percent in February compared to the same month last year, and prices fell 9 percent, Banker & Tradesman reported this morning. The median sales price of a single-family home was $301,000.

A total of 2,123 single-family homes sold in February, compared with 2,628 last year. It is the sixth straight monthly sales decline sales, dating to August.

Banker & Tradesman, a Warren Group publication, said condo sales fell 25 percent, and condo prices fell almost 7 percent. The median price was $256,500.

Sales of existing homes nationwide fell 24 percent in February compared to the same month last year, the National Association of Realtors said. The nicer way of looking at the numbers, highlighted by the NAR press release, is that the number of sales increased 2.9 percent over January. Most analysts, however, believe the more telling comparison is with sales volume in the same month in previous years. By that standard, this was the worst February since 1998. The median price nationally for a single-family home was $195,900.
(By Binyamin Appelbaum, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

Raytheon unveils device to blast through concrete

Waltham defense contractor Raytheon Co. has unveiled the prototype of a portable device that firefighters and search teams can use to quickly pulverize concrete walls as they look to rescue people trapped in rubble by disasters.

During a recent demonstration, the device smashed through a concrete barrier in 13 minutes, compared with the 29 minutes it took for conventional methods to achieve similar results, Raytheon said.

Raytheon's 100-pound device is called the Controlled Impact Rescue Tool, or CIRT, and its rapid-breaching technology can be operated by two people.

Conventional methods to breach concrete often involve power-saws, drills, and small jack-hammers, which in many cases are powered by electricity, a Raytheon spokesman said. That means rescuers have to drag electrical cords behind them.

With CIRT, operators carry blank ammunition cartridges that when fired, cause a specially designed impact head to generate pulverizing shock waves to create a hole large enough for a victim to escape from, a Raytheon spokesman said.

Not only is CIRT faster and more flexible than conventional methods for breaching concrete, it also takes less of a physical toll on its operators, the spokesman said.

The device was developed under a program of the Department of Homeland Security. Much of the work for the program was done at a Raytheon facility in Virginia.

The company has not yet determined a price tag for the device, a Raytheon spokesman said.

Potential customers for CIRT include fire departments, local and federal rescue agencies, and the military services.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

VMware plans to invest $100 million in India by 2010

VMware Inc., the virtualization software company controlled by Hopkinton data-storage giant EMC Corp., said today that it will invest $100 million in the next two years to expand its research and development operations in India.

VMware plans to double its development work force in the country to 1,000 people and open a facility in Bangalore.

VMware makes virtualization software, which allows a computer to act like multiple machines, each with its own operating system and software. It helps companies spend less on equipment and energy in their data centers.

The company has more than 300 customers in the country and offices in five cities. Its total work force in India is nearly 700 people, about 500 of whom are developers.

California-based VMware's shares rose $1.13, or 2.5 percent, to $46.25 in premarket trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

Fewer jobs but higher pay for college grads, Monster says

There's good news and bad news on the job front for this year's crop of college graduates, according to an survey of employers and students by MonsterTRAK, the student division of the job search and recruiting firm Monster.com.

First, the bad news: With the economy slumping, only 59 percent of employers surveyed plan to hire 2008 graduates in the spring or summer; that compares with 76 percent of employers last year, MonsterTRAK said.

The good news? Roughly a third of employers with hiring plans said they will increase their starting salaries; the anticipated average starting salary for 2008 graduates is $39,500, up from last year's average of $36,000, MonsterTRAK said.

One survey finding may give parents pause; 48 percent of the students surveyed said they expect to spend some time living with their parents after graduation, MonsterTRAK said, and 43 percent of 2007 graduates are still living with their parents, mostly because of limited financial resources.

Monster, which has much of its operations in Maynard, is the flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., a New York communications and technology company.

The New York Times Co., the corporate parent of The Boston Globe and Boston.com, has an alliance with Monster to sell help-wanted advertising.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Pro-Pharmaceuticals gets OK for breast cancer test

Pro-Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Newton said today that a regimen that includes its lead product Davanat has been approved to treat a breast cancer patient.

Davanat is designed for use in combination with multiple chemotherapy drugs; according to Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Davanat can extend survival in cancer patients and reduce side effects of chemotherapies and biologics.

Pro-Pharmaceuticals said today that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted an investigational new drug application for use of Davanat in combination with other drugs to treat a breast-cancer patient.

The company cited American Cancer Society estimates that 180,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United State this year and that breast cancer annually kills about 45,000 Americans.

Davanat is also in clinical trials for its use in first-line treatments of colorectal and biliary cancer patients.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)

Nuance and Samsung sign licensing agreement

Nuance Communications Inc., a Burlington company that makes speech and imaging software, said today that Samsung Electronics signed a global licensing agreement for Nuance Mobile applications.

The agreement includes various Nuance speech-based services and interfaces like text message read-out.

In the last several years, Samsung has incorporated Nuance products on more than 160 Samsung models, Nuance said. (AP)

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

March 21, 2008

Coakley reissues warning to Hannaford customers

Attorney General Martha Coakley today upgraded her warning to consumers who recently have shopped at Hannaford Bros. supermarkets, following the Maine company's disclosure of a data breach that potentially compromised millions of payment card numbers.

She urged customers to contact their banks if they shopped at a Hannaford store and paid with plastic between Dec. 7 to March 10, the period the company believes its data was vulnerable. Those people, she said in a statement from her office, "should assume that their credit or debit card numbers have been compromised.''

Hannaford hasn't given many details of the breach, but has said it doesn't believe names or addresses were compromised as part of the intrusion. That could make shoppers identities less vulnerable to identity theft. But Hannaford cannot confirm whether or not a particular card number was compromised, which could leave it vulnerable to misuse.

Coakley said she is urging store customers from the four-month period to take several steps. First, they should contact the fraud department of their bank or credit-card issuer, who should monitor the account for any suspicious activity.

Also, they should review their own recent and current card and bank account statements to check for unauthorized purchases. People who find unauthorized use use should consider cancelling the account or requesting a new payment card, she said.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)

New Balance triples ad spending, launches new campaign

New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. of Boston is launching a new ad campaign with the theme of "LOVE/hate. this is the new balance."

The campaign is part of a larger plan to nearly double its athletic shoe and apparel sales, in part by tripling the company's spending on marketing.

A TV ad set to debut Thursday during the NCAA college basketball tournament shows a young man walking by a house where a boisterous party is in progress; the young man, a basketball player, is tempted to join the party but takes a pass so he can stick to a training regimen that includes lots of running.

"What has running given you?" a voice-over asks, then answers, "An extra half step in overtime."

The sub-text of the ad is that running makes someone a better athlete, yet many young athletes have a love-hate relationship with running.

One point of the ad campaign, which was created by the company's new ad agency BBDO New York, is to show that New Balance is dedicated to reducing the hate and growing the love of running.

The new campaign launches as New Balance seeks to attain the long-term goal of ringing up $3 billion in global sales by 2012; global sales were $1.63 billion in 2007, up from $1.55 billion in 2006 and $1.54 billion in 2005, a New Balance spokeswoman said.

If New Balance is to break out of its recent pattern of modest sales gains and jump-start more explosive growth, it needs to reach beyond its loyal customer base of serious runners over 30 who are more focused on an athletic shoe's functionality than its fashion appeal.

The new multimedia ad campaign, which also includes print and online ads, looks to broaden New Balance's appeal beyond this group of core customers, and it generally aims at consumers between 18 and 29 who are more casual about jogging than a dedicated runner.

This younger group tends to see running as a means to an end, the end being improved performance in specific sports such as basketball or football.

New Balance declined to disclose the size of its budget for the love-hate campaign.

Advertising Age, in a story this morning, cited an estimate by TNS Media Intelligence that pegged New Balance's 2007 spending on US advertising media at just under $20 million.

Achieving $3 billion in global sales within the next few years is an ambitious goal, and the athletic-shoe category's dominant player, Nike Inc. of Oregon, is showing few signs of slowing down.

"Nike just had a blockbuster quarter," said Bob McGee, editor of Sporting Goods Intelligence, a newsletter that follows the industry.

This week, McGee reported that New Balance shifted responsibilities for executive vice presidents Paul Heffernan and Joe Preston to "bring a stronger global focus to the brand's product and marketing development as the company works toward its global sales objective of $3 billion by 2012."

Earlier this month, Reebok International Ltd. of Canton, a unit of Adidas Group, said it was naming Uli Becker, its chief marketing officer, as its president and chief executive.

Becker's challenge? Refocus Reebok's scattered brand identity and boost stalled sales.

When it comes to advertising, Nike and Reebok have often used high-profile athletes such as Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson to push their products.

New Balance, which once emphasized a philosophy of "Endorsed by no one," doesn't use high-profile athletes in its advertising.

Themes for previous New Balance ad campaigns include "For love or money?", "N is for fit ... N is for performance," and "Achieve New Balance."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:34 PM | Comments (0)

Mascoma moves to larger space in Boston

Mascoma Corp., a renewable fuels company, signed a five-year lease to move its headquarters from 4,000 square feet of office space near Kendall Square to 22,000 square feet of space at 1380 Soldiers Field Rd. in Boston, Mascoma's broker said.

Mascoma's broker is the local office of Grubb & Ellis Co., a California-based commercial real estate firm.

Mascoma is one of several companies seeking to find a commercially feasible way to produce large-scale amounts of ethanol from something besides ears of corn; in Mascoma's case, it is making ethanol from such ingredients as wood chips and switch grass.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:25 PM | Comments (0)

April Fool's shouldn't be another day at "The Office"

Advice to workplace drudges thinking about playing an April Fool's Day prank on a Michael Scott-style boss at the office: Leave those whoopee cushions at home.

Most pranks are better suited to fictional workplaces such as the one portrayed in "The Office," the NBC sitcom starring Steve Carell in the demanding role of a pompous and deluded boss named Michael Scott.

In the real world, April Fool's Day pranks in the work place may be "no joking matter," reports the Creative Group of California, a staffing service.

The group commissioned a national survey that conducted 250 telephone interviews with advertising and marketing executives around the country to determine the appropriateness of April Fool's Day shenanigans.

In general, advertising and marketing agencies are pretty liberal when it comes to workplace ambiance, the theory being that a Dilbert-style cubicle culture can stifle creativity.

Nevertheless, many ad and marketing execs take a dim view of April Fool's Day pranks in the work place, with 71 percent of marketing executives saying that April Fool's Day jokes in the office are either "not very appropriate" or "not at all appropriate," said the Creative Group, a unit of Robert Half International Inc., a California company that provides staffing and risk-consulting services.

Ad executives are more laid back than their marketing counterparts when quizzed on the subject of whoopee cushions and water balloons; 51 percent said that April's Day Fools jokes are either "very appropriate" or "somewhat appropriate," the survey found.

When it comes to April Fool's Day, Creative Group executive director Megan Slabinski recommends using good judgment.

Sound advice, that. But is she unclear on the concept? Isn't the whole idea of April Fool's about suspending good judgment for one day a year?
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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

Foxborough apartments sold for $7m

Oak Ridge Apartments Limited Partnership sold a seven-building apartment complex in Foxborough for $7.2 million to Universal Realty Corp., a broker involved in the transaction said.

The broker is NAI Hunneman, Boston-based real estate services firm.

Hamilton Square was built in 1965 and has 61 apartments, said NAI Hunneman, which added that the new owner plans to hold the property as rental apartments until the condo market recovers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)

3Com seeks $66m breakup fee from failed Bain deal

3Com Corp. said that it intends to pursue a $66 million break-up fee after Bain Capital Partners LLC said yesterday that it has decided to give up on a deal to take 3Com private.

According to 3Com, a Marlborough networking company, the reasons that Bain cited yesterday for backing off the deal are "invalid" and "not grounds for termination."

3Com said it intends to move ahead with a shareholders meeting scheduled for this morning to enable its shareholder's to vote on the existing merger agreement.

Bain had planned to pay $2.2 billion to buy 3Com with the help of Huawei Technologies, a Chinese company with ties to the Chinese military.

Proposed in September, the deal would have given Huawei a 16 percent stake in 3Com, but the federal government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States expressed concerns that the transaction could harm US national security.

"Bain Capital made several alternative proposals to 3Com that we believe could have satisfied the concerns raised" by the committee, Bain said in a statement yesterday. "We regret that we were unable to agree upon an alternative transaction."

3Com said today it will continue to fulfill its obligations under the terms of the existing merger agreement while it pursues a $66 million termination fee payable under the terms of the agreement.

For previous Globe coverage, click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 7:38 AM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

Construction firm ordered to pay penalties

A Wayland man and the construction company he runs have been ordered to pay nearly $300,000 for violating wage requirements and other labor laws.

Forty-three-year-old Laurence Maloney and Wayland-based Shannon Construction Corp. pleaded guilty today in Boston Municipal Court.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley says a nearly yearlong state investigation found violations of laws covering prevailing wages, overtime, payroll records and workmen's compensation.

In addition to the nearly $300,000 in fines and restitution, Maloney and Shannon Construction are barred for three years from bidding or working on future public construction projects. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:44 PM | Comments (0)

Epix shares plunge to all-time low

Epix Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares have shed about half their value and are trading at all-time lows after the company stopped development of an experimental depression treatment.

The Lexington company said its PRX-00023 was not effective in a midstage trial against clinical depression. In September, tests showed the drug was no better than a placebo at treating anxiety.

The stock plunged $1.57, or 51 percent, to $1.51 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, bottoming at $1.48.

Epix shares began trading in March 1997, and had ranged between $2.63 and $7.28 over the past year.

Cowen and Co. analyst Ian Sanderson said the previous trial gave investors reason to hope that PRX-00023 would work as a depression treatment, which built up expectations. (AP)

Posted by globebusiness at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)

Bain terminates 3Com deal

Boston investment firm Bain Capital Partners LLC said it advised 3Com Corp. that it is terminating its merger agreement with the Marlborough-based maker of computer networking equipment.

Bain said it made the decision because the US government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States said it intended to take action to prohibit the transaction.

Bain had planned to pay $2.2 billion to buy 3Com with the help of Huawei Technologies, a Chinese company with ties to the Chinese military.

Proposed in September, the deal would have taken 3Com private and given Huawei a 16 percent stake in 3Com, but the deal stalled because it failed to satisfy the Committee on Foreign Investment that the transaction wouldn't harm US national security.

"Bain Capital made several alternative proposals to 3Com that we believe could have satisfied the concerns raised by CFIUS," Bain said in a statement today that referred to the committee by its initials. "We regret that we were unable to agree upon an alternative transaction."

3Com had scheduled a shareholder vote on the proposed transaction for tomorrow.

For previous Globe coverage, click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Posted by globebusiness at 1:57 PM | Comments (0)

Board approves increase in state's health care costs

The board that oversees the state's landmark health care law has voted to approve increases in premiums and co-payments for people enrolled in the subsidized health insurance plan.

About half the 177,000 people enrolled will have to pay a bit more for health care under the increases approved by the Health Care Connector board.

For example, people who are just above the federal poverty level will have to pay $18 co-payments instead of $10 for a visit to a specialist.

The Connector Board also approved contracts with four providers that include an increase in payments of 12.1 percent over last year. That was lower than the original 15.4 percent increase the health care providers had requested.

For previous Globe coverage, click here. (AP)

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

Copley Place to grow; 47-story tower planned over Neiman Marcus

Rendering by Elkus|Manfredi Architects

Copley Place owner Simon Prop