Standard & Poor’s plans to rate the corporate credit and debt of Hillenbrand Industries Inc. at a BBB- rating instead of its current A- after the Batesville company spins off its Batesville Casket Co. business on March 24. Hillenbrand, which focuses on hospital beds and other health care equipment, is receiving the downgrade because the […]
A.M. Best Co. lowered its outlook on WellPoint Inc.’s financial strength, citing concerns about the company’s growth potential. Best, the nation’s most-influential insurance ratings agency, maintained WellPoint’s A grade, which means it is in excellent position to pay future medical claims. But Best lowered its outlook on the Indianapolis-based health insurer from positive to stable. […]
Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group plans to construct the third-tallest building in Boston. The 47-story residential tower in Copley Place will be overshadowed only by the 52-story Prudential Tower and the 60-story John Hancock Tower, according to The Boston Globe. The first four floors of the luxury condominium tower will comprise retail space. Simon also is […]
A restructuring announced last year will result in 75 to 100 workers being laid off from Kimball International Inc.’s headquarters in the southern Indiana city of Jasper. Most of the affected workers will be white-collar, according to the Evansville Courier & Press. About 150 of the furniture and electronics maker’s 4,000 positions are expected to […]
Locally based Noble Roman’s Inc. has hired a financial adviser to help it explore strategic alternatives, a move that often opens the door to a company’s sale. The struggling franchise pizza chain, which has about 1,000 locations across the United States, said it has hired Newport Beach, Calif.-based Roth Capital Partners to evaluate “various strategies […]
Bloomington medical device maker Cook Medical has won a lawsuit brought by Edwards Lifesciences Corp. over patents on Cook’s devices for fixing aneurysms. Edwards, based in Irvine, Calif., claimed four of Cook’s Zenith endovascular stent-grafts infringed its patent. The stents are used to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms and thoracic aortic aneurysms.
The psychiatric unit of Home Hospital in Lafayette is expected to reopen in the next week after being closed for the past 14 months, according to the Journal & Courier of Lafayette. Home Hospital, which is operated by Lafayette-based St. Elizabeth Regional Health, closed in January 2007 when three psychiatrists stopped providing inpatient services at […]
Delta Faucet Co. has cut 95 blue-collar workers at its plant in Greensburg, leaving about 662 employees. The Carmel-based company blamed ongoing sluggishness in the housing market, according to the Greensburg Daily News. Earlier layoffs at the plant have claimed about 100 workers, and about 30 jobs at the Camel offices. Delta is owned by […]
Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy LLC is eyeing as many as 15,000 acres east of Kokomo on which to build wind generators, according to the Kokomo Tribune. The area could receive 100 generators, which could turn out 200 megawatts, enough to power about 66,000 houses. The area has plenty of open land, wind and transmission lines. […]
Rather than seeing the General Electric Co. refrigerator plant in Bloomington close, the Monroe County Economic Development Commission plans to study whether it would make sense for the employees to buy and operate the site. About 900 workers will lose their jobs next year if GE goes ahead with the plan it announced in January. […]
Two law firms have sued WellPoint Inc., claiming the company and its officers misled investors for weeks before the company lowered its earnings estimates this month. The lawsuits claim WellPoint officers knew their medical costs were rising and their customer rolls were growing more slowly than predicted, but did not tell investors. After WellPoint disclosed […]
About 3,500 retired employees of J.I. Case Co. – which had a plant in Terre Haute until 1987 – and surviving spouses of retirees have won a lawsuit that provides them with health care benefits for life. The company, now called CNH American and based in Pennsylvania, also must reimburse those covered by the lawsuit […]
Evansville-based Mead Johnson Nutritionals could get a new owner if parent Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. succeeds in finding a buyer. The Financial Times reported Sunday that Bristol-Myers is “quietly sounding out potential bidders” for the baby formula maker. Mead Johnson’s value is estimated at $7 billion to $9 billion. Quoting unnamed sources familiar with the discussions, […]
Indiana Business Bancorp, the Indianapolis-based parent of Indiana Business Bank, reported $14,159 in profit for 2007. That compares with a $675,954 loss of a year earlier. Growth in loan and investment portfolios pushed net interest income up 29 percent, to $2.6 million. Service charges and other fee income increased nearly three-fold, to $180,289. The bank, […]
Pending house sales in the Indianapolis area increased in February for the first time since April 2007, prompting one expert to say the soggy market might be finding a bottom. The sales, which have been accepted but not closed, increased to 2,132 from 2,113 a year earlier, according to F.C. Tucker Co., which uses data […]
Duke Realty Corp. Chief Financial Officer Matthew Cohoat has resigned. Cohoat, 48, wanted to “reduce his travel schedule and spend more time with his family,” the Indianapolis-based real estate company announced today. He will remain to help with the transition. A replacement wasn’t named. Cohoat held the post since 2004. He also is on boards […]
A tech park in downtown Bloomington that has been slow to land tenants since receiving state certification in 2005 may have a harder time filling up now that another tech park is on the drawing board for a nearby site, according to The Herald-Times of Bloomington. Indiana University is considering opening a certified tech park […]
Pilkington North America Inc. has temporarily laid off 250 workers at its Shelbyville plant as General Motors Corp. slows production due to a strike at another one of its suppliers, Detroit-based American Axle and Manufacturing Inc. The Shelbyville glass-making plant, which employs 400, might shut down through April 1, according to the Shelbyville News. Pilkington […]
Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama plans to speak at a town hall meeting Saturday at the Plainfield High School gymnasium, the campaign said today. Tickets for the 12:30 p.m. event are all taken.
About 26 of the 700 workers at Ryobi Die Casting Inc. in Shelbyville have taken voluntary layoffs due to the ripple effect of the two-week American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. strike. The plant machines parts for General Motors Corp. GM has slowed production and shut down plants as inventories of parts supplied by Detroit-based […]
