A giant Australian shopping mall company with four Indianapolis properties has put itself up for sale after a buying spree of U.S. malls drove it into financial problems. Centro Properties Group said today it is “evaluating options” to secure its financial viability. The company has a deadline of Feb. 15 to refinance $3.4 billion in […]
The Indianapolis law firm of Bingham McHale has merged with McTurnan & Turner, which specializes in litigation. Both are downtown in Market Tower. Ten attorneys and seven support staff from McTurnan & Turner will join Bingham McHale, the firms announced today. A Bingham McHale spokesman said the merger will add business litigation prowess to an […]
Eli Lilly and Co. will hand over documents to a United Kingdom agency that is investigating whether it and two other drugmakers bribed the administration of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office has requested documents from locally based Lilly as well as from U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, according to a Bloomberg […]
Nine Macy’s department stores will close, including the one in Washington Square Mall, Cincinnati-based Macy’s Inc. announced this afternoon. The Washington Square store employs 90. It opened in 1974 as an L.S. Ayres store. Macy’s didn’t specify when the store will close. The other stores closing are in Ohio, Texas, Utah, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The […]
A locally based financial institution is hoping to slow a high rate of foreclosures by lending up to $50 million to Indiana banks at attractive rates. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, part of a network of government-sponsored banks that lend to member institutions, will split $100 million between Indiana and Michigan in a […]
Tanya Bell has been named CEO of The Indiana Black Expo Inc. Bell will be tasked with fund development, partnership development and the role of liaison between the board of directors and the staff of IBE. Bell, 33, has been on the organization’s board for the past six years and played a key role in […]
Software developer LHP Inc. today said it plans to invest $1 million and add 320 workers by 2011 at its Columbus, Ind., headquarters. LHP, which employs 130 in Columbus, does work for the military, automotive and medical industries globally. LHP will begin hiring technology specialists, engineers and administrative workers next year. The company will receive […]
A Tennessee court has ruled against Finish Line Inc., saying it must complete its $1.5 billion purchase of Nashville, Tenn.-based Genesco Inc. Finish Line has been trying to walk away from the deal due to Genesco’s poor financial results in the second quarter. But the court ruling said the Indianapolis-based shoe retailer would breach its […]
Mayor-elect Greg Ballard today named the following to his administration team: – Olgen Williams, deputy mayor for neighborhoods; – Paul Okeson, chief of staff; – Chris Cotterill, corporation counsel;- Carolin Requiz Smith, director of Latino affairs; – John Cochran, special counsel to the mayor;- Greg Wilson, director of minority business development; – Marcus Barlow, press secretary. Williams is executive director of […]
Huntingburg-based OFS Brands Holdings Inc. officials said today they plan to spend $81 million to expand its southern Indiana headquarters and manufacturing facility and hire more than 300 workers over the next five years. OFS, which makes and distributes office furniture, has about 1,500 employees in Indiana. It will begin hiring production associates, supervisors, upholsters […]
June McCormack, the top-ranking executive at Sallie Mae's Fishers operation, is leaving the student loan giant, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company and McCormack are negotiating a severance agreement, the company's Dec. 12 SEC filing said, but her departure date was not disclosed. McCormack has led the 2,300-employee Fishers […]
The Piano Merchant is closing after almost 22 years in business at the corner of 54th Street and College Avenue, IBJ’s Property Lines blog reports. One of the three partners is ill and another is ready to retire, said Doug Lawson, the store’s general manager and the third partner. The group closed its Carmel store […]
West Lafayette-based Bioanalytical Systems Inc. had its first profitable year in four years, posting a gain of $926,000 for the 12 months ended Sept. 30. Revenue in the fiscal year increased 5 percent to $45.2 million. The company has been struggling after losing a large customer in Baltimore. Over the past year, it laid off […]
City officials have agreed to pay $48.5 million of the $300 million cost of building a 1,000-room JW Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis, but a profit-sharing agreement that is part of the deal isn’t likely to yield payments for the city, a hotel industry expert said. Developers of the convention hotel signed a final deal […]
The former Colgate-Palmolive Co. plant in Clarksville could house a new casino if efforts to transfer one of the state’s 11 gaming licenses are successful, reports the hometown News and Tribune. Sen. Bob Meeks, of LaGrange, has authored a bill that could move an unnamed casino from Gary to the one-time state prison in southern […]
Merrillville-based NiSource Inc. plans to spin off one of its natural gas pipelines into a new company. NiSource hopes to raise $235 million in an initial public offering of 12.5 million shares of NiSource Energy Partners LP. The new firm will own the 3,400-mile Columbia Gulf Transmission pipeline that extends from the Gulf of Mexico […]
Elkhart-based Forest River Inc., which makes recreational vehicles, boats and buses, has cut 40-50 jobs, reports the South Bend Tribune. The affected workers were among those who make diesel motor homes. The company, one of Elkhart County’s largest employers, had 4,700 employees at the start of the year. Production had been falling off since an […]
Aqua Indiana Inc., a unit of Pennsylvania-based Aqua America Inc., has bought Western Hancock Utilities LLC for about $5 million. Western Hancock Utilities, which provides wastewater services in western Hancock County, serves about 50 businesses and 2,500 residents in the Mount Comfort area. It will be managed out of Aqua Indiana’s office on the northeast […]
Sidney Taurel, who is retiring at the end of March after nearly a decade as CEO of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., will see his salary cut in half while he remains chairman through the end of 2008. His base salary will be $864,250, with a $1.2 million non-stock bonus. The bonus figure is a […]
Gregg Bechtold, who has been president and CEO of Johnson Memorial Hospital since 1992, will leave the post Dec. 31 after arriving at an agreement with hospital directors Dec. 19. “He and the board reached agreement to end his employment here,” said hospital spokesman Bill Oakes. Oakes offered no details on the separation. In a […]
