Articles

Finish Line bankers extend time to buy Genesco

The Finish Line Inc. said today that its lenders have extended by four months their deadline for the Indianapolis athletic shoe and clothing retailer to buy Genesco Inc. The deadline was Dec. 31; it is now April 30. Other terms of the commitment letter by UBS Loan Finance LLC and UBS Securities LLC are the […]

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Biomet ensnared in corruption probe

Biomet Inc. disclosed this afternoon that it is being investigated as part of an inquiry by federal securities regulators into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Warsaw-based maker of orthopedics products, which recently was acquired by a group of private equity firms for nearly $11 billion, provided few details. It said the […]

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Lilly’s Byetta bedeviling Novo Nordisk

Many analysts are recommending that investors hold off on buying stock in Novo Nordisk because rival Eli Lilly and Co. might encounter a smash hit with a version of its Byetta diabetes treatment that would be taken only once a week. Nineteen of the 34 analysts who follow the Danish insulin maker have “hold” or […]

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Indianapolis-area house sales dive in September

Pending sales of houses-those with contracts signed by not closed-plummeted 16.8 percent in September from a year earlier, according to Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors figures released today by brokerage F.C. Tucker Co. The nine-county Indianapolis area generated 1,998 pended sales, compared to the 2,402 in September 2006. Sales in Boone County fell the most, […]

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Former Pearson ad exec launches media firm

Cynthia England, a former partner at the Indianapolis advertising firm Pearson McMahon Fletcher England, has started a company that plans, buys and manages advertising for client companies. The new Indianapolis company, Regarding Media and Marketing LLC, was launched with Nanci Albrecht, a former senior vice president of Cincinnati-based JA&G Advertising. JA&G has an Indianapolis office. […]

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Recession unlikely, Purdue economists say

The sagging housing market is a concern, but won’t become a large enough problem to drag the economy into recession, Purdue University economists said yesterday during an annual outlook luncheon sponsored by the Lafayette-West Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. They said the nation continues to churn out more goods and services, hiring remains strong and wages […]

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RadioNow brand sold, reappears on 100.9 FM

RadioNow, the rock and hip-hop format Emmis Communications Corp. abruptly pulled from WNOU-FM 93.1 on Oct. 8, has resurfaced at 100.9 FM under new ownership. Emmis announced today that it has sold the RadioNow brand, WNOU trademark and station imaging to Radio One Inc. of Lanham, Md., for an undisclosed price. The RadioNow format began […]

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Kokomo toilet maker to shutter plant

Kokomo Sanitary Pottery Corp., which has manufactured toilets in the city north of Indianapolis since 1932, is closing the plant because competitors can do the job at lower cost. The decision will throw nearly 150 workers out of jobs early next year, according to the Kokomo Tribune. The workers are represented by Local 238 of […]

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Targanta stock slips in first day of trading

Shares of Targanta Therapeutics Inc. fell 7.5 percent yesterday in the company’s first day as a public company. The stock closed at $9.25 a share after opening at $10, the price sought in the $57 million initial public offering. Targanta is listed on NASDAQ under the ticker TARG. The Cambridge, Mass., firm is commercializing an […]

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Report: UAW might complain about Honda hiring

Honda Motor Co.?s announcement in August that it would limit hiring for its new Greensburg assembly plant to 20 Indiana counties is the latest sign Japanese automakers are hiring outside of union strongholds,The Wall Street Journalreported today. In a front-page article focused on the new plant, the newspaper said the United Auto Workers is considering […]

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BREAKING: Health care headquarters moving to Indy

Arcadia Resources Inc., a publicly traded medical services firm, is expected to announce today that it is moving its headquarters to Indianapolis from the Detroit suburb of Southfield. The relocation will start with a few jobs that average $134,000 in salary and ramp up to a total of 315 by 2009, according to a source […]

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BREAKING: Health care headquarters moving to Indy

Arcadia Resources Inc., a publicly traded medical services firm, is expected to announce today that it is moving its headquarters to Indianapolis from the Detroit suburb of Southfield. The relocation will start with a few jobs that average $134,000 in salary and ramp up to a total of 315 by 2009, according to a source […]

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Village Pantry buys 33 convenience stores

Village Pantry Inc., the former arm of Marsh Supermarkets Inc., has acquired 33 Next Door Stores convenience stores in northern Indiana and Michigan from Imperial Co. Inc. for an undisclosed price. Imperial is headquartered in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Village Pantry owner Sun Capital Partners said the additional stores will dovetail well with Village Pantry’s 146 […]

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Hubbard sells GilChrist & Soames

GilChrist & Soames, a local company owned partly by businessman Al Hubbard, who now directs the National Economic Council, has been sold for $51 million. Buying the Indianapolis maker of soaps, toothpaste and other hotel toiletries is Swander Pace Capital, a San Francisco private-equity firm. The deal is being financed by Allied Capital Corp. of […]

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Heartland film winners to be sold at Best Buy

Sixteen Disney movies that won the Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award will be sold through a discounted promotion at Best Buy stores in nine states starting Oct. 14, according to Heartland Truly Moving Pictures. Best Buy stores in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin will feature special displays highlighting the […]

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Investor plans $100M Greenwood project

Three local businessmen are planning a $100 million upscale residential neighborhood in Greenwood adjacent to Hickory Stick Golf Course. Allen Zaring and Pete Hils, founders of former local homebuilder Zaring National Corp., and Scott Estridge have formed Scott Homes LLC. The group purchased about 75 acres from National City Bank, which acquired the land out […]

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Princeton Review ranks IU business school high

Indiana University’s business school placed No. 1 in this year’s Princeton Review of business schools based on best classroom experience. The core curriculum is frustrating, challenging and fun-all at the same time, students said, and the faculty teach well despite their backgrounds in research. The annual survey also pegged IU overall as 18th in the […]

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Bemis might opt for layoffs at Terre Haute plant

Bemis Co. Inc., the Neenah, Wis.-based plastic packaging giant, might be forced to lay off workers at its plant in Terre Haute, according to The Tribune-Star. The company is sagging under slowing sales and high costs, a spokeswoman told the Terre Haute newspaper. Last week, Bemis said it would soon cut costs and “adjust staffing […]

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Indianapolis firm to roll out lithium car battery

Indianapolis-based EnerDel Inc. this morning plans to unveil at a news conference a “cool running” lithium-ion battery pack it has developed specifically for the U.S. hybrid electric vehicle market. EnerDel CEO Charles Gassenheimer said the company could grow to $450 million in annual revenue by producing 300,000 of the battery packs a year. Automakers have […]

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Expect economic malaise, IU forecaster says

A group of Indiana University economists who forecast the state’s economy say they’ve become more pessimistic than they were in August, when they issued their most recent quarterly forecast. Woes in the nation’s housing market will cut growth and incomes the rest of this year and possibly into 2008, said one of the economists, Bill […]

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