Masco Corp. said today it will slash 8,000 jobs—about 16 percent of its domestic labor force—due to a weak housing market. Masco, based in Taylor, Mich., owns Delta Faucet Co., which is headquartered in Carmel and operates a large faucet manufacturing plant in Greensburg southeast of Indianapolis. About 1,000 of the layoffs will be white-collar […]
Automaker DaimlerChrysler AG’s discussions about developing a dual-clutch transmission with supplier Getrag has resulted in the German companies signing a non-binding agreement, DaimlerChrysler said this morning. The Getrag project is part of a planned $3-billion investment in new engines, transmissions and drive trains to make vehicles more fuel-efficient, DaimlerChrysler said. Chrysler has relied on trucks […]
Indiana Life Sciences Inc. has completed its acquisition of Cumberland Pharmacal, a pharmaceutical wholesaler and medical device distributor headquartered in Cumberland, Md. The Indianapolis company, which offers manufacturing services and medical supply distribution, did not disclose the purchase price. Indiana Life Sciences said it will move Cumberland’s operations to its northeast side campus but did not […]
TechSmith, an Okemos, Mich., software maker, said it will build an $18 million headquarters and create 75 jobs at Michigan State University’s University’s Corporate Research Park in Lansing. The company, which employs 140, considered relocating to Indianapolis, but Michigan and the city of Lansing offered nearly $1.9 million in incentives to stay in the state.
Gregg Appliances Inc. posted third-quarter profit of $10.9 million, down from $22.6 million a year ago. Last year’s period included a nearly $28 million pretax gain for the Indianapolis-based electronics and appliance retailer. Sales in the third quarter ended Dec. 31 were up 19.2 percent, to $335.1 million due to opening seven stores over the […]
Fortune Industries Inc. has closed its $2.2 million acquisition of Tucson, Ariz.-based Precision Employee Management. Precision, which will retain its Arizona operations, provides human resources services, such as payroll and benefits administration. Indianapolis-based Fortune, primarily a holding company for wireless technology and human resources companies, has similar operations in Indianapolis and elsewhere.
American Commercial Lines Inc. has agreed to buy 20 towboats and related equipment from McKinney Towing Inc. and related McKinney companies, all based in Baton Rouge, La. The $15 million transaction doubles the size of ACL’s Gulf-region operations. Based in Jeffersonville, the company says it wants to convert rail and truck shipments to barge transportation.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. and other companies that participated in the oil-for-food program in Iraq will be investigated by a British agency to determine if they gave kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime, according to the London newspaper The Guardian. Fellow pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Astra Zeneca, both of which are headquartered in London, along […]
Two Australian mining companies are preparing to make an offer to buy Alcoa Inc., the Pittsburgh-based aluminum giant, according to The Times of London. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto PLC have written feasibility studies for a bid. However, Reuters, also citing an unnamed source, reported that BHT Billiton is […]
Concentra Health Services Inc. has acquired Industrial Solutions Group Inc. of Fort Wayne for an undisclosed price. Concentra, based in Addison, Texas, operates in 40 states primarily through medical centers that treat people injured on the job. Industrial Solutions has 14 employees who consult on mold, asbestos and other problems related to work […]
Simon Property Group probably will improve Mills Corp. malls if the Chevy Chase, Md., company follows through with its announcement earlier today and accepts Simon’s $1.56 billion buyout offer, an RBC Capital Markets analyst said. Speaking to Bloomberg, Rich Moore said Indianapolis-based Simon—the nation’s largest mall owner—brings substantial economies of scale. “Simon will get tenants, […]
Standard Management Corp. has started a new unit to attract investors. The troubled Indianapolis company said today that the unit, Universal Healthcare Co. LLC, will provide pharmaceuticals to the long-term care industry—a strategy the former insurer has struggled to implement since 2002. Universal Healthcare in turn has agreed to buy Precision Healthcare Inc. from Standard […]
Shopping mall developer Mills Corp. today said it plans to accept a $1.56 billion buyout offer from Simon Property Group Inc. and a San Francisco hedge fund that tops an offer by Toronto-based Brookfield Capital Management Inc. Mills said its board has terminated its agreement with Brookfield, which had offered $1.35 billion. Indianapolis-based Simon and […]
Speedy approval of permits makes Indiana more desirable than Ohio for huge dairy farms, according to a company that specializes in settling Dutch dairy farmers in the United States. Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development LLC, based in Wauseon, Ohio, told the Dayton Daily News that Ohio agencies are understaffed. Therefore, Vreba-Hoff applications in Indiana jumped […]
Profit shot up four-fold in 2006 for Interactive Intelligence Inc., the Indianapolis-based business communications software developer. The $10.2 million included $2.1 million in expenses for employee stock options and a $5 million tax benefit. Fourth-quarter profit slipped slightly to $1.6 million due to stock option expenses. Interactive CEO Don Brown attributed the climb for the […]
Muncie is the only Indiana city to lose a Circuit City Stores Inc. electronics store in the latest round of downsizing undertaken by the Richmond, Va., retailing giant, according to The Star-Press of Muncie. Six other U.S. stores and 62 in Canada also will be shuttered as Circuit City struggles to compete against Best Buy […]
Construction on an ethanol plant near Montpelier has stopped, and the company developing the $150 million project, Central States Enterprises of Heathrow, Fla., doesn’t plan to resume work any time soon. Central States told The Star-Press of Muncie that it is taking a “more deliberate approach.” Early this month, Broins & Associates of Sioux Falls, […]
The management team of Kenra LLC will stay with the Indianapolis company’s new owner, Imperial Capital Acquisition Fund III, and anticipates growing the business through acquisition, according to Kenra Chief Operating Officer Steve Nerney. Also staying are Patrick Ludwig, president of the Kenra brand, and Dave Gordon, president of its Elasta QP brand, Nerney said. […]
The Indianapolis law firm Locke Reynolds has absorbed five lawyers from the Fort Wayne firm of Dahm & Elvin. New to Locke Reynolds are Albert Dahm, Michael Elvin, James Butz and Sandy Morris. Locke Reynolds ranked 8th in IBJ ’s 2007 Book of Lists, with 77 attorneys in the Indianapolis area.
Biomet Inc. chief executive Dane Miller won’t lead the Warsaw prosthetics company after the close of its $10.9 billion sale to a group of private equity investors, according to Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly. Miller, who has an equity stake in the acquisition, will be a director. But his involvement won’t extend to a formal […]
