Perini shareholders approve buying Tutor-Saliba
Perini Corp., a civil and commercial construction contractor headquarterd in Framingham, said today that its shareholders approved the acquisition of privately-held Tutor-Saliba Corp.
Terms were not disclosed. (The 2007 photo above shows the construction of Center City on the Las Vegas strip; the hotel-entertainment complex is a Perini project.)
Perini said in April it would acquire privately held Tutor-Saliba for $862 million in an all-stock deal pairing two contractors that handle large public and private construction projects.
Perini expects to close the transaction on Monday.
The acquisition will help grow the company's backlog of projects and diversify its reach into new segments, said Michael R. Klein, lead director of Perini.
In May, Perini was named top Massachusetts company of the year in the Globe 100.
On the New York Stock Exchange, shares gained $1.73, or 7 percent, in afternoon trading to $26.29. (AP)
Mild winter is a chilling thought for US ski resorts
With the US economy stuttering, the owners of the nation's ski resorts get chills worrying if a mild winter and the growing hassles of airline travel will leave their slopes bare this year.
The nation's 10.6 million well-heeled downhill skiers and snowboarders typically find a way to get out on the mountains when snow falls, data shows. But current worries about the economy may prompt some, particularly in the Northeast, to drive to nearby mountains rather than flying to destination resorts in Colorado and Utah this year.
That could leave resorts light on guests during the off-peak weekends, when traffic is not boosted by school and work holidays.
"The concerns this year may center on the higher cost of air travel, the nickel-and-diming by the airlines," said Hayley Wolff, senior research analyst at Rochdale Research, who follows the tourism sector.
Rising airfares, not to mention moves by carriers including American Airlines and United Airlines to hike fees for checked luggage, could turn off skiers, who travel with bulky equipment.
"That could pinch that three-day trip in January, the off-peak kind of trip that you might take," Wolff said. "I don't know if it cuts into the week vacation with the family as much as it cuts into the off-peak visitation pattern."
New England School of Law has a new "nickname"
New England School of Law will change its name to New England Law | Boston as it looks to avoid confusion with other law schools with similar names and tie its identity more closely to the city of Boston.
In an e-mail to students, faculty, and alumni that was made available to the Globe, John F. O'Brien (right), dean and professor of law, wrote that as the school prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary this month, one way to mark its entry into its second century was to adopt a new "'nickname' - New England Law | Boston - that will serve as our public identity (although our legal name will remain the same, including on diplomas)."
The school will be using not just a new nickname but also a new logo and a revamped website, he wrote.
O'Brien also wrote in the e-mail, "We chose a name that we feel differentiates us from other law schools in the region with very similar names, provides continuity with our old name, and connects the school with its very appealing location in Boston."
The school is set to commemorate its 100th anniversary at a convocation ceremony Sept. 23, and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (left) is scheduled to be the featured speaker.
The new name and the new logo seek to recall the spirit of graduate Lenny Zakim (right), the late New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, whose civil rights legacy was honored in the naming of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, the school said in a memo.
O'Brien discussed the school name change further in a telephone interview.
"We're downtown," he said. "We're in the Theater District, and we want people to know who we are."
The school's name change was first reported by the Boston Business Journal.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Raytheon gets $85 million contract for projectiles
Waltham defense contractor Raytheon Co. today said that it received an $85.3 million contract from the Army to produce Excalibur precision artillery projectiles for the Army, Marine Corps, and the Australian Defence Forces.
Excalibur, a joint effort by Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems Bofors of Sweden, provides precision-strike capability at long ranges for current and future 155-millimeter howitzers.
Shares of Raytheon climbed 62 cents to $59.12 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)
Disk storage systems market posts strong growth
Worldwide factory revenues for external disk storage systems were $5.1 billion in the second quarter, up 16.7 percent from the same period a year ago, IDC said today in a report titled the IDC Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker.
Headquartered in Framingham, IDC is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets.
EMC Corp., the Hopkinton storage giant, maintained its lead in the external disk storage systems market with 21.7 percent revenue share in the second quarter, followed by IBM and Hewlett Packard Co. in a statistical tie with 13.1 percent and 12.9 percent revenue share, respectively, IDC said in a press release.
"Despite concerns about a 2008 slowdown in IT spending, external disk storage systems spending experienced strong growth in the first half of 2008," Natalya Yezhkova, research manager of storage systems at IDC, said in a statement. "The second quarter of the year was remarkable, not only because it is the highest growth in two years, but also because of the distribution of this growth across different market segments. The ability of vendors to meet a variety of needs among customers with a diversity of storage products and initiatives led to solid growth across all installation environments, even in those that declined over the past several quarters."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Zaltman wins MIT Sloan marketing award
Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman (right) is being honored with the Buck Weaver Award for Marketing, the MIT Sloan School of Management said today.
The award, which recognizes individuals who have made important contributions to the advancement of theory and practice in marketing science, was established by MIT Sloan in 2003 and is sponsored by General Motors Corp.
Zaltman is the Joseph C. Wilson professor of business administration, emeritus, at Harvard Business School and the author of "How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market." His research interests focus on customer behavior and marketing strategy. To read Zaltman's biography on the Harvard Business School website, please click here.
Discussing the origins of the Buck Weaver Award, MIT Sloan said in a press release: "Henry Grady "Buck" Weaver was a pioneer in marketing research and market-based decision making in the 1930s. Working for GM, he was the first known director of marketing research who went on to pioneer formal consumer research on attitudes, opinions, styling preferences, and customer design feature priorities."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Biogen Idec testing Tysabri as a cancer treatment
Biogen Idec Inc. of Cambridge and Elan Corp. plc of Dublin today announced the initiation of the first clinical trial of Tysabri as a potential cancer treatment.
Tysabri is already approved for treating multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease, but there have been setbacks. Tysabri was originally launched in 2004 but was temporarily taken off the market after several multiple sclerosis patients contracted a brain disease. In mid 2006, Tysabri was reintroduced to the market with strict prescribing guidelines. Several weeks ago, Biogen Idec said that two more patients appeared to have contracted the rare and potentially fatal brain disease, the first cases since Tysabri was reintroduced to the market two years ago.
Speaking about Tysabri as a potential oncology drug, Biogen Idec and Elan said that the first dose of Tysabri was administered yesterday in the trial.
The companies said in a press release, "The objectives of this Phase I/II study are to evaluate the safety and potential anti-tumor activity of Tysabri in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma."
Having Tysabri approved for cancer treatment would boost Biogen Idec and Elan, which share the rights to Tysabri, and widen the market for the drug.
Last month, before the two companies announced plans to test Tysabri as a potential cancer treatment, a Wall Street analyst said that even under his best scenario, Tysabri will have only about 75,000 users by 2013, short of Biogen Idec's goal of 100,000 by 2010.
In January, Tysabri won US regulatory approval as a treatment for Crohn's disease, a debilitating disease that frequently causes diarrhea and abdominal cramps as well as fever, bleeding, and weight loss.
For additional coverage of Tysabri, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Phase Forward acquires Clarix
Phase Forward Inc. of Waltham said today that it has acquired privately held Clarix LLC of Pennsylvania for $40 million in cash.
Phase Forward provides data-management solutions for clinical drug trials and drug safety while Clarix is focused on fully Web-integrated interactive response technology, or IRT.
The majority of Phase II and Phase III clinical trials require randomization and related medication supplies management, and IRT is the predominant solution for automating these processes, Phase Forward said.
Phase Forward said it estimates the current IRT market to be between $200 million and $250 million, and believes that the addition of an IRT offering will present significant cross-selling opportunities by enabling Phase Forward to offer both new and existing customers an expanded product offering.
Phase Forward said in its press release, "Clarix generated approximately $2.7 million in revenue in 2007, and Phase Forward estimates that they will generate approximately $6.3 million for the full year 2008 on a stand-alone basis."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Bank of America says it's working to settle with state
Responding to a Massachusetts regulator’s threat to sue, Bank of America Corp. today said it has been negotiating in good faith for nearly a month to buy back its customers’ auction-rate securities.
‘‘We have repeatedly and consistently said that we are ready and willing to enter into an agreement that follows the same basic terms of previously announced settlements. We understood that we had reached such an agreement in principle nearly two weeks ago,’’ the banking firm said.
A person briefed on the talks said the lack of a resolution appeared to be due to disagreements between the regulators pursuing the case.
The statement was issued as Reuters reported that New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s office was issuing several new subpoenas to Bank of America executives this week. Cuomo’s office was not immediately available for comment.
On Wednesday, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin expressed frustration that his office had not been able to settle with Bank of America. He said the state might deepen its investigation and file a lawsuit against the bank if there isn’t an agreement soon.
Bank of America said: ‘‘We hope that all of the parties will work towards completing a settlement for the benefit of investors who have been affected by unprecedented market disruptions.’’
The bank said it has been negotiating with Cuomo, Galvin, a coalition of other states, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
So far, eight major brokerage firms have settled with regulators, pledging to buy back more than $50 billion of auction-rate securities. The investments were bonds issued by nonprofits and municipalities that were sold to investors as cash equivalents. The $330 billion market froze in February, when Wall Street firms suddenly stopped trading the securities, leaving thousands of investors trapped.
(By Beth Healy, Globe Staff)
Dunkin' Donuts franchise owners want ad spending oversight
Dunkin' Donuts franchise owners today called for new oversight over the Canton coffee chain following the federal indictment last week of a former company executive allegedly involved in a kickback scheme.
According to the indictment filed in US District Court in Boston, Carolyn Kravetz, 42, Dunkin's former director of external communications, steered contract work totaling $400,000 to a close college friend, Boris Levitin, in exchange for 50 percent of his gross receipts between August 2004 and October 2005. Levitin, 43, was self-employed, doing business as Luminophore, providing graphic design, technical publishing, and information system services.
Kravetz allegedly authorized payments for $396,875, including payment in full for multiple projects in which Levitin had performed no work. In turn Levitin kicked back to Kravetz roughly $200,000, according to court records. The funds Dunkin' paid to Luminophore came from the ad fund, which is financed by contributions from all Dunkin' Donuts franchisees, according to the Dunkin' Donuts Independent Franchise Owners, the largest association of franchise owners in the US.
Kravetz and Levitin, who both attended Boston University during the 1980s, were charged with six counts of mail fraud, and Kravetz was charged separately with two additional counts of subscribing a false tax return.
Kravetz, reached by phone, declined to discuss the matter and referred questions to her lawyer, Joseph Balliro, who did not return calls seeking comment.
Jeffrey Licthman , Levitin's lawyer, said his client returned all of the money paid to him and Kravetz.
"She's the one that made the arrangements. He never once looked to skirt any of the work and never wanted a dime more than he was paid for," Licthman said of his client.
Stephen Caldeira , Dunkin' Brand's chief communications office, said in a statement that Kravetz was responsible for day-to-day communication with print and broadcast media, as well as supporting the marketing staff in promotion of new products and offers.
"In regard to Ms. Kravetz's recent indictment, we have been working with the appropriate authorities. Given that this is a pending legal matter, we will not make any further comment," Caldeira said.
The Dunkin' franchise association, in a press release yesterday, demanded greater controls over the franchisee ad fund by franchisees and regular audits by an independent certified public accountant that are made available to all franchisees.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)
Details on Murray's Ireland trip released
Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray's office provided more details about his upcoming trade mission to Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The trip will include stops in four cities from Oct. 5 through Oct. 11 and focus on life sciences, information technology and tourism.
The delegation will also include Senate President Therese Murray and representatives from state government, industry and higher education. They will visit Galway and Dublin in Ireland and Belfast and Derry in Northern Ireland.
Several local companies, including Boston Scientific Corp., EMC Corp. and Cognex Corp., have major manufacturing operations in Ireland. And Creganna, an Irish medical device company, recently opened a manufacturing plant in Marlborough, creating 100 jobs.
(By Todd Wallack, Globe staff)
TJX shares fall on August results
Shares of TJX Cos. fell today after the operator of T.J. Maxx and other off-price retail stores reported August same-store sales below expectations.
On the New York Stock Exchange, shares for the Framingham company fell $2.41, or 6.6 percent, to $34.38 during midday trading. The stock has traded between $25.49 and $37.52 during the past 52 weeks.
Same-store sales were flat, while analysts expected a 2.1 percent rise. The company said an unexpected drag from foreign currency exchange hurt monthly results.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key measure of retailer performance, because it measures growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.
The company also had leaner clearance merchandise during the month.
C.L. King analyst Mark Montagna urged investors in a note today to buy the stock on any decline in share price.
"TJX has had periods of weakness in its shares and in its reported monthly results, wrote Montagna, who has an "Accumulate" rating on the stock. "In both cases, the shares and performance rebounded. We believe the August reported results present such a buying opportunity."
He said that T.J. Maxx geared its back-to-school marketing and merchandise toward September.
"While such a decision likely hindered August selling, it will almost certainly help September results," Montagna wrote.
TJX operates off-price apparel and home stores including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J. Wright stores in the U.S. It also operates Winners and HomeSense stores in Canada and T.K. Maxx and HomeSense stores in Europe. (AP)
Aramark won't cater Green Building Council's event
In a bid to soothe labor tensions, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and its sole concessions provider, Aramark Corp., have granted the US Green Building Council's request for a different caterer at the council's Nov. 19-21 conference at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
The agreement should clear the way for the keynote speaker, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (left), to attend the annual conference without Unite Here's Local 26 picketing. About 30,000 people are expected to attend the event.
The union, which represents food and beverage workers, has for the past year been entrenched in bitter contract negotiations with Aramark.
Last month, the Green Building Council said it was contacted by the union and was talking to the MCCA, Aramark, and the union to seek a compromise.
(By Nicole C. Wong, Globe staff)
Caritas Christi promotes two executives
Caritas Christi Health Care, the financially troubled six-hospital chain owned by the Archdiocese of Boston, announced today the appointment of Robert E. Guyon, Jr. as chief operating officer.
Guyon is the current chief executive of Saint Anne’s Hospital, a Caritas Christi hospital in Fall River.
Effective October 1, Guyon will replace Richard Cunningham, who served as the system’s chief operating officer for the past four years, and Joseph E. Ciccolo, Jr., the current senior vice president of support services at Caritas Christi, will replace Guyon at Saint Anne's, Caritas Christi said.
Ralph de la Torre (right), president and chief executive of Caritas Christi Health Care, praised Guyon in a statement.
“Bob has an outstanding track record within Caritas Christi of effective leadership across our system and has an expertise in the financial, operational, and clinical requirements of running a large, complex health care organization,” de la Torre said in his statement.
For recent coverage of Caritas Christi, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Logan improves on-time performance
Boston's Logan International Airport improved its on-time performance rate for both departures and arrivals in July, but not as much as most other large airports did, according to the latest data from the US Department of Transportation.
Logan ranked 24th best out of the top 32 major US airports with an on-time departure rate of 73.74 percent in July, compared with ranking 18th best with 71.16 percent in the same month last year.
For arrivals, Logan ranked 28th best with an on-time rate of 67.46 percent, compared with ranking 27th best with an on-time rate of 63.35 percent in July 2007.
The government considered flights to be on-time if they departed from or arrived at their gates within 15 minutes of schedule.
(By Nicole C. Wong, Globe staff)
Archstone gets construction loan for Hub project
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, or HFF, announced today that they arranged a $90 million construction loan for the development of Archstone Avenir, an apartment complex in Boston.
The project's developer, Archstone, is a national company specializing in apartment investment and operations. (The image above is a rendering that was supplied by HFF.)
HFF said in a press release: "Due for completion in Spring 2009, Archstone Avenir will have 241 luxury apartment units, approximately 28,000 square feet of street-level retail space and a 115-space structured parking garage. Intended uses for the retail space include a restaurant, full-service bank and coffee shop. Located at the corner of Canal and Causeway Streets, Avenir is adjacent to the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the Bulfinch Triangle area of downtown Boston. The property is situated above a newly-constructed MBTA subway super station offering access to the Orange and Green lines, and across Causeway Street from the North Station commuter rail station within the TD Banknorth Garden."
HFF, a provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services, said it worked on behalf of Archstone to secure a 36-month construction loan through the National Electrical Benefit Fund, a pension fund for those in the electrical industry.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Synageva picks chief, opens Waltham office
Synageva BioPharma announced the appointment of Sanj K. Patel as president and chief executive.
The company added in a press release: "In conjunction with Sanj Patel's appointment, Synageva has opened new corporate headquarters outside of Boston in Waltham, Mass. The company maintains research and production operations in the greater Atlanta area where the company was originally founded under the name of Avigenics."
Synageva said it is focused on the development of biopharmaceuticals that address the needs of a global patient population in multiple areas, including oncology, autoimmune diseases, and genetic diseases.
Patel joins Synageva from Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge, where he worked from 1999 to 2008, Synageva said. Most recently, he was head of US Sales, Marketing, and Commercial Operations for Genzyme Therapeutics.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Mass. business confidence remains weak
Confidence among Massachusetts employers regained some ground in August as a Business Confidence Index rose 2.5 points to 47.1, but the survey results continued to depict a weak economy with no signs of substantial improvement in the months ahead, said the compiler of the index, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, or AIM.
On its website, AIM describes itself as nonprofit, nonpartisan association of Massachusetts employers.
“More positive assessments of national conditions and six-month prospects gave us only the second monthly gain since last October,” Raymond G. Torto, chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors, said in a statement. "Though the index recouped much of July’s loss in August, it is still well below a neutral 50 on its 100-point scale, and the ratings of national and state economic conditions are near 40, which is very weak.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Altra Industrial Motion is relocating to Braintree
Altra Industrial Motion Inc. plans to relocate its headquarters from Quincy to 300 Granite St. in Braintree in November, a broker involved in the transaction said today.
The broker is Colliers Meredith & Grew, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm.
Altra Holdings, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary Altra Industrial Motion, Inc., is a multinational designer, producer, and marketer of a wide range of mechanical power transmission products.
Built in 1985, 300 Granite St. is a four-story 89,466-square-foot office building located near the South Shore Plaza shopping mall, Colliers Meredith & Grew said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
TJX reports August sales
TJX Cos., the Framingham company that operates such retail chains as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, said today that a key metric for August sales was "slightly below plan."
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, were flat in August when compared with a year ago, said TJX, which refers to same-store sales as "consolidated comparable store sales." Consolidated comparable store sales, or same-store sales, are regarded as an important measure of a merchant's performance in the retail industry.
Total sales for the four-week period ended August 30, 2008, were $1.5 billion, up 4 percent over the $1.4 billion achieved during the four-week period ended September 1, 2007, TJX said.
Carol Meyrowitz, TJX president and chief executive, said in a statement: "Our August consolidated comparable store sales results were slightly below plan, driven by the unanticipated negative impact of foreign exchange rates. Additionally, as we have previously mentioned, we entered August with leaner clearance merchandise and have geared our back-to-school marketing and merchandising toward September. Margins remain strong, and with great liquidity in our inventories, we are in an excellent position to pursue our opportunistic buying strategies."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
