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Corporate Report
by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor
Nano Chemical Systems Holdings moves to Tampa, adds new CEO
Nano Chemical Systems Holdings Inc. is relocating its corporate offices from Seaford, Del., to Tampa and opening a nano-materials manufacturing and lab facility in San Jose, Calif.
Alex Edwards III has been named interim CEO, president and director of the company replacing Mathew Zuckerman, Ph.D., who will now take over the company's chief technology officer position. The company has announced its plan to immediately start a re-branding initiative that will focus on creating and delivering nano-enhanced sustainable/renewable energy products.
"[Edwards] is a seasoned executive who we anticipate will lead us through multiple new initiatives and conclude the current Solar Diesel acquisitions which we anticipate will create extraordinary shareholder value," Zuckerman, NanoChem's new CTO, said in a press release.
Nano Chemical Systems is an in-house nano-research, development and a manufacturing plant. Nano Chemical Systems Holdings Inc. has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Sea Spray Aerosol Inc., that produces aerosol products for its own formulas and does private labeling for various customers. Sea Spray operates a 36,000-square-foot facility that contains offices, research, warehouse and manufacturing operations.
The public company reported gross revenue of $1.23 million for fiscal 2006 ended in June and $1.94 million for fiscal 2005.
NeoGenomics researches with Power3 Medical Products
Fort Myers-based NeoGenomics Inc. has completed an agreement with Power3 Medical Products Inc. to form a joint venture contract research organization (CRO).
Power3 is an early stage company focused on the commercialization of protein biomarkers. Under the terms of the deal, NeoGenomics and Power3 will jointly own a CRO and begin commercializing Power3's intellectual property portfolio by developing blood serum-based diagnostic tests and other services around one or more of the 523 protein biomarkers that Power3 has identified. Power3 has agreed to license to the CRO all of its intellectual property on a non-exclusive basis for selected commercial applications as well as provide management assistance.
Locally, NeoGenomics will provide access to cancer samples, management, sales and marketing personnel, laboratory facilities and working capital. NeoGenomics will own a minimum of 60% of the new CRO venture, which is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2007.
As part of the agreement, NeoGenomics will provide $200,000 of working capital to Power3 by purchasing a convertible debenture. NeoGenomics was also granted two options to increase its stake in Power3 to up to 60% of the fully diluted shares over the next 18-20 months.
"Today, many chronic diseases are not diagnosable until a patient has had the disease for a significant period of time," Robert Gasparini. NeoGenomics' president and chief scientific officer said in a press release. "We believe that proteomics, along with our focus on genomics, are the two emerging fields that will give us the technology, tools and answers needed to bridge this gap to earlier detection."
Power3 recently reported a series of statistically significant results in externally sponsored, blinded studies of normal and abnormal disease samples. "These results and the reproducibility of Power3's process to find biomarkers is what caught our attention," Gasparini said. "We believe their ability to identify and correlate specific protein biomarkers with specific disease states will give the CRO a significant advantage in developing proprietary tests for such diseases."
NeoGenomics Inc. is a certified clinical laboratory that specializes in cancer genetics diagnostic testing.
Ablest directors approve Koosharem buyout offer
Tampa's Ablest Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Koosharem Corp., the holding company of Select Remedy, for $11 per share in cash, or about $32.5 million.
The board of directors of Ablest Inc. has approved the merger agreement and is recommending that Ablest's stockholders approve it as well. The deal is scheduled to close prior to the end of June.
Although the agreement still requires Ablest's stockholder approval, the Heist family, such as Charles H. Heist, III, Ablest's chairman of the board, have agreed to vote its 50.4% of Ablest's outstanding common stock in favor of the merger.
The company's special committee, with the assistance of its financial adviser, Hyde Park Advisors, LLC, will be conducting a market test for the next 15 days by soliciting better acquisition proposals from others.
Select Remedy is the product of the recently completed acquisition of RemedyTemp Inc. by Koosharem Corp. Select Remedy, with approximately 280 offices throughout North America, is a professional staffing organization focused on delivering human capital workforce solutions in various business sectors.
OSI Restaurant Partners merger decision May 8
Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners Inc. has filed a definitive proxy statement for a special meeting of stockholders to be held May 8 to vote on a proposal to approve the company's merger agreement with affiliates of Bain Capital Partners, LLC and Catterton Partners. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa.
The board of directors of OSI Restaurant Partners approved the merger agreement and is recommending OSI's stockholders vote to adopt the merger.
If approved, the merger is expected to close shortly after the special stockholders meeting.
In other OSI news, Curt Glowacki has resigned from his position as president of the Outback Steakhouse citing personal reasons. Paul Avery, chief operating officer of OSI and former president of the Outback Steakhouse brand, will assume the additional role of president of the Outback Steakhouse brand on an interim basis.
Further, the company reported that comparable store sales and average unit volumes for OSI's significant restaurant brands for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007 continued to decline. Once again the sole gainer was Fleming's Prime Steakhouse, which record a 3.3% system-wide increase compared to last year. During the quarter, the restaurant chain increased its company-owned menu by 0.4% for its Outback Steakhouse brand restaurants, 3.2% for its Carrabba's Italian Grill brand and 1.9% for its Bonefish Grill.
BY THE NUMBERS
Franchise and
Company- development
owned joint venture System-wide
Quarter ended March 31, 2007
Domestic comparable store sales
(stores open 18 months or more)
Outback Steakhouses -0.3% -1.9% -0.5%
Carrabba's Italian Grills -1.3% n/a -1.3%
Bonefish Grills -0.8% 0.3% -0.7%
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse
and Wine Bars 3.3% n/a 3.3%
Roy's -2.1% n/a -2.1%
Domestic average unit volumes
Outback Steakhouses -0.1% -2.2% -0.4%
Carrabba's Italian Grills -2.8% n/a - 2.8%
Bonefish Grills -3.8% 1.3% -3.4%
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse
and Wine Bars -1.6% n/a -1.6%
Roy's -2.5% n/a -2.5%
NeoMedia Technologies divesting 12snap AG
NeoMedia Technologies Inc., a Fort Myers-based mobile enterprise and marketing technology company, sold 12snap AG, a wholly-owned division of NeoMedia Mobile, to the company's management and Bernd M. Michael, a former shareholder, for just less than $5 million.
According to the agreement, the buyers will pay $1.1 million in cash at closing with another $500,000 in escrow to be paid within 90 days. Additionally, $2 million in seller's top-off costs will be waived. In addition, the new owners will provide NeoMedia with 10% of 12snap's total stock, a $750,000 value; a share giveback by the new owners of 7.5 million NeoMedia shares valued at about $382,000 and $200,000 worth of free services by 12snap.
The agreement means 12snap will remain a preferred partner of NeoMedia for most favored prices and continue to develop the qode/lavasphere technology for NeoMedia. 12snap's current supervisory board members will resign.
"This sales agreement is central to NeoMedia's current strategy of selling its non-core divisions, in order to place its focus solely on its qode and Gavitec AG divisions," Charles Fritz, chairman and interim CEO of NeoMedia said in a press release announcing the transaction.
NCircle Entertainment lands Mighty Machines rights
NCircle Entertainment, an Alliance Entertainment Corp. division, signed an exclusive multi-year DVD and digital format distribution deal with Seville Pictures, an integrated producer and distributor of featured films and television programs for the Canadian and international markets.
Under the agreement, NCircle gains the general market home entertainment rights to the existing Mighty Machines television series titles for the United States.
The series takes young viewers into the driver's seat of some of the largest vehicles such as dump trucks or giant excavators.
"Mighty Machines is a huge hit in Canada and, with our home entertainment experience, we anticipate similar success stateside as well," Debbie Ries, NCircle senior vice president and general manager said in a press release.
Produced and directed by Wendy Loten, Mighty Machines has been licensed to various Canadian channels and DiscoveryKids in the U.K. The first two titles, "Diggers & Dozers"and "Lights & Ladders," are slated for release in May 2007. Each title offers four episodes as well as loads of bonus content.
Alliance Entertainment Corp. is a subsidiary by Bonita Springs-based Source Interlink Cos.
Etc...
iDatix teams with Nexsan Tech for joint shipping
iDatix Corp., a Clearwater business automation software company, and Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Nexsan Technologies, a secure storage solution firm, have formed a strategic alliance to work on product interoperability and joint shipping.
Specific products at the center of the integration effort include iDatix iSynergy and Nexsan's Assureon Archive Appliances. Nexsan's Assureon Archive Appliance products will provide security and compliance for document and information solutions built on the iDatix iSynergy platform.
At the same time, the deal will also enable iDatix iSynergy users to maintain an encrypted and compliant content repository stored on the Assureon Archive Appliances.
As part of the integration effort, iDatix extended its product certification of the Nexsan family of mass storage solutions, including the SATA High Density Storage System.
Indianapolis chooses MethodFactory Intranet
MethodFactory, a Sarasota technology application development firm, has been selected to develop a joint city-county Intranet solution for the City of Indianapolis and Marion County, Ind.
Covering more than 60 departments, 5,000 employees and three terabytes of shared files the organization needed a robust management/portal product.
MethodFactory suggested the municipalities use Microsoft's SharePoint Portal. SharePoint is already being used by Houston; Wichita, Kan.; the FAA; and the U.S. Army.
Indianapolis is the 12th largest city in the United States and the capital of Indiana, and Marion County maintains a consolidated city-county government.
Technology Development reaches deal with LifeWare
Compress Technologies Inc. a Sarasota company with applications that improve bandwidth and Network Topographies, has reached a development agreement with LifeWare Technologies Inc.
According to Compass Technologies officials, the deal will provide the firm the R&D funds to expand its engineering facility.
As part of the deal, Compress Technologies will use its engineering R&D support group to apply LifeWare patented technology in the development of new products and also work on product improvements to the existing lines for LifeWare.
LifeWare is a marketer of specialty cookware products designed to preserves the nutrition in cooked food. Compress Technologies solutions currently focus on improving the efficiencies of bandwidth and Network Topographies for the Cable TV, FM-SCA radio, satellite and wireless industries.
Ad agency celebrates 10-year anniversary
Sarasota-based Stephen A. Smith & Associates Advertising is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Steve Smith founded the full-service advertising and public relations agency in 1997. Recent projects include a new branding system for the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, and an award winning and fresh direct-marketing campaign for Chicago based CamTech Systems.
OAK recognized by Florida Education Department
General contractor Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. has been selected to receive the Florida Department of Education Commissioner's Business Recognition Award at the 20th annual awards ceremony on April 19 in St. Petersburg.
The Florida Education Foundation and the Florida Department of Education use the award to honor businesses that have provided noteworthy partnering support with their local school district and education foundation throughout the year.
OAK's service to the Collier County Public Schools and The Education Foundation of Collier County includes time, talent and financial support of programs and initiatives such as Golden Apple Teacher Recognition, Principal Leadership, Take Stock in Children, literacy and classroom mini-grants. OAK also provides support to the district's workforce development programs targeted to the construction trades.
Softrim moves operations from Naples to Estero
Softrim Corp., a supplier of telephony and information technology services, will be relocating it Naples office to Estero and has leased 6,769 square feet at Estero Park Commons on Corkscrew Road. MaryAnn Spence, commercial real estate agent of Select Real Estate by Stephanie Miller Inc., represented both the tenant and the landlord.
Fitch gives good ranking to Walter Mortgage
Walter Mortgage Co., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Tampa's Walter Industries Inc., was awarded a Residential Primary Servicer rating of "3-" by Fitch Ratings. Fitch is an international rating agency that provides independent, third party reviews of a company's ability to service mortgages.
Fitch recognized Walter Mortgage Co.'s experienced management team, loan administration procedures and default management practices in issuing the rating.
"At a time when the subprime mortgage industry is struggling with higher delinquencies and default rates, our portfolio continues to strengthen," Mark O'Brien, chairman and CEO of JWH Holdings LLC, said in a press release. "Our continued low delinquency rates are a testament to our disciplined underwriting guidelines that focus on traditional fixed-rate financing options for our affordable housing customers, as well as the outstanding performance of our mortgage servicing platform."
The company's Financial Services Group reported a delinquency rate of 3.4% at March 31, 2007, an improvement of 100 basis points versus Dec. 31, 2006 and a 30-basis-point improvement over March 31, 2006. In addition, 96% of the company's mortgages are fixed rate, significantly insulating the company from risks typically associated with adjustable rate mortgages.
Lee County Visitor, Convention Bureau director heads to St. Pete
D.T. Minich has resigned his position as executive director of the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau to take a job as executive director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau has launched a search to find Minich's successor, and senior staff will have executive director responsibilities in the interim. Minich has been employed by the LEE CVCB for 15 years and has been its director since November 2000.
Minich is credited with helping the area experience unprecedented success and growth in every key business and communications metric. The number of visitors has increased 5.2%, the average daily rate has risen 21.6% to $113.07, and economic impact is up 18.3% to more than $2 billion annually.
Moore & Williams to become Moore, Bogusz
Sarasota-based Moore & Williams Insurance, a four-decades-old insurance agency, is changing its official name and ownership. As of April 15, Moore & Williams will be known as Moore, Bogusz and Associates Inc. DBA MBA Insurors. Annette Bogusz is joining the current owners: Marlin and Lorraine Moore.
Mullet's Aluminum gets top PGT status
For the fourth consecutive year, Sarasota-based Mullet's Aluminum Products Inc. has been awarded the Excellence Through Partnership Platinum Distributor Status - the highest distributor designation awarded by PGT Industries. PGT is the nation's largest manufacturer of impact resistant windows and doors.
Mullet's Aluminum is one of only18 PGT Industries distributors in the United States to receive the platinum status.
Debbie Does Freight adds corporate division
Debbie Does Freight Inc., a Naples transportation company specializing in trade show freight services, announces the formation of DDF Logistics, a corporate freight division offering domestic and international transportation services for small- and medium-sized businesses. This new division was created to focus resources on the fast growing new business.
DDF Logistics provides drop shipment, less-than-truckload and truckload-shipping services, freight consolidation and warehousing, and third-party logistics. These services allow businesses to reduce their transportation costs.
Sean Walsh purchased Debbie Does Freight in August of 2006.
"As one of the fastest growing markets in the country, the shipping and distribution needs of Southwest Florida businesses have dramatically increased," Walsh said in a press release.
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