Corporate Report: Sept. 10 - Sept. 16

BankAtlantic plans to exit Tampa, sell assets to focus in South Florida

The poor performance of Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in its most recent quarter will have a major impact on the Gulf Coast's banking landscape.

After posting a $51.3 million net loss, the company said it plans to sell its 19 Tampa Bay area branch offices, which hold $400 million in deposits.

BankAtlantic seeks to concentrate on the South Florida market, where it has been most successful. The sale would save the company between $15 million and $20 million in annual expenses, as well as improve regulatory capital ratios, a release said.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. manages $4 billion in deposits.

US Natural Gas Corp. starts sulfa treatment work

St. Petersburg-based US Natural Gas Corp. has started installing a sulfa treatment facility for its West Virginia natural gas project to remove contaminants, mainly hydrogen sulfide, from production.

It recently set two vertical pressure treatment vessels and, during the next two weeks, contractors will complete the fabrication of the facility and tie it into the gathering system.

US Natural Gas has also partially completed drilling three deep wells to an average total depth of 4,800 feet.

“Now that we have completed the fabrication of most of our ancillary facilities, we can now focus on increasing production through the completion of these wells and drilling new wells,” Wayne Anderson, president of US Natural Gas, said in a press release. “Early indications give us extreme optimism that they well be commercially viable wells and contribute to our daily production.”

US Natural Gas Corp finds, acquires and develops mature long-lived oil and natural gas properties, with current operations focused in the Appalachian Basin.

WellCare offers settlement in securities case for $200 million

In a settlement on a class-action securities lawsuit, Tampa-based WellCare Health Plans Inc. plans to make a $52.5 million payment to the plaintiffs following preliminary court approval, and another $35 million by July 31, 2011.

The company will also issue $112.5 million in unsecured bonds with a fixed interest rate of 6%. The principal portion of them will mature at the end of 2016. In addition, if within three years of the agreement WellCare experiences a change in control at a share price of $30 or more, it will make up to an additional $25 million in payments to the claimants.

The company expects to resolve the case for $200 million. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida must still approve the agreement.

In addition, WellCare said it had reached a preliminary settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys' offices for the Middle District of Florida and Connecticut.

“Upon final approval of these two matters, these resolutions will enable us to focus on serving some of the country's most vulnerable populations and to invest in our priority areas: health care quality and access, compliance, infrastructure and growth,” said Chuck Berg, WellCare's executive chairman said in a press release.

In May of 2009, the company resolved investigations by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, the Florida Attorney General's Office and the SEC.

WellCare Health Plans Inc. provides managed care services exclusively for government-sponsored health care programs, focusing on Medicaid and Medicare.

Brown & Brown subsidiaries buy assets of two firms

Subsidiaries of Daytona Beach- and Tampa-based Brown & Brown Inc. purchased the assets of both Synergy Benefits Inc., Potomac Falls, Va., and Wakefield, Mass.-based Crowe Paradis Holding Co. LLC and two related entities.

Synergy Benefits provides employee benefits to companies in the Washington D.C. metro area. It reported annual revenues of $1.2 million.

Crowe Paradis, a national provider of Social Security plus Medicare advocacy and second injury fund recovery services, had annual revenues of $23 million. Crowe Paradis Services Corp. is not part of this transaction.

Brown & Brown Inc. offers insurance and reinsurance products and services, plus risk management, third-party administration, managed health care and Medicare set-aside services and programs.

Tower Cloud raises $25.5 million from stock sale

Tower Cloud Inc., a St. Petersburg-based telecommunications company, raised $25.5 million in capital by selling equity to investors, according to an SEC filing.

Ballast Point Ventures, based in St. Petersburg; The Burton Partnership, based in Tampa; plus Sutter Hill Ventures of Palo Alto, El Dorado Ventures of Menlo Park, and Noro-Moseley Partners of Atlanta, bought equity stakes in the company.

Tower Cloud helps mobile companies handle large amounts of bandwidth required for mobile voice and data services.

Port Manatee designated by DOT for Marine Highway Program

The U.S. Department of Transportation designated Port Manatee as one of several marine-based economic thoroughfares eligible for federal funding through America's Marine Highway Program.

Port Manatee combines with Texas' Port of Brownsville to bookend the Cross-Gulf Container Expansion Project, comprising 926 miles and spanning five states. With the designation, the ports can compete for $7 million in federal funding dedicated to the program.

“Making better use of our rivers and coastal routes offers an intelligent way to relieve some of the biggest challenges we face in transportation,” said Ray LaHood, U.S. DOT secretary.

U.S. Department of Commerce awards grant for USF CONNECT

The University of South Florida received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to develop its USF CONNECT program at the Mote Aquaculture Research Park in Sarasota.

Research at Mote focuses on the cost-effective, environmentally sound growth of freshwater fish and invertebrates for commercial purposes.

Rod Casto, executive director of the USF Research Foundation, said that Mote has already invested $23 million into programs at the facility. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association estimates that the aquaculture industry is collectively worth $70 billion in annual revenues.

Plasma-Therm selling etcher device to university

The Department of Physics and Technology at the University of Bergen in Norway has ordered a 790+ Reactive Ion Etcher from St. Petersburg-based Plasma-Therm for its nano-fabrication facility.

The device allows users to etch a variety of structures and materials required for advanced research.

The university plans to use it to create zone plate lenses for neutral-helium microscopes. The precision-made lenses in microscopes will enable the examination of extremely small nano objects and measure their magnetic properties.

Storm ex-owner, current coach fight back in legal countersuit

While the competitive season for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League recently ended — being denied its sixth league title in losing the ArenaBowl XXIII championship game to the Spokane Shock, 69-57 — the team's legal battles continue and have entered a new phase.

Peter “Woody” Kern, former team owner, and current head coach Tim Marcum, have countersued Tampa orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Nucci in Hillsborough County Circuit Court claiming he has not met financial obligations since buying the franchise three years ago. Their attorney, Patrick Sprague, says a payment scheduled for July 15 was missed.

Nucci, who agreed to pay $18.9 million for the Storm in 2007, claims in his June 25 suit that Kern and Marcum withheld information about the AFL's debt situation prior to the deal. The league canceled its 2009 season and sold rights to current teams to Arena Football One for $6.1 million last August.

The Storm's current owner is Tampa Bay Storm Partners LLC, a private investor group.

The Business Review first reported on the Storm's legal issues in July.