Direct Buy Inc., a Merrillville company that franchises 149 centers where members buy directly from manufacturers, has been acquired by Miami-based private investment firm Trivest Partners LP and Direct Buy managers. Terms were not disclosed. The parties said the deal will infuse the company with strategic and financial resources to expand. In Indiana, Direct Buy […]
The U.S. Department of Justice has started an inquiry into its internal practices after the law firm of former Attorney General John Ashcroft was named to oversee business practices of Warsaw-based prosthetics maker Zimmer Holdings Inc. Current Attorney General Michael Mukasey and some aides fear the department appears to be in a conflict of interest, […]
Work on a $530 million automotive transmission plant near Tipton has ground to a halt over a dispute between its partners, Chrysler LLC and German transmission maker Getrag. Construction stopped Dec. 21, ostensibly for a holiday break, but the work hasn’t resumed, according the Kokomo Tribune. Without naming its sources, the newspaper reported that the […]
Some online traders made $100 for every $1 they bet on Hillary Clinton’s winning the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. Clinton’s chances of taking the pivotal state were so battered after she placed second to Barack Obama in Iowa that Obama’s odds had skyrocketed to 99 percent. One poll showed Obama leading Clinton […]
The soft economy might feel like a recession, but isn’t, and conditions won’t deteriorate into a recession. That’s the take of 62 economists surveyed by Bloomberg from Jan. 3-8. Their median estimate predicts the economy will grow 1.5 percent through June, the slowest since the final three quarters of 2001. One of the economists, Mickey […]
A sluggish radio market continued to plague Emmis Communications Corp., which today reported a fiscal third-quarter loss of $2.1 million. The locally based media company showed a $946,000 profit a year earlier. Revenue in the three months ended Nov. 30 was $91.7 million, up slightly from $91.2 million last year. Radio revenue fell 3.2 percent, […]
Nearly 103,000 visitors took in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s recently closed exhibit “Roman Art from the Louvre,” setting an attendance record for a traveling exhibit at the IMA. The collection of Roman artifacts opened Sept. 23 and closed Jan. 6, logging 102,980 visits and eclipsing the previous record holder, “Gifts to the Tsars.” That […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved once-daily use of Cialis, the anti-impotence pill made by Eli Lilly and Co., the Indianapolis drugmaker announced today. The once-daily version is a lower dose designed to allow men to have sex at any time between doses. It already has been available in parts of Europe. Since […]
South Bend-based GramTel USA Inc. has been acquired by Cincinnati Bell Inc. for about $20 million. GramTel, which was a unit of Chicago-based Jordan Industries Inc., provides disaster recovery, data backup and related services. It expects to post revenue of about $5 million for 2007, a 73-percent increase from 2006. In early December, Cincinnati Bell […]
Georgia-based Great Dane Trailers has laid off 130 workers at its plant in Brazil in west-central Indiana, reports The Tribune-Star in Terre Haute. The company said a downturn in the housing and automotive markets prompted the layoffs at the plant, which employs about 1,000. Great Dane officials expect the market to turn around in the […]
Miller Plating & Finishing LLC in Evansville closed at the end of the year after a struggle with bankruptcy, according to the Evansville Courier & Press. About 90 workers lost jobs at the company, which focused on plating and polishing metal. Miller sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and then filed Chapter 7, placing its assets […]
Shares of Eli Lilly and Co. jumped more than 4 percent today after a Morgan Stanley analyst upgraded the stock to “equal weight” from “underweight.” After opening at $53.16, the shares rose as high as $54.49; the stock traded near $54.10 early this afternoon. Morgan Stanley broker Jami Rubin said Wall Street’s fears about Lilly […]
A ban on drawing greater amounts of water from the Great Lakes is expected to pass the Indiana General Assembly this session, according to the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. The Great Lakes Compact – agreed to by governors of eight states and two Canadian provinces – would prohibit new and increased diversions unless the governors approved. […]
Traders are running up the price of oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange despite some analysts’ predictions that oil will fall as the economy slows. In the past two months, $200 options have increased 10-fold, to 5,533 contracts, according to Bloomberg. That’s the fastest-growing bet on oil. Matthew Simmons, chairman of an energy-focused investment […]
Officescape, an Indianapolis-based provider of technology for offices, has bought BMS, a broadband management service, from Telamon Corp. in Carmel for an undisclosed price. Officescape said the transition would be seamless, and that the nine BMS workers would be offered jobs. Headquartered at 8910 Purdue Road on the northwest side, locally owned Officescape has 20 […]
Indianapolis drug company Eli Lilly and Co. and its development partner met their year-end deadline to submit blood thinner prasugrel for regulatory approval. Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. filed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval on Dec. 26, they announced today. Prasugrel could be a blockbuster if it successfully supplants the current best-selling […]
The Indiana Children’s Wish Fund has received a settlement of an undisclosed amount related to an investment made by a brokerage firm the Wish Fund said was too risky, according to The New York Times. In June, The Wish Fund invested nearly $223,000 in a mutual fund recommended by Morgan Keegan. The fund, which had […]
Ivy Tech Community College has created the position of provost and named Donald Doucette to the post. The provost serves as chief academic officer of the college, overseeing development and implantation of Ivy Tech’s 150 programs on its 23 campuses across the state. More than 110,000 students are enrolled at Ivy Tech. Since 1993, Doucette, […]
The sole remaining car dealership in Gary has been sold, and it won’t stay in the struggling city. The Dodge franchise was sold by Bob Nielsen and Jeff Nielsen to Isakson Chrysler in nearby Hobart, according to the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. The Nielsens have shifted parts and service operations to their Buick and Subaru dealership […]
Soaring oil prices and unrest in the Middle East and other regions where oil is plentiful may help the drilling industry in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, according to the Evansville Courier & Press. Drilling in the three states may have increased 20 percent in the past few years, Chris Mitchell, president of Illinois-based George N. […]
