Articles

OneAmerica buys $700 million in business

OneAmerica Financial Partners, the Indianapolis-based insurance and financial services company, said today it has acquired a block of fixed annuity business from Transamerica Life Insurance Co. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The price was not disclosed, but the addition will boost OneAmerica’s asset base by about $700 million, pushing the total above $19 billion. The new […]

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Lilly osteoporosis drug recommended for breast cancer

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has recommended approving Eli Lilly and Co.’s Evista osteoporosis drug for cutting the risk of cancer in post-menopausal women with osteoporosis and post-menopausal women at high risk for breast cancer. The non-binding recommendation follows an announcement from Lilly earlier this month that Evista reduced the risk of certain […]

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Allison sale hits snag as investors balk

Underwriters have postponed the sale of $3.1 billion in loans that would pay for the leveraged buyout of General Motors Corp.’s Allison Transmission unit, according to The Wall Street Journal. Officials for Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, which were planning to sell the loans, were met with a cool reception from potential investors, the […]

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Grants enable Damar to add 250 jobs

Damar Services, which treats people with developmental disabilities, said today it has received $4.3 million in gifts from Lilly Endowment, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and The Indianapolis Foundation. The gifts are expected to result in 250 additional jobs at the not-for-profit, which already employs about 600 at 6324 Kentucky Ave. Damar also plans to […]

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Batesville Casket withdraws from acquisition

Hillenbrand Industries Inc. said today that its Batesville Casket Co. unit has aborted its planned acquisition of Yorktowne Caskets Inc. because it learned yesterday that Yorktowne sold some of its assets to another company. Yorktowne, of York, Pa., sold the assets to Matthews International Corp., a Pittsburgh maker of memorials, Hillenbrand alleged. Hillenbrand, headquartered in […]

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Promex Technologies to add 40 jobs in Franklin

Biopsy needle maker Promex Technologies said today it will create 40 jobs as part of an expansion of its production and office facilities in Franklin. The company has about 50 full-time-equivalent workers. It will add new injection molding, grinding and welding equipment, and double the size of its building at 3049 Hudson Street to more […]

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New drugs propel Lilly profit beyond expectations

Charges from two acquisitions caused second-quarter profits at Eli Lilly and Co. to slip. Excluding those expenses and other adjustments, Lilly’s profit zoomed past Wall Street’s estimates. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker earned 90 cents per share, excluding unusual items. Analysts expected 82 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. Lilly earned 76 cents […]

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Escalade draws new CEO from outside

Disston Tool Co. President Robert J. Keller has been named president of Escalade Inc., the Evansville-based sporting goods manufacturer. Keller replaces Terry Frandsen, Escalade’s CFO, who operated as interim CEO since the sudden death April 9 of CEO Daniel Messmer. Disston, headquartered in Philadelphia, makes saw blades, valve components and other parts. Keller also has […]

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Lilly, other drugmakers shelter millions in taxes, report says

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. and other multinational companies are socking away profits in overseas tax shelters and ultimately stripping the U.S. Treasury of about $50 billion annually, according to The New York Times. Last year, Lilly paid only 6 percent of its $3.4 billion in global profits in taxes, the newspaper said. That’s a […]

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Hill-Rom to sell hospital beds in Japan

Batesville-based Hill-Rom will sell its hospital bed systems in Japan through a Japanese bed distributor, Paramount Bed Co. Ltd. , the companies announced today. Hill-Rom, a subsidiary of Hillenbrand Industries Inc., will hit Japanese markets in early September. The two companies also will explore opportunities in the hospital and post-acute care segments in the rest of the […]

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Finish Line says Genesco exec to become president

Finish Line Inc. this afternoon said it plans to name Bob Dennis president after completing its $1.5 billion purchase of Tennessee-based Genesco Inc. Dennis currently serves as Genesco’s president, and Glenn Lyon is president of Finish Line. Lyon would remain president of the company’s Finish Line division, company spokeswoman Elise Hasbrook said. Finish Line Inc. […]

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Some analysts fret oil could hit $105 a barrel

Oil prices could soar nearly 40 percent, to $105 a barrel, within a few months, according to analysts quoted by Bloomberg. While some skeptics doubt such a dire scenario, other experts fret that rising demand, military conflict in Iran and continued chaos in Iraq suddenly could cause supplies to tighten and prices to spike. “The […]

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Hicks to oversee Ball State’s Bureau of Business Research

Ball State University announced today that veteran economist Michael Hicks has been hired to direct its Bureau of Business Research. Hicks most recently was associate professor of economics at the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He replaces Patrick Barkey, now director […]

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SafetyComm to be bought by Wichita company

Noblesville-based SafetyComm Solutions has agreed to be bought Paradigm Liaison Services LLC of Wichita, Kan., for an undisclosed price, according to Wichita Business Journal. SafetyComm offers safety awareness training programs for the oil and gas industries. Paradigm is a direct mail, public awareness campaign that targets households affected by pipelines or transmissions lines.

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Steak n Shake Chili included in expanded recall

Ten-ounce cans of Steak n Shake chili have been included in an expanded recall of canned meat products blamed for botulism. Steak n Shake’s chili is made by Castleberry’s Food Co. of Augusta, Ga. The Food and Drug Administration last week recalled three hot dog chili sauces and seven other canned products made Castleberry’s after […]

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Ethanol boom could expand Louisiana Dead Zone

Voracious demand for corn from ethanol plants springing up across Indiana and elsewhere in the Midwest is expected to swell this year the so-called Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico to a record 8,543 square miles-about the size of New Jersey. The zone at the end of the Mississippi River has little fish or […]

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UPDATE: Gregg stock rises following IPO

Shares in Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer hhgregg Inc. increased $1.09, or 8.4 percent, following its initial public offering this morning at $13. The IPO price was less than the $15 to $17 Gregg anticipated July 9. In announcing today’s IPO, Gregg didn’t discuss why it pared back the price. Today’s trading launched Gregg on […]

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Boston Scientific to cut jobs after Guidant sales slump

Job cuts are on the way at Boston Scientific Corp. after the Boston company missed analysts’ profit estimates in part because of a 5.3-percent decline in sales of implantable defibrillators manufactured by Guidant Corp., the Indianapolis company that Boston Scientific acquired last year. Boston Scientific officials told analysts during a conference call this morning that […]

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New use possible for Lilly’s Evista

Eli Lilly and Co. may have found a new use for its osteoporosis drug Evista, according to Bloomberg. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Evista reduced the risk of certain invasive breast cancers in post-menopausal women. However, studies from Indianapolis-based Lilly provided weaker support for Evista’s ability to help women at high risk of […]

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