Articles

UPDATE: Lilly sees brighter future despite setback

Eli Lilly and Co. today boosted profit forecasts for the year while reporting that first-quarter profit fell nearly 40 percent. Officials for the Indianapolis drugmaker said they were encouraged by strong trends in certain parts of the company’s business. Excluding one-time costs, such as the recent purchase of Icos Corp., they raised full-year profit guidance […]

Read More

Fortune closes Salt Lake City deal

Fortune Industries Inc. has closed its acquisition of Employer Solutions Group of Salt Lake City, Utah. The cash-and-stock deal is valued at $11.2 million. Employer Solutions Group provides human resource management services, such as payroll and benefits administration, to about 375 companies, and will retain its Salt Lake City headquarters and regional office in Loveland, […]

Read More

Icos purchase causes Lilly profit to dip 39 percent

Indianapolis drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. saw first-quarter profit fall nearly 40 percent from a year earlier, to $508.7 million, due to its $2.3 billion acquisition of Bothell, Wash.-based Icos Corp. Lilly developed the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis in a joint venture with Icos.   Without the Icos expense, Lilly profit jumped 9 percent, to […]

Read More

Sallie Mae to be bought for $25 billion.

Sallie Mae, the student loan provider, has agreed to be acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, and two private investment funds for $25 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported this morning.   Reston, Va.-based Sallie Mae, officially known as SLM Corp., employs 2,300 workers in Fishers and another 500 in Muncie.   […]

Read More

Evansville to get Cingular call center, report says

Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to be in Evansville at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time today to participate in an AT&T announcement that it will place a call center in the southwestern Indiana city.   The call center, which will service Cingular Wireless customers, will employ more than 500, according to the Evansville Courier & Press. […]

Read More

Hasten brothers commit to funding Jewish students

Hart and Mark Hasten, who sold Kokomo-based First National Bank & Trust in January to Harris Bankcorp Inc. of Chicago, have given a grant to Hasten Hebrew Academy that paves the way for more low-income students to attend the school. Some families didn’t qualify for assistance programs already in place or were reluctant to disclose […]

Read More

Indianapolis-area home sales dip nearly 9 percent

Pended sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums in the nine-county Indianapolis area fell 8.9 percent in March from the same month last year, F.C. Tucker Co. said today. The sale of 2,763 units was a set-back due to lingering wintry weather in February, said the brokerage, which bases its report on Metropolitan Indianapolis Board […]

Read More

Escalade announces interim CEO, less profit

Evansville-based sporting goods maker Escalade Inc. today announced that CFO Terry Frandsen will serve as interim CEO following the sudden April 9 death of CEO Daniel Messmer. Frandsen also will continue serving as CFO. The company has begun a search for Messmer’s permanent replacement. Escalade also reported $1.1 million in profit for the quarter ended […]

Read More

Mortgage woes clip Irwin Financial

A troubled mortgage market and a charge-off from a bad loan in Michigan likely will result in a $5 million-$10 million first-quarter loss for Irwin Financial Corp, the Columbus company said today. The quality of the bank holding company’s traditional mortgage business remains strong, but it said turmoil in the secondary market likely will lead […]

Read More

Glicks to donate $30 million to IU medical school.

Apartment-builder Gene Glick and his wife Marilyn will give $30 million to found an eye institute at the Indiana University School of Medicine, the school announced this morning. Two-thirds of the money will pay for a new building to house the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute. The remainder will fund research on eye diseases, […]

Read More

Sallie Mae eyed by private equity buyer, report says.

The New York buyout firm Blackstone Group might offer $20 billion to take over the parent of student loan provider Sallie Mae, The New York Times reported this morning. Sallie Mae, which is owned by Reston, Va.-based SLM Corp., operates a loan processing center in Fishers and has a new loan-collection service in Muncie that […]

Read More

Dow AgroSciences parent might become takeover target

Dow Chemical Co. CEO Andrew Liveris said this week that he doesn’t want to sell the Midland, Mich., company. But that doesn’t mean private equity firms eyeing Dow won’t return with hostile offers, according to a Bloomberg report. The parent of Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences fired Executive Vice President Romeo Kreinberg and J. Pedro Reinhard, a […]

Read More

American General to expand Evansville headquarters.

American General Financial Services received the go-ahead yesterday from the Evansville Area Plan Commission to buy industrial property near its downtown headquarters. The consumer finance company wants to add 135,000 square feet of offices at an estimated cost of $35 million, although only 15 jobs would be created, according to the Courier & Press. Owned […]

Read More

Tipton could land economic development prize

Indiana might be on the verge of landing the largest economic development plum since Honda Motor Co. announced in June that it would build a $550 million assembly plant in the southeastern Indiana city of Greensburg. Getrag Corporate Group, a German company that specializes in manufacturing transmissions, is likely to announce in the next few […]

Read More

Dow ousts 2 over unauthorized sale talks

Dow Chemical Co., parent of Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences, said today that it has fired two longtime executives because they “were involved in unauthorized discussions with third parties about the potential acquisition of the company.” A British newspaper reported over the weekend that an investor group had lined up financing to make a $50 billion bid […]

Read More

Carmel nursing home cited for violations

Manor Care at Summer Trace in Carmel has violated several state regulations for long-term care facilities, the Indiana State Department of Health said this morning. The Department of Health said it wants to put the facility on probation, and require the facility to hire a nurse and licensed administrator consultants. Among violations found in four […]

Read More

BREAKING: Citizens to close Coke plant

Citizens Gas & Coke Utility will close its 99-year-old Indianapolis Coke plant on the southeast side, eliminating 300 jobs. The utility said today it was unsuccessful in finding a buyer for the plant despite interest from about 20 firms over the last 11 months. Sources outside the company who were close to the talks said […]

Read More

Dirt sought for potential Getrag site

The owner of a farm near the rural Tipton site where Getrag Corporate Group has filed preliminary plans to build a $560 million transmission plant says an Evansville contractor has offered to buy dirt to add elevation to the site. The landowner, Kip Bergman, said the company wants 200,000 cubic yards, according to the Kokomo […]

Read More

BREAKING: Staffing firm to add 200 jobs downtown.

Princeton One, a New Jersey–based staffing firm, will announce tomorrow that it is adding about 200 jobs in downtown’s Century Building, 36 S. Pennsylvania St. Average pay for the jobs will be $70,000, according to a source close to the project. Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson have scheduled a press […]

Read More

Hammond Kennedy sells Effox to Ceco

Effox Inc., a Cincinnati company that makes custom air-handling dampers and expansion joints, has been sold by Hammond Kennedy Whitney & Co. Inc. to Ceco Environmental Corp., also of Cincinnati. Effox had been controlled through the Indianapolis office of Hammond Kennedy, a New York private equity firm.

Read More