Higher raw material prices helped force Dow AgroSciences profit down by nearly half in the fourth quarter its parent, Dow Chemical Co. reported today. The Midland, Mich., chemical giant said the Indianapolis-based agriculture division turned out only $38 million in profit compared to the $74 million of a year earlier. Strong competition in Brazil and […]
International Truck and Engine Corp., a unit of Illinois-based Navistar International Corp., and Monaco Coach Corp. of Elkhart plan to form a joint venture to make rear-engine diesel chassis for recreational vehicles, the companies said today. The joint venture, of which International will control a 51- percent stake, will manufacture more than 5,000 chassis at […]
Merrillville-based NiSource Inc. is close to selling its Indiana utility for as much as $4 billion, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Duke Energy Corp. is the most likely buyer of Northern Indiana Public Service, the story said. Also named as possible bidders were AES Corp., American Electric Power Co. and Exelon […]
Buzz Telecom Corp. of Merrillville will lose its license to operate in Ohio if Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission goes along with a recommendation by the staff of the oversight body. Consumers have lodged 274 complaints that Buzz misled older adults into switching long-distance service, according to The Akron Beacon Journal. The recommendation follows an investigation […]
Profit fell 10.6 percent to $4.2 million in Steak n Shake Co.’s first fiscal quarter, the Indianapolis restaurant company reported today. Same-store sales dipped 1.7 percent. However, the same-store decline was an improvement from the 3.4 percent setback in the prior quarter—a sign, the company said, that turnaround efforts are moving in a positive direction.
Celadon Group Inc. said today profit in its second fiscal quarter increased 26.4 percent, to $6.1 million. The Indianapolis-based long-haul trucking company said the quarter was its most “challenging” in several years. A decline in freight traffic late in the quarter reduced miles its trucks were driven and increased the number of miles they were […]
Lilly Ventures, the venture capital arm of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. has co-led a $44 million round of financing for Cylene Pharmaceuticals Inc., the San Diego drug discovery company said today. HBM BioVentures Ltd. of Switzerland lead the round. It is Lilly’s first investment in Cylene; it’s share of the financing was not […]
Lilly Ventures, the venture capital arm of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. has co-led a $44 million round of financing for Cylene Pharmaceuticals Inc., the San Diego drug discovery company said today. HBM BioVentures Ltd. of Switzerland lead the round. It is Lilly’s first investment in Cylene; it’s share of the financing was not […]
Mattress Firm, a Houston-based mattress retailer with three Indianapolis stores, has been sold to management and the Boston private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates LP. The seller was Sun Capital Partners Inc., the Florida private equity firm that bought Marsh Supermarkets in September for $88 million.
Two high-level managers at the new Conrad Indianapolis hotel downtown have resigned effective at the end of the month, the hotel said today. The hotel said today General Manager Jan Chovanec will leave at the end of this month to move closer to his family. Director of Sales and Marketing David Catalon has taken a […]
If Indianapolis wins its bid to host the Super Bowl in 2011, the region would attract 98,000 visitors and reap $131 million in direct spending, an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows. Spending could be as high as $262 million when certain indirect spending, such as a concession company’s purchase of goods from local firms, is applied. […]
WellPoint Inc. reported a 23-percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, to $801.1 million, on revenue of $14.6 billion, a rise of 28.9 percent. For the year, the Indianapolis-based health insurer said profit rose 25.6 percent, to $3.1 billion. Revenue of $57 billion was up 28 percent. The upswing was driven mainly by new enrollments and the […]
Rene Champaigne is retiring as CEO of ITT Educational Services Inc. in April after pushing the value of stock in the Carmel company to $70 a share from virtually nothing a decade ago. Champagne, 65, has been chief executive since 1985. He will remain chairman and be paid an annual salary of $560,000, according […]
Mittler Supply Inc., a South Bend-based independent distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases as well as welding equipment and supplies, has agreed to be bought by Praxair Distribution Inc. for an undisclosed price. Praxair is a subsidiary of Praxair Inc. of Danbury, Conn. Mittler generated $73 million in sales last year and has 210 […]
The Florida businessman whose financially troubled airline forced Integra Bank to write off $17.7 million in bad loans is being sued by music groups including Backstreet Boys and ’N Sync over royalties, according to the Evansville Courier. Louis J. “Lou” Pearlman, a first cousin of folk singer Art Garfunkel, is heavily involved in recording music […]
Strong demand for recycled steel and falling energy prices helped Steel Dynamics Inc. churn out $105 million in fourth-quarter profit, its second best, and $396.7 million in 2006 profit, a record. The Fort Wayne company said the quarter was an increase of 64 percent from the same period a year earlier; the year was up […]
More people watched the AFC title game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots than any non-Super Bowl television show since the final episode of Friends, according to CBS, which broadcast Sunday’s game. The 46.7 million people viewing the Colts-Patriots game compared to 52.5 million who tuned into the conclusion of NBC’s Friends in […]
A study released this week projects $66 billion changing hands among generations in Indiana over the next 10 years. If 5 percent of the amount were donated to charity, the resulting $164 million a year in income could be made available to communities, according to the study sponsor, the Indiana Grantmakers Council. Other findings include: […]
State job numbers rose 0.3 percent in December from the same month last year, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. The 2,986,300 nonfarm jobs were down slightly from November but in line with a long-term trend of plodding growth. The Indianapolis area also maintained a steady upward pace, increasing 0.8 percent from December […]
Visitors to French Lick Resort Casino dumped $1.8 million in wagers and admission taxes in December, the casino’s first full month, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission. The casino opened Nov. 3. Argosy casino in Lawrenceburg collected the most among the state’s 11 riverboat casinos, $15.5 million. The riverboats reported a total of $76.3 million […]
