The cross-continent mega deal that made Brightpoint Inc. the world’s biggest wireless phone distributor
has lost much of its sheen two years after being struck. Brightpoint Inc. in August 2007 purchased Denmark-based
Dangaard Telecom for $385 million in stock and the assumption of $350 million in Dangaard debt.
Two Indianapolis benefits consulting firms have finalized their merger, the companies announced this morning. Terms of the
deal between Benefit Associates Inc. and Benefit Consultants Inc., in the works since March, were not disclosed.
Private equity firms have a reputation as ruthless acquirers. They slash fat and jettison sluggish product lines, all in a quest to wring out higher profits and grow the parts of the business with the most potential. For Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences—or at least for its 1,200 local employees—a buyer like that would be a godsend. […]
By purchasing two struggling airlines for which it flies, Republic Airways Holdings is taking aboard substantial risks that
threaten its profitable niche, analysts say. Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines are not only leaking money, but fly at
an altitude where major carriers routinely dogfight
in a fare war Republic hasn’t had to fight as a contract carrier.
National acquisition-and-merger rage among benefits firms continues as Gallagher swallows groups in Noblesville and Louisville.
Gallagher’s Carmel office grows its client portfolio to 300.
The city’s third-largest law firm is poised to tie the knot with Kentucky’s Greenebaum Doll & McDonald. But differences in the way the firms compensate partners are taking longer than expected to sort out.
Express Scripts Inc. has cleared an
antitrust review for its planned purchase of Indianapolis-based WellPoint
Inc.’s pharmacy benefits management business, bringing the $4.7 billion deal
closer to completion.
Compared with some of his pharmaceutical CEO peers these days, John Lechleiter has his company on a diet. Instead of using a mega-merger to bulk up before the famine that patent expirations will bring on the industry next year,
Lechleiter has Eli Lilly and Co. burning management fat while looking for smaller companies to munch on.
Indianapolis residents have been passionate about Ritter’s handmade frozen custard ever since it debuted almost two decades
ago. But while the ice cream is sweet, the story of the former mom-and-pop company’s attempts to morph into something grander
is decidedly bitter. Now, New York-based TruFoods, which bought the company in May 2008, is trying to get the formula
right.
In a March 13 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, publicly traded White River revealed it’s postponed its merger with First Chicago Bancorp, and now is negotiating new terms.
Investors cheered this morning after WellPoint Inc. agreed to sell its pharmacy management unit to Express Scripts Inc., but
the fate of about 2,100 WellPoint employees now is up in the air.
WellPoint Inc. has
agreed to sell its pharmacy benefits management arm for $4.675 billion in cash and stock to St. Louis-based Express Scripts,
the companies announced April 13.
Benefits brokers and agents—facing increasing demands from employers and declining commissions—are merging at an
accelerating
pace.
Tim Durham is facing allegations of self-dealing after a publicly traded company he helps run in Dallas acquired assets from
a finance company he owns in Ohio.
PNC CEO James Rohr, 60, recently sat down with IBJ to discuss the merger between PNC
Financial Services Group Inc. and National City Corp., as well as the recession and PNC’s strategy.
The state’s two biggest pension funds are poised to combine into one Indiana Public Retirement System, with a single executive
director and board.
One of the largest independent survivors of the subprime debacle is staking its future on a real estate appraisal business based in Indianapolis.
Companies searching for a merger or acquisition partner had one heck of a time finding a match last year. Place much of the
blame on the credit crunch that rattled the nation’s economy and sent deal-making into a downward spiral.
After a 17-year run in Indianapolis, National City’s trademark green signs are set to be replaced with the blue of Pittsburgh-based
PNC Financial.
Eli Lilly and Co. CEO John Lechleiter played a game of pharmaceutical poker with former Lilly Chief Financial Officer Jim
Cornelius—and won.
