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IPOs take minor dip in 2005: Analysts stay optimistic; 3 Indiana companies set to go public in early ’06

Three Indiana companies took the plunge to go public last year, two less than the number that did so in 2004. The state’s slight dip in initial public offerings mirrors the slump in activity nationally. But Indiana appears to be off to a fast start for 2006. Three other Hoosier companies filed to go public late last year, but had yet to complete their IPOs by year’s end. Overall, the number of companies that went public on the major U.S….

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SPORTS: Crazy-with-grief Colts fans, you’re now on the air

Welcome to WIBJ Radio. I’m Beebee, your host of “Sports Geeks.” Our first caller is Fred from Franklin. Fred? Beebs, man, here’s how we handle those low-life, stomp-onour-hearts, marshmallow-soft Indianapolis Colts. We take their new stadium away. I mean, they are not worthy. So until they reach the Super Bowl, I say keep ’em in the Dome. Fred, what do we do with that big hole? Fill it in with water so the bean company can have beachfront property. Let’s…

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Appliance biz heads north: Clark to open Castleton store, compete with H.H. Gregg Fine Lines for high-end customers

The high-end appliance retailer Clark Appliance Showcase will open a store practically in the back yard of its closest competitor in early March. Does the move signal a turf battle between two local retailers that cater to homeowners willing to pay luxury car prices for a kitchen? Not really. The local market for products such as $10,000 Viking ranges is growing so fast that executives at Clark and H.H. Gregg think there’s room for both on the northeast side. “It’s…

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Busy year, but no record: A Wellpoint deal leads list for second year in row, but 2005 lacks blockbuster

For the second year in a row, a giant Wellpoint deal led the pack. As much money was involved in Wellpoint’s $6.7 billion acquisition of WellChoice Inc. as in the rest of the list combined. It was a huge deal by most any company’s standard-except Wellpoint’s. The year before, Wellpoint’s $22.7 billion merger with Anthem Inc. led all deals and then some. Thanks to that single mega-deal, 2004’s $31 billion list total shattered all previous local merger and acquisition records….

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Call puts Smulyan on spot; fellow execs know feeling

Emmis Communications Corp. didn’t have the best news to report when it rolled out fiscal third-quarter financial results Jan. 9. Expect radio revenue next quarter to increase just 1 percent to 2 percent, the company said, even as expenses climb more than 5 percent. Then, on the investor conference call that followed, Wachovia Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker didn’t think CEO Jeff Smulyan was his regular, upbeat self. “Jeff, your tone is less optimistic than it’s usually been,” she said on…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Americans’ spending binge is ultimately unsustainable

Americans don’t save much these days. Twenty years ago, our 9-percent rate of savings was troubling and somewhat embarrassing, compared with the double-digit savings rates of other industrialized economies. But that rate seems sky-high compared with today. If savings rates remain as low as they’ve been the last few months, we may have to rename them. Dis-saving rates? It’s an odd-sounding word, if it even is one. But what else do you call a negative savings rate? According to the…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Call puts Smulyan on spot; fellow execs know feeling

Emmis Communications Corp. didn’t have the best news to report when it rolled out fiscal third-quarter financial results Jan. 9. Expect radio revenue next quarter to increase just 1 percent to 2 percent, the company said, even as expenses climb more than 5 percent. Then, on the investor conference call that followed, Wachovia Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker didn’t think CEO Jeff Smulyan was his regular, upbeat self. “Jeff, your tone is less optimistic than it’s usually been,” she said on…

Read More

Busy year, but no record: A Wellpoint deal leads list for second year in row, but 2005 lacks blockbuster

For the second year in a row, a giant Wellpoint deal led the pack. As much money was involved in Wellpoint’s $6.7 billion acquisition of WellChoice Inc. as in the rest of the list combined. It was a huge deal by most any company’s standard-except Wellpoint’s. The year before, Wellpoint’s $22.7 billion merger with Anthem Inc. led all deals and then some. Thanks to that single mega-deal, 2004’s $31 billion list total shattered all previous local merger and acquisition records….

Read More

SPORTS: Crazy-with-grief Colts fans, you’re now on the air

Welcome to WIBJ Radio. I’m Beebee, your host of “Sports Geeks.” Our first caller is Fred from Franklin. Fred? Beebs, man, here’s how we handle those low-life, stomp-onour-hearts, marshmallow-soft Indianapolis Colts. We take their new stadium away. I mean, they are not worthy. So until they reach the Super Bowl, I say keep ’em in the Dome. Fred, what do we do with that big hole? Fill it in with water so the bean company can have beachfront property. Let’s…

Read More

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Americans’ spending binge is ultimately unsustainable

Americans don’t save much these days. Twenty years ago, our 9-percent rate of savings was troubling and somewhat embarrassing, compared with the double-digit savings rates of other industrialized economies. But that rate seems sky-high compared with today. If savings rates remain as low as they’ve been the last few months, we may have to rename them. Dis-saving rates? It’s an odd-sounding word, if it even is one. But what else do you call a negative savings rate? According to the…

Read More

IPOs take minor dip in 2005: Analysts stay optimistic; 3 Indiana companies set to go public in early ’06

Three Indiana companies took the plunge to go public last year, two less than the number that did so in 2004. The state’s slight dip in initial public offerings mirrors the slump in activity nationally. But Indiana appears to be off to a fast start for 2006. Three other Hoosier companies filed to go public late last year, but had yet to complete their IPOs by year’s end. Overall, the number of companies that went public on the major U.S….

Read More

Appliance biz heads north: Clark to open Castleton store, compete with H.H. Gregg Fine Lines for high-end customers

The high-end appliance retailer Clark Appliance Showcase will open a store practically in the back yard of its closest competitor in early March. Does the move signal a turf battle between two local retailers that cater to homeowners willing to pay luxury car prices for a kitchen? Not really. The local market for products such as $10,000 Viking ranges is growing so fast that executives at Clark and H.H. Gregg think there’s room for both on the northeast side. “It’s…

Read More

Bike Line, Broad Ripple firm plan Mass Ave purchases: Two sales would be latest in owner-occupant trend

Two buildings on Massachusetts Avenue downtown are slated to change hands in coming weeks as two Broad Ripple businesses stake their claims on the resurging corridor. The first deal scheduled to close is the sale of 409 Massachusetts Ave., owned for the last 15 years by advertising firm Young & Laramore. Elizabeth Dillon, owner of RN Specialties, plans to move her growing 10-year-old company and its 21 employees into the 17,000-square-foot building after minor renovations to the ad agency’s former…

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Growing numbers facing ‘rich’ tax: Alternative minimum tax reaching middle class

The number of Americans subject to the alternative minimum tax is expected to skyrocket this year unless Congress passes a retroactive safeguard. The tax, designed to prevent the rich from skirting taxation, threatens more middle-class families every year because of inflation. But because federal lawmakers failed to extend a “patch” that normally protects the less-than-wealthy from the AMT, it is estimated that 16 million more taxpayers could fall into its grasp this year. The AMT is catching many local taxpayers…

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Daniels’ team shakes up pension fund for teachers: Retirement plan may risk more on private equity

Under Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana is renewing its commitment to making sure teachers receive their pensions. But in the process, the state may also put their pension principal at greater risk. State Budget Director Chuck Schalliol said the $7.5 billion Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund is considering expanding its holdings in private equity. The enormous pension fund already allocates 5 percent of its assets, or $240 million, toward such investments, which include venture capital, real estate and leveraged buyouts. Highly…

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TOM HARTON Commentary: On defense, Republicans get divisive

After Republicans Scott Keller and Lance Langsford broke party ranks at the Dec.19 City-County Council meeting and voted for cop consolidation and an expanded human-rights ordinance, fellow Republican Jim Bradford e-mailed them and questioned whether they were true Republicans. Lately, it’s Bradford and other Republican hard-liners who don’t seem like the Indianapolis Republicans of old. Republicans mayors Richard Lugar, William Hudnut and Steve Goldsmith provided pragmatic, progressive leadership here in the 1970s and ’80s and ’90s. Lugar and longtime Council…

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Big sale finishes hot year: Firm buys 6 office buildings at Keystone at the Crossing; price lags other mega-deals

A record year for sales of local office properties is ending with a bang, as a half dozen buildings at Keystone at the Crossing change hands. Philadelphia-based Berwind Property Group purchased a six-building portfolio, including the high-rise office towers at Keystone at the Crossing, from Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association. The deal, which closed Dec. 22, includes buildings totaling about 1 million square feet at 8500, 8888, 8900, 8930, 9100 and 9200 Keystone Crossing, developed by locally based Duke Realty…

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Marsh puts itself up for sale:

Locally based Marsh Supermarkets Inc. closed out perhaps the most disappointing year in its nearly 75-year history by hanging a for-sale sign on its front door. The announcement came Nov. 29, the same day the grocer reported another disappointing quarter-this time a $3.4 million loss on revenue of $549.6 million. Marsh said it had hired Merrill Lynch to explore alternatives, including a sale, but otherwise said little. Increasing competition from large-format retailers such as Wal-Mart is partly to blame for…

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Hotel proposed for Hamilton County’s Strawtown: Site overlaps sensitive American Indian land

Hamilton County park officials hope to find a developer to build a three-star hotel in 750-acre Strawtown Koteewi Park, an area rich with fragile American Indian artifacts. Businesses near the northeastern Hamilton County park love the idea. American Indian groups are less enthusiastic, but willing to work with park officials. “It’s kind of disturbing,” said Chief Brian Buchanan of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana. “You wouldn’t want anybody digging up your grandmother.” Buchanan learned of…

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Duke, Bremner pairing bearing fruit for both companies: Venture surpasses goals with $100 million in projects

A year after forming a joint venture to pursue health care development, Duke Realty Corp. and Bremner Healthcare Real Estate are preparing to storm the Southeast, one of Duke’s stronghold markets, by opening offices in Atlanta and Miami, and by bringing on a new partner. Announced last December, Duke’s and Bremner’s joint venture this year locked up $100 million worth of projects, ranging from a medical office building on Michigan Road in Hamilton County to an outpatient hospital in Summit,…

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