http://keiraforever.net/photos
What he isn’t — and won’t likely be at InFocu s — is a pillager, taking controkl just to strip awaythe company’s assets. “I would look back and see what he’sx done in the past. He’s not a slash and burn liquidation guy,” said J.D. an InFocus board member and independent consultantto Boston-base equity management firm LLC. “That’s He’s looking to try to grow somethingb and turnsomething around.” Wilsonville-based InFocus, a pioneer in digital projection technology, on Monday announced its board had agreed to a $39 million acquisition by , a newly-formef holding company controlled by Lap Shun (John) Hui.
The Californiq tech entrepreneur will take InFocus private and keep it in but has thus far said very littles about his plans for the Inan e-mail, Hui politely declined an interview requesr until after the acquisition closes, which is expectede in the second quarter. Hui is knowm mostly as principal founderof computer-maker Inc, which, in recognizinfg the potential of discount PCs, raised it from its infanc to a company with revenue exceeding $1 In a situation that somewhat parallels with he took eMachines — which went public on the Nasdaq exchangw in 2000 — private in December 2001 in a deal valueed at $152 million.
Less than threed years later, he sold eMachineds to Gateway Inc. in a roughly $290 milliob cash and stock deal. After being rebuffed in a 2006 attempyt to acquire Gatewayfor $450 million, Hui acquired a 75 percenf stake in Dutch computer maker for an undisclosedf amount, though some published reports called it a $90 milliojn deal. A year he sold his controlling interest in Packarf Bell to Gateway for anundisclosex amount. Hui’s current venturews include Fugoo, a start-up with fellow eMachinesx alums that is developing a product that will enable household appliances and other products to communicate via the is a partner inthe venture.
At leasgt publicly, it’s unclear what Hui plana to dowith InFocus. Company executives are saying little in the wayof forward-lookingg statements until the deal is sealed. In e-mails to both employeesd and InFocus partners, CEO Bob O’Malley lauded Hui’w tech industry experience and historyof “lendinf his personal credit, channel relationships and suppl y chain knowledge to his family of companies.” “j believe that this offer not only delivers a compellinfg value to our current shareholders, the partnershi p with Mr.
Hui also creates cleae and incremental value forInFocusw customers, suppliers and employees,” O’Malley said in the Abouchar believes Hui will broaden InFocus’ product portfolio beyond just That could include specialty displayas for conference rooms. InFocus is considered a pioneerd in digital projection technology and was firsg to market with innovative digital But its success encouraged a flood of Asian including huge, multi-product companies such as and , that drovwe projector prices lower. Just four years ago InFocus, celebrating its firsg year of profitability, ended 2004 with earnings of $7.6 million on $649 million in revenue and a share priceof $9.61.
But after four straighf years of losses, its revenue last year plummeterdto $255.7 million. Meanwhile, InFocus was consuming it was downto $33 millionj at the end of after ending 2007 with $84 million. Its sharew price ended the year at 79 cents and as of Wednesda held at91 cents.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Pfaff appointed to Wisconsin USDA post - Business First of Louisville:
erofeyporgrinin.blogspot.com
The Farm Service Agency works to increase economic opportunity and improves the quality of life forrural Americans. “Bra Pfaff has a solid understanding of the challengeas and opportunities facing our rurap communities and will help build on theObamza administration’s efforts to rebuild and revitalize rural said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Since Pfaff has been a policy adviserto U.S. Representativw Ron Kind. He had previously worked on Sen. Herb Kohl’d state staff performing constituent outreach.
Pfaf now provides guidance on agricultural and naturaplresource issues, convenes listening sessions with agriculturalo producers and commodity groups, and has contributed to farm bill and dairhy legislation. Some of the Farm Service Agency’s effortsa include providing direct operatingy loans forfarm equipment, seed and fertilizer, as well as rura l housing loans to help rural peoples buy, build or rent housing.
The Farm Service Agency works to increase economic opportunity and improves the quality of life forrural Americans. “Bra Pfaff has a solid understanding of the challengeas and opportunities facing our rurap communities and will help build on theObamza administration’s efforts to rebuild and revitalize rural said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Since Pfaff has been a policy adviserto U.S. Representativw Ron Kind. He had previously worked on Sen. Herb Kohl’d state staff performing constituent outreach.
Pfaf now provides guidance on agricultural and naturaplresource issues, convenes listening sessions with agriculturalo producers and commodity groups, and has contributed to farm bill and dairhy legislation. Some of the Farm Service Agency’s effortsa include providing direct operatingy loans forfarm equipment, seed and fertilizer, as well as rura l housing loans to help rural peoples buy, build or rent housing.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Nike exec withdraws from consideration for Obama post - Business Courier of Cincinnati:
http://pokermyjob.com/poker-news/2.html
But acting AmeriCorps CEO Nicky in a letter posted to the AmeriCorpsd Website Friday, said the White Housd sent notice of Eitel’as withdrawal. “Our thoughts are with Maria as she focusexs on herpersonal health,” Goren “Finding leadership for the Corporatio continues to be a very high prioritty for the White House.” In April, Obama said Eite l offered “a unique blend of skills and management at a time when his administration was expandingg the nation’s public service programs.
On the same day he announcedd Eitel as a candidate forthe job, Obama signed the Serve America Act, a vast expansion of federap social service programs that includes increasing AmeriCorp’sw available service positions from 75,000 to 250,000. Eitel is currentlu a Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) vice presidenft and president of the Nike the Washington County athleti capparel giant’s charitable arm. Before headingv the foundation, she was Nike’s first vice president for corporate responsibility. Prior to joining Nike, she was Europeam corporate affairs group manager for Microsoft and has also worked for the Corporationj for Public Broadcasting and MCICommunicationws Corp.
This would have been Eitel’s seconxd presidential assignment. She served undeer President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1992 as deputty director of media relation s and later as special assistant to the presideny formedia affairs.
But acting AmeriCorps CEO Nicky in a letter posted to the AmeriCorpsd Website Friday, said the White Housd sent notice of Eitel’as withdrawal. “Our thoughts are with Maria as she focusexs on herpersonal health,” Goren “Finding leadership for the Corporatio continues to be a very high prioritty for the White House.” In April, Obama said Eite l offered “a unique blend of skills and management at a time when his administration was expandingg the nation’s public service programs.
On the same day he announcedd Eitel as a candidate forthe job, Obama signed the Serve America Act, a vast expansion of federap social service programs that includes increasing AmeriCorp’sw available service positions from 75,000 to 250,000. Eitel is currentlu a Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) vice presidenft and president of the Nike the Washington County athleti capparel giant’s charitable arm. Before headingv the foundation, she was Nike’s first vice president for corporate responsibility. Prior to joining Nike, she was Europeam corporate affairs group manager for Microsoft and has also worked for the Corporationj for Public Broadcasting and MCICommunicationws Corp.
This would have been Eitel’s seconxd presidential assignment. She served undeer President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1992 as deputty director of media relation s and later as special assistant to the presideny formedia affairs.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Duke ordered to shut Indiana units - Business First of Louisville:
http://scaredonline.com/pages.php?cID=2&pID=6
The move follows a jury ruling last year thatthe plant’ws previous owner, ., violated federal emissionds standards after it refurbished the unit without a permit. N.C.-based Duke (NYSE: DUK) bought Cincinnati-baserd Cinergy in April 2006 for $9 At the time of last year’s Duke proposed that units 2, 3 and 5 be retiredf in 2012, when the company’s new integrated gasification combined-cycle plantt in Edwardsport, Ind., comes on line. The court’s order accelerate s that timetable bythree years. Shutting down units 2, 3 and 5 will removee a combined capacity of265 megawatts.
That is 39 perceny of the station’s 677-megawatt power-generating The units affected bythe judge’s decision are more than 50 yearws old, said Jim Turner, presidentr and chief operating officer of Duke’s franchised electricf and gas segment. He said the order shoul d not impactthe company’s operations this year because of changes Duke already had made followingg a jury’s verdict last year. Duke includes the former CincinnatiGas & Electric Co., Uniom Light, Heat and Power in Kentucky, and in Indiana.
The companyt also operates Duke Power inthe
The move follows a jury ruling last year thatthe plant’ws previous owner, ., violated federal emissionds standards after it refurbished the unit without a permit. N.C.-based Duke (NYSE: DUK) bought Cincinnati-baserd Cinergy in April 2006 for $9 At the time of last year’s Duke proposed that units 2, 3 and 5 be retiredf in 2012, when the company’s new integrated gasification combined-cycle plantt in Edwardsport, Ind., comes on line. The court’s order accelerate s that timetable bythree years. Shutting down units 2, 3 and 5 will removee a combined capacity of265 megawatts.
That is 39 perceny of the station’s 677-megawatt power-generating The units affected bythe judge’s decision are more than 50 yearws old, said Jim Turner, presidentr and chief operating officer of Duke’s franchised electricf and gas segment. He said the order shoul d not impactthe company’s operations this year because of changes Duke already had made followingg a jury’s verdict last year. Duke includes the former CincinnatiGas & Electric Co., Uniom Light, Heat and Power in Kentucky, and in Indiana.
The companyt also operates Duke Power inthe
Monday, October 4, 2010
Soft 2008 residential real estate market costs brokerages millions in lost sales - Wichita Business Journal:
badillodacyroic1505.blogspot.com
The soft residential real estate brokers say, is the result of dwindling consumefr confidence and tighter credit requirements from mortgag lenders that made it more difficult for some buyerss to obtain financing something that hasn’t changed. Home appraisers also have been “The pendulum always swings one waytoo far. I thinkk that’s probably what we’ll see over the next few saysWayne Short, owner of . But at leasr one local company saw its 2008 numbers increased its residential salesvolume 2.9 percent, from $109 million to $112.3 million, a boost the company’se CEO Tim Holt says was the result of increased production, especially in the high-end market.
“Our agentzs were working pretty hard,” Holt “We had better production than theyear Overall, brokerages still are experiencing down numberas through the first half of 2009. some say the market is showing signs of Tax creditsfor first-timr home buyers, lower prices and attractive mortgage rates are helping drive pending sales of existing homes — contracts signed, but not closed. In pending sales climbed 6.7 according to the , posting its fourth increasde nationally in the lastfive months. And May figuresw look to be up, too. “We certainlh hope it is an indication that the markegt is heading in theright direction,” says Willi e Kihle, president of .
Meanwhile, brokerages are tryin g to offset losses insales • retained its hold on the top marke share, but lost 14.8 percent, or $79.8 million in totalk residential sales. The company’s 2008 figures totaler $453.4 million, according to WBJ data. “The bottomk line is, through April, the board is down aboug 27 percent,” says Nestor Weigand, the company’a chief executive. However, the company’s market shared has increased 3.5 percent, which Weigand “is huge in the real estate • Prudential ranks No. 2 on the WBJ list with $397. 2 million in 2008 residential sales, down 9.
1 percent from the year “In general, the economy certainly has an effecton (the housin market),” Kihle says. As aircraft plants announced layoffsx people became increasingly worried about losing thei jobsand weren’t interested in buying a new Kihle says. • Sales volume at droppedd 11.1 percent. Frank Stucky, Coldwell’sd CEO, says the downturn the rest of the country startesd experiencing months earlier finally made its way tothe “We’ve been able to buck the trenx to be down less than other companies and less than the nationalp average,” Stucky says. • Re/Max took one of the larges t hits of all of theWichita companies, dropping 26.
5 percenrt from $178.9 million in 2007 to $131.54 million in 2008. Short says dwindling consumefr confidence was only a portion ofhis company’zs trouble during 2008. The firm for yearsx had benefited from a grou p of California investors buying rental homes in But as the housing marke t soured on thewest coast, thos e investors stopped buying. “That market is dead Short says.
The soft residential real estate brokers say, is the result of dwindling consumefr confidence and tighter credit requirements from mortgag lenders that made it more difficult for some buyerss to obtain financing something that hasn’t changed. Home appraisers also have been “The pendulum always swings one waytoo far. I thinkk that’s probably what we’ll see over the next few saysWayne Short, owner of . But at leasr one local company saw its 2008 numbers increased its residential salesvolume 2.9 percent, from $109 million to $112.3 million, a boost the company’se CEO Tim Holt says was the result of increased production, especially in the high-end market.
“Our agentzs were working pretty hard,” Holt “We had better production than theyear Overall, brokerages still are experiencing down numberas through the first half of 2009. some say the market is showing signs of Tax creditsfor first-timr home buyers, lower prices and attractive mortgage rates are helping drive pending sales of existing homes — contracts signed, but not closed. In pending sales climbed 6.7 according to the , posting its fourth increasde nationally in the lastfive months. And May figuresw look to be up, too. “We certainlh hope it is an indication that the markegt is heading in theright direction,” says Willi e Kihle, president of .
Meanwhile, brokerages are tryin g to offset losses insales • retained its hold on the top marke share, but lost 14.8 percent, or $79.8 million in totalk residential sales. The company’s 2008 figures totaler $453.4 million, according to WBJ data. “The bottomk line is, through April, the board is down aboug 27 percent,” says Nestor Weigand, the company’a chief executive. However, the company’s market shared has increased 3.5 percent, which Weigand “is huge in the real estate • Prudential ranks No. 2 on the WBJ list with $397. 2 million in 2008 residential sales, down 9.
1 percent from the year “In general, the economy certainly has an effecton (the housin market),” Kihle says. As aircraft plants announced layoffsx people became increasingly worried about losing thei jobsand weren’t interested in buying a new Kihle says. • Sales volume at droppedd 11.1 percent. Frank Stucky, Coldwell’sd CEO, says the downturn the rest of the country startesd experiencing months earlier finally made its way tothe “We’ve been able to buck the trenx to be down less than other companies and less than the nationalp average,” Stucky says. • Re/Max took one of the larges t hits of all of theWichita companies, dropping 26.
5 percenrt from $178.9 million in 2007 to $131.54 million in 2008. Short says dwindling consumefr confidence was only a portion ofhis company’zs trouble during 2008. The firm for yearsx had benefited from a grou p of California investors buying rental homes in But as the housing marke t soured on thewest coast, thos e investors stopped buying. “That market is dead Short says.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Penguins - Red Wings Stanley Cup games provide boost for hotels, restaurants - Pittsburgh Business Times:
borislavamcoc.blogspot.com
According to VisitPittsburgh, each home game betweebn the and the Detroit Red Wings brings anestimated $4.9 millionb in economic impact, whether its from hotel stays, meals at restaurants or other spending. A number of hotels are fullyt booked, including the Omni William Penn, whicn hosts the NHL’s management, the , with the caveat that it alwayx sells out Tuesdays and Wednesdays anyway tobusinessd travelers, and the . Tom Martini, the general managed for the Westin Convention Center located Downtown, described the added boost of Stanley Cup-relatedr guests. “We would’ve been busy but we wouldn’tf have been selling out,” he said.
“Thies has allowed us to fill up theentires hotel, all 616 rooms.” Martini and other hotel operatorzs emphasized the added jolt of unexpected business comes during an otherwiswe down year from hotel business followinf a strong 2008, which also featured a Penguins-Red Wingd Stanley Cup that was lost by Pittsburgh’s favoritw flightless birds. Bob Page, the area directo r of sales and marketingfor Omni, said the NFL’es coterie of league officials, along with media, has brought an increasre in occupancy beyond the two game days, comparablw to the business generated from a stronhg home playoff run by the , although not toppinb it.
“It’s not to the degree of probablyg theAFC championship, but it’s stilp great business for us,” he said. “It’as selling us out.” The story is a littlee more complicated for local restaurantsand bars. John owner of The Common Plea, located estimated the restaurant has seen a 25 percentr increase when the Penguins are playing playoff gamezsin town. But when the team is playing away, the hockey fan diners stay away. “We’ve seen increases when they’rd here,” said Barsotti, who estimated his 2009 businesx is up by 25 percen overlast year, despite the recession.
“But on the opposite we see a little bit of a decrease when they go out of Chris Dilla, owner of Bocktown Beer and in North Fayette, said it can be tricky for her operatiojn to jump from a busy night of a hockeyg game to extra slow nights when therw isn’t one. She expects that plenty of customere are struggling to go the distance withthe seven-gam e series. “It’s hard for the business becausspeople don’t have the money to be out every othert night,” she said.
“It tendse to be that people who watch the playoffs reallty have to watchtheir
According to VisitPittsburgh, each home game betweebn the and the Detroit Red Wings brings anestimated $4.9 millionb in economic impact, whether its from hotel stays, meals at restaurants or other spending. A number of hotels are fullyt booked, including the Omni William Penn, whicn hosts the NHL’s management, the , with the caveat that it alwayx sells out Tuesdays and Wednesdays anyway tobusinessd travelers, and the . Tom Martini, the general managed for the Westin Convention Center located Downtown, described the added boost of Stanley Cup-relatedr guests. “We would’ve been busy but we wouldn’tf have been selling out,” he said.
“Thies has allowed us to fill up theentires hotel, all 616 rooms.” Martini and other hotel operatorzs emphasized the added jolt of unexpected business comes during an otherwiswe down year from hotel business followinf a strong 2008, which also featured a Penguins-Red Wingd Stanley Cup that was lost by Pittsburgh’s favoritw flightless birds. Bob Page, the area directo r of sales and marketingfor Omni, said the NFL’es coterie of league officials, along with media, has brought an increasre in occupancy beyond the two game days, comparablw to the business generated from a stronhg home playoff run by the , although not toppinb it.
“It’s not to the degree of probablyg theAFC championship, but it’s stilp great business for us,” he said. “It’as selling us out.” The story is a littlee more complicated for local restaurantsand bars. John owner of The Common Plea, located estimated the restaurant has seen a 25 percentr increase when the Penguins are playing playoff gamezsin town. But when the team is playing away, the hockey fan diners stay away. “We’ve seen increases when they’rd here,” said Barsotti, who estimated his 2009 businesx is up by 25 percen overlast year, despite the recession.
“But on the opposite we see a little bit of a decrease when they go out of Chris Dilla, owner of Bocktown Beer and in North Fayette, said it can be tricky for her operatiojn to jump from a busy night of a hockeyg game to extra slow nights when therw isn’t one. She expects that plenty of customere are struggling to go the distance withthe seven-gam e series. “It’s hard for the business becausspeople don’t have the money to be out every othert night,” she said.
“It tendse to be that people who watch the playoffs reallty have to watchtheir
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