Business
Business Digest
01:00 AM EST on Thursday, March 8, 2007
Amtrol Inc., of West Warwick, said it is moving toward completing a financial restructuring under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and on March 1, the company and the official committee of unsecured creditors filed a joint plan of reorganization with the court. Amtrol anticipates that the requisite number and amount of its senior subordinated notes will vote in favor of the plan and the notes will be exchanged for substantially all of the equity in the reorganized company, reducing the debt by about 40 percent and greatly improving its long-term financial stability. The plan provides for all pre-filing trade liabilities to be paid in full. Amtrol’s domestic operations are being financed with a $115-million debtor-in-possession facility provided by Barclays Capital. The company has received a number of commitments to repay the facility with long-term, low-cost financing as it completes the reorganization. The company anticipates that the reorganization will result in a reduction in total annual interest cost of more than 50 percent. The plan remains subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Amtrol, which makes and markets water storage and pressure-control products, water heaters and cylinders, has continued to operate in the normal course of business and has experienced no disruptions during the Chapter 11 reorganization process. All of the company’s manufacturing and distribution facilities remain open and are continuing to serve customers.
Pfizer Inc. has won U.S. clearance to promote the cholesterol drug Lipitor, the world’s top-selling medicine, for five new uses to help heart patients and people at risk of stroke. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug to lower the risk of nonfatal heart attacks, fatal and non-fatal strokes, certain types of heart surgery, hospitalization for heart failure and chest pain in patients with heart disease, New York-based Pfizer said yesterday in a statement. The action may help Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, defend Lipitor against competition from cheaper cholesterol drugs that came on the market last year. Lipitor accounted for about 40 percent of Pfizer’s $19.3 billion in profits last year. The average number of prescriptions written for Lipitor over the past four weeks has declined 9 percent from a year earlier. Lipitor had $12.8 billion in sales last year, up 5.7 percent from 2005. Pfizer may lose patent protection on Lipitor as early as 2010, opening the gates to a flood of cheaper generic copies.
West Warwick-based Astro-Med Inc., a manufacturer of high-tech specialty printing systems, electronic medical instrumentation and test and measurement instruments, has successfully completed certification to operate as an approved Federal Aviation Administration Part 145 Repair Station. The Air Agency certificate and Operations Specifications were issued by inspectors from the Boston FAA Flight Standards District Office on Feb. 22, after an audit. This certification will allow Astro-Med Inc. to repair and overhaul its ToughWriter 4 cockpit printers. Steve Holbrook, manager of quality control who spearheaded the preparation for the audit, said, “We are now authorized to repair or overhaul printers shipped directly from the airline carriers. The certification covers the ToughWriter 4 series printers that are used in the cockpit and cabin of the Airbus A380. In addition to the A380, the printers are used in the Boeing 777 cabin.” The company is also designing printers for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which is scheduled for certification sometime in 2008, and the Airbus A400M, which is scheduled to enter service in 2009. Astro-Med produces printers for the Boeing C-17 and C-130 military aircraft.
Taunton, Mass.-based Kopin Corp., the world’s leading provider of heterojunction bipolar transistors, has developed gallium nitride (GaN) high electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) for use in the next generation of military and public mobile radio base station products. The total market for the products is estimated to be as high as $1 billion annually, providing strong future revenue growth potential to both Kopin and its customers, the company says.
The Procaccianti Group, the Cranston-based real estate developer/hotelier, has announced the opening of The Westin Tysons Corner in Falls Church, Va. Formerly a Doubletree Hotel, The Westin Tysons Corner has undergone a comprehensive $21-million renovation as part of its conversion. The property is owned and managed by TPG under a long-term franchise agreement with Starwood, Westin’s parent company. “Tysons Corner is a model location for our continued expansion of the Westin brand throughout our national hospitality portfolio,” said Robert Leven, chief investment officer of TPG. The Procaccianti Group currently owns 49 hotels totaling 12,700 guest rooms in 17 states and employs 6,000 people from coast to coast with 200 professionals based at the corporate headquarters.
Three local companies have joined forces to provide businesses with a combination of marketing strategies all in one place. The companies in The Marketing Alliance are Richard Coren Design of Providence, graphic design; Terrapin Art & Design, of Lincoln, Web design; and the Currier, words & events of Cranston, public relations. Together the companies develop strategies to help businesses bring in customers, increase sales and grow revenues. The services of The Marketing Alliance include news releases, advertising, newsletters, graphic design and Web design. For more information, call (401) 467-1896.
The University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension, in association with the Rhode Island Division of Agriculture and Marketing will offer two workshops designed to help farmers make decisions about farm transfer, estate planning and related retirement issues. Farm families and owners of agricultural lands, as well as organizers interested in agricultural land preservation, are encouraged to attend the workshops.
The first workshop, “Transferring the Farm I: An Introductory Workshop on Farm Business Succession,” will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 13, at Bryant University, Douglas Pike, Smithfield. The workshop will offer an overview of issues farmers should consider as they navigate the farm transition process, including family communication and goal setting, estate and retirement planning, tools to transfer farm management and assets, and the roles that farm link programs and land trusts can play in farm transfers.
The second workshop, “Transferring the Farm II: Moving Your Farm Transfer Forward,” is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., March 27, at the South Kingstown Land Trust field office, 17 Matunuck Beach Rd., South Kingstown. Topics to be addressed include long-term health care issues and farm transition business agreements.
Workshop presenters will include legal and estate planning professionals, representatives from agricultural land-preservation programs, and local farmers who have undertaken the transfer process. Advance registration through the University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture is required. The cost of each workshop is $30. For more information and registration forms, visit www.uvm.edu/landlinkvt, call (802) 656-5459 or contact Ernest Morreira at URI Cooperative Extension at (401) 874-4280.
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