Yacht builder Oyster Marine sold

Balmoral Capital Ltd., a private equity fund, said yesterday it acquired yacht builder Oyster Marine Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. Richard Matthews, Oyster’s chairman and chief executive officer, will retain his posts, according to Balmoral. Oyster, with offices in Ipswich, England and Newport, R.I., was founded by Matthews in 1973 and has about 1,200 yachts in commission. Balmoral Capital is based in London.

Cessna announces orders in Indonesia, India

Cessna, the biggest unit of Providence-based Textron with $5 billion in sales last year, said yesterday it won two orders valued at $17 million for 26 propeller-driven aircraft for Indonesian charter airline Susi Air and Indian flight school operator Chimes Aviation. Cessna is looking for customers outside the United States, its largest market, for revenue growth. The plane maker is marketing training-sized aircraft in Asia where a new-pilot shortage is jeopardizing the region’s rising air-travel needs.

Central Nurseries offers site construction

Central Nurseries, of Johnston, has expanded by adding a site construction division that will enable the nurseries to offer contractors heavy construction services on sites ranging from schools to parks to commercial and industrial developments. Typically, general contractors hire separate landscaping and site construction firms on their building projects. This often leads to double markups, scheduling problems and delays.

“Contracting our site division, along with our landscape division, gives our clients a seamless integration of work tasks,” said Robert J. Fruggiero, general manger of the new division.

Site work can include demolition, land clearing, earthwork, underground utilities, foundations, curbing, sidewalks, asphalt paving and other site renovations and replacement. To date, the site division’s projects have included the new campus entrance at Roger Williams University and the Rogers Free Library in Bristol, Lonsdale Elementary School in Lincoln, St. Francis De Sales Church in North Kingstown and the new DPW facility in Central Falls.

Gasoline prices inch higher in R.I.

Gas prices in Rhode Island climbed three cents last week after falling for the five previous weeks, according to AAA Southern New England. The average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline was $3.019 per gallon at the self-service pump, according to AAA’s weekly survey. A year ago at this time the average price of regular, unleaded gasoline in Rhode Island was $2.239. The AAA survey showed the average price in the state was $2.969 a gallon.

Reed will tour North East Knitting

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed today will tour North East Knitting, a Pawtucket-based defense contractor. This year’s defense budget included $1.6 million to help the company invest in “data collection, field testing, base medical algorithm development and prototype knitting integration of electronics and textiles” for the military equipment it produces, according to Reed’s spokesman, Chip Unruh. North East Knitting has been operating since 1986. It has about 100 employees in Rhode Island. Reed is a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee.

Collegium close to getting patent approval

Cumberland-based Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, has received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the company’s patent application for “Abuse-Deterrent Pharmaceutical Compositions of Opioids and Other Drugs.” The notice is the official communication that a patent will be issued. Once issued, the patent will provide broad coverage for Collegium’s abuse-deterrent, sustained-release, orally administered formulation in a capsule. While developed primarily to provide tamper-resistant properties, the design has the potential to enable patients with difficulty swallowing to open the capsule and pour the contents on food or with water, while maintaining the desired sustained release properties of the product.

Rogers OKs share buyback of up to $30 million

Rogers Corp., of Rogers, Conn., has announced that its board of directors has approved the investment of up to $30 million for the purchase of shares under a new buyback program effective until Feb. 15, 2009. The timing and exact number of shares purchased will be determined at the company’s discretion and will depend on market conditions. All repurchases will be on the open market and funded from existing cash. Currently the company has about 17 million shares of common stock outstanding. Rogers is a global developer and manufacturer of high-performance, specialty-material products for diverse markets including portable communications, communications infrastructure, computer and office equipment, consumer products, ground transportation, aerospace and defense.

Milestone at KVH: 150,000th antenna

Middletown-based KVH Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of antennas that track satellites to provide TV and broadband communications to moving vehicles and vessels, said it recently shipped its 150,000th antenna. It said the significant milestone reflects both the growing demand for mobile access to entertainment and high-speed Internet services, and the popularity of KVH’s mobile satellite TV and communications systems. “Achieving this level of sales success is a tremendous accomplishment for everyone at KVH,” said Martin Kits van Heyningen, the chief executive officer. “Fifteen years ago, we set out to become the leader in bringing satellite TV and broadband satellite communications to mobile customers. . . It is gratifying that so many people are confirming our accomplishments by placing faith in our company and becoming our customers.”

New Navy contract for Textron Marine & Land

Textron Marine & Land Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, which is a division of Textron Inc., of Providence, has been selected for a secondary contract by the Office of Naval Research to continue development of the Sea Base Connector, Transformable Craft (T-Craft). Work will be performed by a team of organizations in the advanced marine vehicle industry, led by Textron Marine in New Orleans and is expected to start later this year. T-Craft is one of several prototypes being developed by ONR to self-deploy from an intermediate support base to a sea-based area of operations. Once on site, the T-Craft will take cargo, consisting primarily of wheeled and tracked vehicles, to the shore without the use of port facilities.