Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Within the last three weeks, Conshohocken-based Skinny Nutritional Corp. has seen three of its four board members resign, each submitting a letter critical of how the company is being run.
The only board member left is chairman Michael Salaman, who also happens to be the CEO.
Skinny Nutritional is the maker of Skinny Water, which is marketed as a zero-calorie, zero-sugar bottled water product. A tiny, unprofitable company, Skinny Nutritional’s shares trade over the “pink sheets” over-the-counter market at a price that’s quite near zero itself.
While the reasons for board departures are generally routine (think: demands of other duties), the skinny on Skinny is far from routine.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
BioClinica Inc., a Bucks County-based provider of clinical trial management services, will be acquired by JLL Partners Inc., a New York private-equity firm, for about $123 million.
A holding company controlled by JLL will acquire BioClinica, of Newtown, through a cash tender offer at $7.25 per share.
Shares of the publicly traded BioClinica were up 19 percent, of $1.17, at $7.22 in morning trading.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Many are interested in last year’s Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act and how it may make it easier for small businesses to raise capital.
Barely a day goes by that someone isn’t trying to prod me to write about crowdfunding, which would allow small businesses to raise small amounts of money without having to disclose much information to regulators or investors.
But while crowdfunding’s potential gets all the attention, another aspect of the JOBS Act has been having an immediate impact on small community banks: They’re deregistering as reporting companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission and delisting from major stock exchanges.
Why? To save money.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
BGC Partners Inc., a New York brokerage company, started the new year by buying two regional commercial real estate firms, including one in Philadelphia.
Smith Mack, a 28-year-old brokerage with four offices locally, was acquired by BGC, which first got into real estate in October 2011 when it bought Newmark & Co. Real Estate Inc. BGC then scooped up the bankrupt Grubb & Ellis Co. for $47.1 million in April.
On the same day that BGC announced its purchase of Smith Mack, the publicly traded company said it also bought Frederick Ross Co., a commercial brokerage in Denver. BGC did not disclose the financial details of either acquisition.
In Philadelphia, Smith Mack’s operations will become part of BGC’s Newmark Grubb Knight Frank commercial real estate advisory business. The Philadelphia operation is managed by J. Robert Clements, the firm’s executive vice president and managing director.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
One factoid that didn't make it into my column in Wednesday's newspaper on state subsidies to corporations, which focused on Delaware's $11.1 million incentive package to retain Incyte Corp., was the cost per job.
First, Delaware officials calculated the amount of state personal income tax the state would receive from a workforce of 560 from now until the end of 2018. That figure of $10,070,505 is the amount of the grant that Incyte received in exchange for creating 266 jobs.
To calculate what that works out per job, Delaware divided that dollar amount by 560 jobs, producing $17,983 per job. Why not the 266 jobs created, which would be $37,859? Because the deal calls for Incyte to have 560 employees in Delaware as of Dec. 31, 2018. If it does not, then there is a clawback provision that requires to company to pay back the state for every job under that level. That would be $17,983 per job.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
An update to my column in Tuesday's paper about the mix of messages emerging from several of the region's life-sciences firms:
A spokeswoman for Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc. said the sale price for generic drugs business that it will sell to Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. is $65 million. Takeda will keep the gout drug Colcrys, which it said generated net sales of $155 million during the three months ended Sept. 30.
Takeda acquired Colcrys and the other generics when it acquired Philadelphia's URL Pharma Inc. in June for $800 million.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Keystone Property Group bought the three-building Moorestown Corporate Center from Mack-Cali Realty Corp., a publicly traded real estate investment trust, for $19.9 million.
Based on the price disclosed by Mack-Cali, Keystone paid about $90 per square foot for the office buildings at 224, 228 and 232 Strawbridge Drive in Moorestown. Both companies said the corporate center is 61 percent leased.
Bala Cynwyd-based Keystone said that Shaw Environmental, an engineering firm, occupies all 74,565 square feet of space in the building at 228 Strawbridge.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Campbell Soup Co. may be based in Camden, but Napoleon, Ohio, is the site of the company’s biggest food-manufacturing plant.
Located near Toledo, the factory employs about 1,500 people who produce soups, sauces and beverages for the consumer-products giant.
It’s also one of the focal points for Campbell Soup’s efforts to make its operations more sustainable. In December, the company switched on a 9.8-megawatt solar-panel farm that is expected to supply up to 15 percent of Napoleon’s electricity needs.
Of course, the sun doesn’t shine every day, but name a manufacturer that goes a day without producing waste. That’s why Campbell Soup has committed to directing organic waste from its food-processing operations in Napoleon to a commercial biogas power plant now under construction nearby.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia president Charles Plosser said in a speech Tuesday that he does not think that monetary policy can "do much to speed up the slow progress" in the labor market.
According to prepared remarks for a speech before the CFA Society of Philadelphia and Bond Club of Philadelphia, Plosser discussed the Fed's latest round of stimulus, known as QE3, and said he opposed the actions taken by the Federal Open Market Committee earlier this month.
(Plosser is not a voting member of the FOMC in 2012.)
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
IPOs by Facebook and Manchester United notwithstanding, there are other ways to tap deep pockets, such as getting acquired.
Octagon Research Solutions Inc., a Wayne software company that helps pharmaceutical companies with submitting clinical data to regulators, agreed to be acquired by Accenture P.L.C. earlier this month. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of September, were not disclosed.
At $25.5 billion in net revenues for 2011, Accenture is by far the bigger company. But Octagon has grown quickly in recent years and currently has a global workforce of 380 people, most of which work in the Philadelphia area. It also has offices in Mountain View, Calif.; London; and Bangalore, India.
David Boath, the North American managing director for Accenture’s Life Sciences industry group, said that Accenture had worked with Octagon for the last five years with several clients. “We think they have the best software to speed up the process of getting clinical data” to the Food and Drug Administration, he said.
Mike Armstrong blogs about Philadelphia corporations and business-related topics. Contact him at 215-854-2980.
Reach Mike at marmstrong@phillynews.com.
