Corporate Report

Corporate Report

L-3 buys more of Sarasota medical training company

New York-based L-3 Communications, a communications company with an office in Sarasota, increased its ownership stake in Medical Education Technologies Inc. (METI) from approximately 47% to 80%.

Headquartered in Sarasota, METI supplies human patient and surgical simulators and related educational products. The business, which is now a consolidated subsidiary of L-3 Communications, is expected to have annual sales of approximately $35 million.

Gerdau Ameristell buys

Okalahoma steel producer

Tampa-based Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., the second largest mini-mill steel producer in North America, announced that its U.S. operating subsidiary, Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc., entered an agreement to purchase Sheffield Steel Corp. of Sand Springs, Okla. for about $76 million in cash, plus $94 million of Sheffield's debt.

 Sheffield Steel is a mini-mill producer of long steel products, primarily rebar and merchant bars, with annual shipments of approximately 550,000 tons of finished steel products.  Sheffield operates a melt shop and rolling mill in Sand Springs, a smaller rolling mill in Joliet, Ill. and three downstream steel fabricating facilities in Kansas City and Sand Springs. 

WineStyles plans to add 30 stores in Southwest Florida

Fort Myers-based developer Mark Blust plans to grow a wine retailing franchise called WineStyles to 30 stores in the next seven years, stretching from Bradenton to Naples.

The Fort Lauderdale-based company currently has 47 franchised stores open in 16 states, including the first one in Southwest Florida in Fort Myers. Blust says another store will open in Naples in May and another in Cape Coral in June. Blust says he's also negotiating to open a store at the First Street Village development in downtown Fort Myers.

WineStyles stores simplify the wine-buying process by organizing bottles by color and style, instead of by varietals and regions. Most wines cost $25 or less.

AnazaoHealth buys

Texas pharmacy

Tampa-based AnazaoHealth Corp. purchased Plum Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc. The purchase price was not released. Plum Creek, located in Amarillo, Texas, is a national specialty pharmacy licensed in more than 40 states and will operate as a separate division within AnazaoHealth and retain its management and employees.

HSN president

resigns position

Marty Nealon, president of St. Petersburg-based HSN, left his position with the company after three years, citing personal reasons. Doug Lebda, president and CEO of IAC/InterActive Corp., the parent company of HSN, will fill in on an interim basis.

IAC will not only be looking to fill Nealon's position, but also the CEO positions at Cornerstone Brands and Shoebuy.com, all under the same umbrella of CEO of IAC Retailing.

KSR bought Fort Lauderdale marketing agency

Coral Gables-based Kelley Swofford Roy Inc. (KSR), an advertising, marketing and public relations firm with an office in Port Charlotte, purchased Flywheel Branding, a Fort Lauderdale-based marketing strategy and branding agency. The purchase priced was not disclosed.

Adam Kustin, president of Flywheel Branding, will become KSR's new president, and Susan Kelley will be promoted to chairman and CEO. Flywheel clients moving to KSR include Carrera Toys, TAG Company, MOS Imaging Systems, Marimon Business Systems and Services On-Site. KSR will retain Flywheel's Fort Lauderdale office, giving KRS a total of three office locations statewide.

Colonial Bank breaks ground on another Lee County location

Colonial Bank's Southwest Florida region broke-ground on its 18th Lee County office. The 3,617-square-foot office will be at the corner of Palm Beach Boulevard and Verandah Boulevard in East Fort Myers and will feature four drive-thru service lanes and an ATM lane.  Colonial Bank has contracted with Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. to build the new banking office and construction is expected to be complete in fall 2006. 

SEC won't take action

against Catalina Marketing

The investigation of St. Petersburg-based Catalina Marketing by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is over and no action will be taken. The SEC had been investigating certain revenue recognition timing issues identified by Catalina Marketing at its subsidiary, Catalina Health Resource, and reported by the company to the SEC in 2003. Catalina Marketing provides services based on consumer data culled from supermarket checkout scanners.

Tampa Roofing Co. moving

to Clearwater headquarters

Suncoast Roofers Supply is moving its corporate headquarters from Tampa to Clearwater. Suncoast will join Haydon-Rubin Development Inc. and its affiliate, Rubin Real Estate, in the Triad South building, one of several planned office buildings for the Triad Commons Office Park.

The building will be at 4592 Ulmerton Road, on the corner of Ulmerton Road and Automobile Boulevard in Clearwater. Originally zoned for an industrial lot, the office park has been recently upgraded to provide Class A office space to local businesses. The planned completion date for Triad South is January 2007.

Stevens Construction awarded

contract to expand office

Orthopedic Specialists of Southwest Florida awarded Fort Myers-based Stevens Construction a contract to manage the interior renovation and build-out of approximately 17,000 square feet to include radiology suites, exam rooms and administrative offices.

 Designed by Gora McGahey Associates in Architecture Inc., the Fort Myers orthopedic office is located on Cleveland Avenue.

ETC...

• Sarasota-based Tropics Software Technologies released its policy standard version 3.2, which includes several technical and functional enhancements, and is a free upgrade.

• Tampa-based RedVector.com Inc. launched an online real estate sales training program entitled Sweathogs at http://www.sweathogsonline.com.

• A new FASTSIGNS® sign and graphics center opened at 4070 N. Washington Blvd. in Sarasota.

• U.S. Trust named Coral Gable-based Thorp & Co. its public relations agency for its six Florida offices in Boca Raton, Naples, Palm Beach, Vero Beach, Miami and Sarasota.

• The Krauss Organization, Tampa, announced the following lease deals: Notrax Equipment Co. leased 9,265 square feet at Corporex Park Drive, Tampa; University Financial Lending leased 5,543 square feet at 1200 S. Belcher Road, Largo; Barpel Inc. leased 714 square feet at 210 S. Pinellas Ave., Tarpon Springs; First Capital Management leased 1,203 square feet at 220 E. Madison St., Tampa; Bema Block Corp. leased 15,000 square feet at 5601 N. 50th St., Tampa.