Corporate Report

Corporate Report

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Intertape Polymer sale

beat, new board elected

Shareholders of Intertape Polymer rejected, by a vote of almost 70%, a special resolution calling for the sale of the Montreal- and Bradenton-based company. The agreement, which had called for Littlejohn Fund III LP to acquire all the common stock of Intertape Polymer for $4.76 per share has since been terminated.

In addition, an outside shareholder group, 6789536 Canada Inc. succeeded in having shareholders Eric E. Baker and Melbourne F. Yull elected to the company's board of directors as chairman and executive director, respectively. The election of three new board members was far from a surprise given an announcement prior to the vote that the company's nominees for the board would not serve as directors if the sales agreement was rejected.

"[The shareholders'] message is clear," Baker said in a press release. "The new board of directors will do everything it can to return Intertape Polymer to a strong financial position. We also wish to thank Dale McSween for agreeing to continue on the board of directors. Although Dale is no longer chief executive officer, he will provide important continuity during this transition phase for Intertape Polymer."

Intertape Polymer Group develops and manufactures specialized polyolefin plastic and paper-based packaging products and complementary packaging systems for industrial and retail users. The company employs about 2,100 people with operations in 17 locations, including 13 manufacturing facilities in North America and one in Europe.

UTEK sells sub-company

to Material Technologies

UTEK Corp., a Tampa specialty finance company, sold its Non-Destructive Assessment Technologies Inc. subsidiary to Material Technologies Inc. Non-Destructive Assessment Technologies holds a license to a portable device that provides a visual display of sites where metal has been lost due to corrosion in metallic layered structures. The technology provides data that gives both layer thickness and flaw detection information. The technology was developed at Iowa State University.

Material Technologies Inc. is an engineering, research and development company specializing in technologies to measure microscopic fractures and flaws in metal structures and monitor metal fatigue in real time.

Stinger Systems disputes

Riverside rejection

Officials with Tampa-based electro-stun company Stinger Systems Inc. are challenging claims made by Riverside County, California in its decision to purchase a competitor's stun gun product.

Stinger Systems says the board of supervisors for Riverside County was supplied with misleading and false information about the company's stun gun by the Riverside County Sheriff's Office.

The document allegedly said Stinger Systems' S-200 projectile stun weapon was only in the testing stages when the stun gun is already being marketed and sold. Further, Stinger Systems officials say the document incorrectly says the stun gun uses gunpowder to shoot its darts when both the Stinger S-200 and its competitor's product both use primers.

"We're both perplexed and disappointed by the sheriff's department's commentary believing it to be grossly inaccurate," Robert Gruder, Stinger's CEO, said in a press release. "Ironically, the sheriff's department has not requested even one unit, which we would have gladly supplied to them for evaluation. I firmly believe had we had such a request, and had our product been adequately represented for comparative purposes, the Riverside County Sherriff's Office never would have made such egregiously inaccurate statements. I personally challenge any department to match the Stinger S-200 against its competitors' products believing we are superior in features, effectiveness, safety, as well as offering a large favorable price differential."

Glass, Lewis & Co. backing Cryo-Cell current board

In a bid to avoid a shareholder board take-over, Cryo-Cell International Inc. officials have found backing from proxy advisory Glass, Lewis & Co.

A press release issued by the Oldsmar-based cord-blood bank company says Glass, Lewis & Co. is recommending that Cryo-Cell shareholders vote unanimously for all Cryo-Cell nominees at the company's July 16 annual meeting based on good company performance.

"We believe this recommendation supports our view that current management is taking the company in the right direction, and that the inexperienced dissident slate of nominees has not stated a case for its attempt to take control of the Board without being willing to pay a premium to Cryo-Cell's shareholders, and without a credible plan for the future success of the company," Mercedes Walton, Cryo-Cell's chairman and CEO, said in a press release.

The Glass Lewis report points to revenue growth since fiscal 2003 and says that sales and general administrative expense increases remain similar to Viacell Inc., Cryo-Cell's principal publicly traded competitor.

General Counsel retirement

causes shuffle at TECO Energy

Sheila McDevitt, senior vice president/general counsel and chief legal officer for Tampa's TECO Energy has retired from the company after 26 years. She announced plans to work as a consultant.

Charles A. Attal III, vice president and deputy general counsel, has been promoted to vice president and general counsel, reporting to Sherrill Hudson, TECO's chairman and CEO.

McDevitt joined Tampa Electric as the government affairs counsel in 1981 and was soon promoted to corporate counsel. She served as senior corporate counsel before being promoted to assistant vice president, vice president and assistant general counsel, and then vice president and general counsel in January 1999.

McDevitt was responsible for the legal affairs of TECO Energy and managed the legal; corporate secretary and governance; corporate compliance and diversity; and corporate communications departments.

Attal joined TECO Energy Inc. as vice president and deputy general counsel in 2001.

David Schwartz, currently vice president-assistant general counsel and corporate secretary, has been promoted to vice president-governance and compliance, associate general counsel and corporate secretary, assuming responsibility for corporate compliance along with his governance and corporate secretary responsibilities.

David Nicholson, currently senior corporate counsel, has been promoted to associate general counsel, reporting to Attal. In his new role, Nicholson will oversee the legal and claims management teams.

TECO Energy's principal subsidiary, Tampa Electric Co., is an electric and gas utility division.

Other TECO Energy subsidiaries work in waterborne transportation, coal and synthetic fuel production and electric generation and distribution in Guatemala.

Etc...

nFinanSe sells stock, derivatives

for $9 million in capital

Bradenton-based prepaid-card/financial network company nFinanSe Inc. reported a new infusion of $9.07 million from investors in exchange for 2.02 million shares of its common stock, a million shares of its Series B Convertible Preferred Stock and five-year warrants to purchase 1.5 million more shares of its common stock.

Each share of the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock can be convertible into one share of the company's common stock. Both the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock and the common stock were sold at the purchase price of $3 per share. The warrants allow buyers to purchase shares of the company's common stock for $5 per share.

"This investment significantly strengthens our balance sheet and provides the necessary capital to execute our business plan," Raymond P. Springer, nFinanSe's CFO, said in a press release.

Aside from its pre-paid card products, nFinanSe's primary focus is the nFinanSe Network, a point of sale and PC-based software platform that connects retail merchants with multiple stored value prepaid card processors and issuing banks.

Radiation Therapy Services

rearranges financing

Fort Myers-based radiation therapy centers operator/owner Radiation Therapy Services Inc. closed a $50 million expansion of its credit facility by exercising its Term B accordion feature. The participants in the credit facility expansion include members of the senior bank lending group, existing institutional investors and other participating financial institutions.

Company officials say the company used the proceeds of the Term B expansion to pay down its revolving line of credit, after which the outstanding balances of the Term B financing and revolving credit facility were $148.1 million and $29.2 million, respectively. The current availability under the revolving credit facility is $110.5 million.

"This additional access to capital will support the company's continued expansion within our existing markets as well as entry into new local markets," David N.T. Watson, executive vice president and CFO, said in a press release.

Radiation Therapy Services' 80 treatment centers are clustered in 16 states, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia.

Harcourt distributing CraftSystem's personality questionnaire

San Antonio-based talent assessment company Harcourt Assessment Inc. announced a strategic partnership with CraftSystems of Bradenton. Harcourt Assessment will distribute CraftSystems' Craft Personality Questionnaire as part of the company's portfolio of talent assessment products. The CPQ is an automated personality measure to identify traits of successful sales people and management. The CPQ is a standardized personality measure based on the "Basic Eight Traits" of successful sales people as identified by author Dr. Larry Craft.