Corporate Report

Corporate Report

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Radiation Therapy sale nears

Shareholders of Fort Myers-based Radiation Therapy Services Inc. have approved the sale of the company to Radiation Therapy Services Holdings Inc. and RTS MergerCo Inc. in exchange for $32.50 a share. Roughly 99.7% of the total number of shares of common stock or holders of 18,057,310 shares, voted for the deal as a merger agreement.

Radiation Therapy Services Holdings Inc. is owned by an affiliate of the private equity/growth capital investment firm Vestar Capital Partners.

The deal is scheduled for completion on Feb. 21.

In other news, Radiation Therapy Services officials report that the two lawsuits filed in connection with the proposed merger have also been dealt with. One plaintiff reportedly voluntarily dismissed his case, and the second suit was settled by the company earlier this month without admitting liability.

Radiation Therapy Services operates 84 radiation treatment centers, primarily under the name 21st Century Oncology, in 16 states.

Since the firm's founding in 1988, the Vestar funds have completed more than 60 investments in companies with a total value of about $22 billion.

Preservation Sciences

buys EFUEL Network

Tampa-based Preservation Sciences Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire EFUEL Network Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary. To prepare for the deal, Preservation Sciences is issuing 150 million preferred shares to existing EFN shareholders. The name of the new company is EFuel EFN Corp. will trade on the Pink Sheets under the symbol EFUL.

Joseph Cillo, former president of EFN has been appointed chief executive officer of Preservation.

EFN hosts various Internet sites, including Efuelstore.com, Outrageousencounters.com, preventpeerpressure.com, valimate.com, veritas.com, and I-nexsolutions.com.

Preservation Sciences is a research and development and manufacturing company focused on creating healthier alternatives to a number of products, such as bio-degradable rust inhibiting coating for metal and separate healthier organic preservatives for citrus drinks and baked goods.

Brown & Brown

buys Custom Outsourcing

A subsidiary of Daytona Beach- and Tampa-based insurance firm Brown & Brown Inc. purchased the assets of MEW Custom Staffing LLC d/b/a Custom Outsourcing of Tampa. Custom Outsourcing is a human resource outsourcing and insurance agency covering Florida with annualized revenues of $1.5 million.

Beth Bennett, MEW Custom Staffing principal, and her staff will combine their operations with those of Brown & Brown's existing Tampa office.

Brown & Brown offers insurance and reinsurance products and services, as well as risk management, third-party administration, managed health care, and Medicare set-aside services and programs.

Fox Electronics

buys Seattle's Jet City

Fort Myers-based Fox Electronics acquired Jet City Electronics Inc., a Seattle-based semiconductor design firm.

The acquisition was designed to enhance Fox's position as a semiconductor company and enable the manufacturer to provide lower cost products.

"We offer our customers a broad range of products at the best cost-performance ratios," E.L. Fox, Jr., president of Fox Electronics, said in a press release. "The acquisition of Jet City enhances our ability to do this by bringing fresh, strategic technology that is ready for implementation into the market. It also enables us to develop and implement the latest technologies into our product offerings quickly and cost-effectively."

Established in 1994, Jet City was instrumental in the development of Fox's revolutionary new line of XpressO configurable oscillators.

As a wholly owned subsidiary, Jet City will continue to provide Fox with proprietary products and core research and development. In addition, the president of Jet City, John Fallisgaard, will join Fox's board of directors.

Fox Electronics is a supplier of standard and custom-frequency control products, including a line of crystals, oscillators and crystal filters.

Singer Island buyers

sue WCI, subsidiary

Bonita Springs builder WCI Communities Inc. and its subsidiary The Resort at Singer Island Properties Inc. are being sued in Florida Southern District court on behalf of purchasers of hotel condominium units in The Resort at Singer Island.

The suit accuses the two companies of violating federal securities laws by not registering the offering of these units with the Securities and Exchange Commission. WCI and RSI officials dispute the charges.

Nanobac Pharmaceuticals

buys DNAPrint

Tampa-based Nanobac Pharmaceuticals Inc. signed a letter of intent to acquire Sarasota-based DNAPrint Genomics Inc. The acquisition is still subject to DNAPrint Genomics shareholder approval.

The combined company would have annualized revenue of $5 million, a developing drug pipeline and product development collaborations with Harvard/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Emory University.

DNAPrint Genomics has developed, patented and published various technologies to improve clinical-product development using genomic testing. DNAPrint Genomics's flagship product, PT-401, is focused on more effective treatment for patients with anemia, and its Protectin diagnostic test is designed to allow patients and their physicians to more effectively manage diabetes treatments.

"Dr. Hector Gomez has been on the company's advisory board giving Nanobac the benefit of evaluating DNAG's technologies and portfolio of products," Dr. Benedict Maniscalco, co-chairman and chief medical officer of Nanobac Pharmaceuticals, said in a press release. "Combining our diagnostic portfolios, specifically Nanobac Pharmaceuticals' Protectin and Nanobac's NB2 has the potential to play a significant role in the early diagnosis of vascular disease and could potentially help in identifying early signs and progression of cardiovascular disease."

Nanobac Pharmaceuticals focuses on research and treatment of degenerative diseases stemming from nanobacterial infections. The company markets diagnostics and prescription nanobiotic medication.

Raymond James reaches

service deal with Busey

Busey Wealth Management Inc., a subsidiary of Fort Myers-based First Busey Corp., has furthered its affiliation with the financial institutions division of St. Petersburg-based Raymond James Financial Services Inc.

Raymond James will provide brokerage services to clients of Busey Wealth Management, which was created as the result of a merger of Main Street Trust Inc. and First Busey Corp. The merger created a single, wholly-owned banking subsidiary named Busey Bank with assets in excess of $4 billion. Busey Wealth Management, Inc. has another $4.5 billion in assets under management, including more than a $1 billion of assets managed on the Raymond James brokerage platform. Previous to the merger, Raymond James and Main Street Trust had a similar relationship.

Food Lion, Hannaford

use nFinanSe system

Tampa-based nFinanSe Inc. reached an agreement with Food Lion, LLC and Hannaford Bros. to be the exclusive pay card program provider for their participating employees.

Food Lion and Hannaford Bros. are subsidiaries of Delhaize Group, which operates 1,500 stores in 16 states in the eastern United States, including Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Reid's, Harveys Supermarkets, Hannaford Supermarkets and Sweetbay. Under the agreement, nFinanSe will provide nFinanSe Discover Network Pay Cards to participating employees and manage the execution of the program, including the application of payroll payments to cards and ongoing cardholder service and support.

nFinanSe Inc. is a financial services company and provider of stored value and prepaid card products. The company also runs 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.

Stinger Systems CEO

steps aside, suggests EVP

Ron Bellistri has been promoted to interim CEO for Tampa-based electro-stun firm Stinger Systems Inc. Robert Gruder, Stinger Systems' current CEO, will become president and remain chairman of the board.

"I believe that the company can be best served by moving forward without distractions and continuing to focus on its mission of striving to be the best at what we do," Robert Gruder says. "Therefore, in light of the case filed recently by the SEC, I will step down as CEO while that matter is pending. Ron Bellistri has a great track record in building a world class company, and since he came aboard as executive vice president, my confidence in him has only increased."

Gruder is accused by the SEC of misrepresenting the company and its Stinger stun-gun product to inflate the company's stock price.

BNY Mellon Wealth

opens Tampa office

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has opened a new office in Tampa as part of its wealth management growth in Florida. The office is the bank's 21st office in the state.

"Our Tampa location gives us room for expansion both within the community and on the entire Gulf Coast of Florida," Larry Hughes, executive director, said in a press release.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management ranks as one of the top 10 U.S. wealth managers with about $170 billion in private client assets and a network of more than 80 offices worldwide. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has more than $20 trillion in assets under custody and administration, more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management and services $11 trillion in outstanding debt.

Chico's FAS sales lower,

comparables down 22%

Fort Myers-based specialty retailer Chico's FAS Inc. reported lower sales and comparables results for January.

For the four-week period ended Feb. 2, sales decreased 25% to $94.1 million from $125.4 million it reported for the five-week period ended Feb. 3, 2007. Comparable store sales dipped 22.1% for the four-week period ended Feb. 2 compared to the same four-week period ended Feb. 3, 2007.

Total sales for the 13-week period ended Feb. 2, 2008 decreased 7.9% to $409 million from $445 million reported for the 14-week period ended Feb. 3, 2007. Comparable store sales decreased 15.7% for the 13-week period ended Feb. 2 compared to the same 13-week period last year ending Feb. 3, 2007.

For the 52 weeks ended Feb. 2 total sales increased 4.5% to $1.71 billion from $1.64 billion reported for the 53-week period ended Feb. 3, 2007. Comparable store sales decreased 8.1% for the 52-week period ended Feb. 2 compared to the 52week period last year ending Feb. 3, 2007.

"In view of the uncertainties in the U.S. economy and the pressures more specifically evidenced in the retail industry, our disappointing January sales results were not entirely unexpected," Scott A. Edmonds, chairman, president and CEO, said in a press release. "We continue to believe the company's fourth quarter financial performance should fall within the range set forth in our December sales release of a loss of $0.13 to $0.16 per diluted share. The January sales results were a consequence of our previously announced efforts to end fiscal year 2007 with clean inventories that would enable us to return to full price selling earlier in (the first quarter of) 2008.

"In retrospect, however, our aggressive markdowns in December accelerated at a faster than expected rate resulting in lost sales of clearance business in January and a lower than expected average unit retail for the quarter. Furthermore, challenging weather conditions throughout January also caused a significant amount of lost sales resulting in a higher than anticipated negative comparable store sales result."

The company operates 1,038 women's specialty stores under the Chico's, White House | Black Market and Soma Intimates names.

CHICO'S JANUARY SALES

January Sales

Fiscal 2006 Fiscal 2007 Change

$125.4 million $94.1 million -25%

13-weeks Sales

Fiscal 2006 Fiscal 2007 Change

$445 million $409 million -7.9%

52-weeks Sales

Fiscal 2006 Fiscal 2007 Change

$1.64 billion $1.71 billion 4.5%

Comparable Sales

Period Change

One-Month -22.1%

13-week -15.7

53-week -8.1%

Checkers Drive-In

shuffles executives

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc., a Tampa chain of double drive-thru restaurants, has reorganized its executive management team. The changes were reportedly done to better support the chain's restaurants and its franchisees, while also preparing the business for continued growth.

Robert D. Wright has become executive vice president of company and franchise operations, a new position created to consolidate and align restaurant operations system-wide. Todd Lindsey, who most recently served as chief financial officer of Michaels Stores Inc.'s Specialty Retail Group., has become senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Former Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee franchise development Vice President Michael Arrowsmith has become Checkers Drive-In's senior vice president of development. Attorney Wendy Harkness has been appointed vice president of human resources.

"Organizational changes were carefully made in key areas that will further strengthen the company for the long term and provide the necessary foundation to grow in this highly competitive and changing business environment," Enrique "Rick" Silva, president and CEO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, said in a press release. "Over the past year, we worked diligently to assemble a team of extraordinarily seasoned executives from some of the industry's largest brands. Our ability to recruit this quality of talent is a testament to the power and bright future of our brand."

The company was acquired by Wellspring Capital Management, LLC in June of 2006.

National In-Store founder

joins Real Digital Media

Thomas L. Dowdy, the founder of National In-Store, has joined the board of Sarasota-based Real Digital Media as an independent director.

"With the combination of his achievements inside the retail and sales promotion industries and the expertise he has garnered from managing a fast growing company, we believe Tom will bring a valuable perspective and host of constructive insights to our board," Ken Goldberg, CEO of Real Digital Media, said in a press release. "In addition, Tom remains an industry insider with a very broad and active network that we believe will benefit our future corporate development efforts as our company works to expand our presence in the digital signage industry."

Dowdy directed National In-Store's growth from start-up in 1994 to the sale of NIS to Omnicom Group Inc. in 2004. Prior to founding NIS, Dowdy spent more than 20 years in the consumer packaged goods industry holding executive level sales and marketing positions with Chesebrough-Ponds, Johnson & Johnson and Combe Inc.

Real Digital Media provides digital signage products for point-of-purchase marketing, advertising and corporate communication networks.