Corporate Report

Corporate Report

corporate report by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Roper Industries buys Georgia software maker

Sarasota-based Roper Industries Inc. acquired Duluth, Ga.-based Horizon Software International LLC, a software provider to the K-12 education, health care, senior, military and corporate markets.

Horizon's products include OneSource software, industry-standard hardware and MealpayPlus for online payment processing. Its products also provide nutritional management, supply chain coordination and documentation for government reimbursement.

Horizon will become part of Roper's RF Technology segment and will operate as a standalone business alongside the CBORD Group Inc., which Roper acquired last February. Both acquisitions are expected to allow Roper to better serve the entire education market. Horizon will continue to market its products and services with its current brand names.

"Horizon adds to our successful CBORD business and makes us the clear leader in technology that enables more efficient meal management processes within the educational community," Brian Jellison, Roper's chairman, president and CEO, said in a press release. "The company has built a leading-edge suite of software products that generate attractive recurring revenue, strong customer relationships and high retention rates. Having Horizon and CBORD work together will enhance each business' capabilities, and there will be other exciting opportunities for Horizon to collaborate with several of our other existing businesses."

Roper Industries provides engineered products and solutions for global niche markets, including water, energy, radio frequency and research/medical applications.

Aerosonic hires new COO,

exec VP/CFO to resign

Thomas Cason has joined Clearwater-based flight product manufacturer Aerosonic Corp. as executive vice president and chief operations officer.

Cason was previously vice president and COO at DeMorgan Communities and operations director at Honeywell Aerospace in Sarasota.

Also, Charles Pope, Aerosonic's executive vice president, chief financial officer and secretary, announced plans to resign on Sept. 19. The company says that Pope's resignation is unrelated to his work performance and Aerosonic's financial reporting. Jeffery Hummel, Aerosonic's controller, will be interim chief financial officer until a successor is hired, the search for whom has already begun.

Aerosonic also obtained a new $1.4 million order from The Boeing Co. to provide Angle of Attack transmitters for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler. Deliveries are scheduled to start in March.

Spring Air Co. CEO resigns,

COO, Sales VP step in

Bob Hellyer has resigned as CEO of Tampa-based Spring Air Co. Executive vice president of sales Kevin Damewood and chief operating officer Steve Cumbow will jointly lead the company under a newly formed office of the chairman, reporting to the company's board of directors.

Damewood will oversee sales and marketing while Cumbow will supervise finance, manufacturing, logistics and administration. The company has begun search for a new chief executive.

Prior to joining Spring Air, Damewood served in senior positions with Simmons and Sealy. He was also a buyer for Davison's and Zyre Corp.

Cumbow was chief financial officer of NewStar Com, a $300-million electrical contracting business, before joining the company last July. He was previously vice president and chief financial officer of Sirva's $1.2-billion moving services division, which included North American Van Lines, Allied Van Lines and Global Van Lines.

Spring Air is one of the world's largest mattress manufacturing companies with more than 800 employees in nine locations.

Utek Corp. makes acquisition,

enters licensing agreement

Tampa-based Utek Corp. agreed to acquire Social Technologies Group Inc., a research and consulting firm, for $5.09 million worth of Utek stock.

Social Technologies, based in Washington, D.C., London, Tel Aviv and Shanghai, had $5.1 million in revenue for the four quarters ending June 30, 2008 and a net profit of $539,000.

"We believe that the acquisition of Social Technologies and its foresight and innovation services capability represents a further and significant step forward in our strategy of becoming the leading global provider of innovation consulting services," Clifford Gross, Utek's CEO, said in a press release. "Upon closing this transaction, UTEK will have in excess of 110 employees in five countries dedicated to helping companies innovate more effectively. Utek's continuing goal is to address our clients' desire to achieve rapid growth through enhanced innovation capabilities."

Also, in a technology licensing alliance, Utek will promote Air Products & Chemicals Inc. to its clients. Air Products offers specialized atmospheric, process and specialty gases; performance materials; plus equipment and services. It has annual revenues of $10 billion, operations in more than 40 countries, and 22,000 employees around the globe.

Intertape Polymer Group

adds in-house solvent coater

Montreal- and Bradenton-based Intertape Polymer Group Inc. has begun using its in-house solvent coater at its Brighton, Colo., facility.

The coater will reduce manufacturing costs, including those for natural rubber carton sealing tape, which the company had been purchasing from third-party suppliers. The added capability is designed to drive sales along with expand existing and new product lines.

Intertape officials say the company is the only domestic manufacturer of all four, carton-sealing, tape-adhesive technologies.

"This is one of several initiatives we are taking within our Tapes and Films Division to enhance profitability," Mary Jo Francis, director of marketing and product management for BOPP Packaging Tapes, said in a press release. "In addition to the benefits of controlling our own solvent adhesive production and coating, the coater will utilize in-house film for total cost optimization, and allow more efficient development and commercialization of new products.

Intertape should begin to reap the benefits of this startup by the end of the third quarter."

Intertape also acquired the exclusive North American rights for Pelliko Inc.'s automatic wrapping system which handles packages of up to 60 feet in length in less than one minute. It is marketed to companies that work with wood products, which have traditionally been wrapped manually due to unique and varied sizes.

Intertape Polymer Group is a manufacturer of specialized polyolefin plastic and paper-based packaging products and systems.

Busch Gardens exec to manage Dubai parks

Donnie Mills, executive vice president and general manager of Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in Tampa, will be executive vice president and managing director for Worlds of Discovery Dubai.

In his new role, Mills will be responsible for all aspects of the staging and operations of the Worlds of Discovery Dubai parks - SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove and Aquatica - in partnership with Nakheel PJSC, a Dubai World company and one of the world's largest real estate developers.

"Donnie Mills has proved himself repeatedly in management roles across our system in a career that spans three decades," Busch Entertainment Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Atchison said in a press release. "His knowledge of our park brands, his leadership abilities and the breadth of his management expertise make him the ideal candidate to lead the Dubai project."

Mills, 50, will stay with Busch Gardens and Adventure Island until taking on the new role in 2010. Groundbreaking on the Dubai project is planned by the end of this year. SeaWorld Dubai, Discovery Cove and Aquatica are slated to open in December 2012, and Busch Gardens in 2015.

Mills has worked at five of the 10 Worlds of Discovery parks in a 34-year BEC career. He started at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay as a seasonal employee in 1974 while still in high school. After earning a marketing degree from the University of South Florida, his posts have included executive vice president and general manager of Busch Gardens and Water Country USA in Williamsburg, Va., plus park operations vice president at Busch Gardens Europe, SeaWorld in San Diego and Busch Gardens in Tampa.

Worlds of Discovery Dubai will be developed on Palm Jebel Ali, one of Nakheel's three, man-made, island developments, in a section known as the Crown, which will resemble a giant killer whale upon completion.

Walter Industries subsidiary

purchases Taft Coal Sales

Walter Industries Inc., a Tampa-based producer and exporter of U.S. metallurgical coal, reports its subsidiary, United Land Corp., acquired Taft Coal Sales & Associates, a Jasper, Ala.-based surface coal producer with steam, industrial and metallurgical coal reserves, for $23.5 million.

The purchase includes the assumption of $3.3 million of debt. Company officials expect the action will begin impacting earnings next year.

Taft currently operates a surface steam and industrial coal mine with annual production capacity of 600,000 tons plus reserves of 4.3 million tons, including 500,000 tons of metallurgical coal which the company expects to begin mining in 2009. Taft employs about 100 people.

"The acquisition of Taft and our recently announced expansion at the Flat Top Mine, in addition to our existing Kodiak and TRI operations, have given United Land a substantial footprint in the southern Appalachian coal region of Alabama," Walter Industries Chairman Michael T. Tokarz said in a press release. "In addition, the proximity of our operations to each other provides excellent opportunities for synergies between the businesses and, because United Land has steam, industrial and metallurgical coal reserves, it adds meaningful diversity to Walter Industries' overall coal operations and gives us added flexibility to adapt to changing conditions in those markets."

Walter Industries expects to have 11 million tons of total coal production capacity in 2010.

The company also reported the successful startup of the second long wall at its Mine No. 7 Southwest A project which is expected to add a million tons of coal output.

In addition to its coal-related interests, Walter Industries operates a mortgage financing and homebuilding business.

MIVA Media debuting

online ad platform

MIVA Media, a digital advertising network and a division of Fort Myers-based MIVA Inc., plans to launch a new online advertising platform to replace MIVA's current pay-per-click systems in the United States and Europe with enhanced features including a broader, lower priced range of online advertising and marketing formats for the company's advertisers and publishing partners.

MIVA's new platform is slated to be launched with the first phase beta release - including the addition of image ads plus enhanced targeting, screening and reporting tools - in the U.S. in the fourth quarter. The second phase next year should launch new online ad formats and other features.

"As the online advertising market continues to mature, the needs of advertisers and publishers are also evolving," S. Brian Mukherjee, senior vice president and group managing director of MIVA Media, said in a press release. "MIVA's new platform is intended to address these needs through completely updated technology that we believe will provide a significantly enhanced set of features and online marketing options for advertisers and publishers."