February 24, 2017 at 9:08 p.m.
Ardagh readies March IPO
Business Roundup
Ardagh readies March IPO
The long-awaited initial public offering of stock in Ardagh Group should take place on the New York Stock Exchange by the end of March.
Ardagh, parent company of glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, was taken private by Irish financier Paul Coulson in 2003. He owns about 36 percent of the business.
Since 2003, the company has been on something of a buying spree, acquiring Anchor Glass and Verallia North America while racking up significant debt, 8.23 billion Euros as of the end of December.
But its companies — glass and metal container operations in the U.S. and Europe — have performed well. The Irish Times reported this week that Ardagh’s operating earnings jumped 23.9 percent last year to 1.16 billion Euros. Sales rose to 6.34 billion Euros, up from 5.2 billion a year before.
The company has said the IPO will amount to a 5 percent stake in the company and the proceeds will be used to pay down debt.
“We are moving into a deleveraging phase now,” The Irish Times quoted Coulson as saying this week.
Joins Stutzman
Former state representative and Portland businessman Bill Davis will be joining his friend Marlin Stuzman as part of The Stutzman Group, a newly launched consulting and lobbying firm.
Davis and Stutzman served in the Indiana General Assembly together and were roommates in Indianapolis during a portion of that time. Davis served as district director for Stutzman from 2015-16 when Stutzman was representing this district in Congress.
Former owner of LPI in Portland, Davis and his wife Mary now reside in the Fort Wayne area.
Stutzman, who ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for Senate in 2016, has landed on his feet since leaving Congress. He’s been named president of Wishbone Medical Inc., Warsaw, and chief executive officer of Crystal Valley Power Equipment, Middlebury.
Sales soar
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported this week that its online sales jumped 29 percent in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year. The giant retailer is now second only to Amazon in total U.S. online sales.
But online sales still only amount to about three percent of the giant retailers total global sales, and the company is still far behind Amazon. Wal-Mart’s online sales totaled about $14 billion, compared with Amazon’s $94 billion.
Scam warning
Indiana Michigan Power is warning customers of scam artists who are posing as I&M personnel.
The scammers threaten to disconnect service unless an immediate payment is made.
They then tell customers to go to a certain store and buy a prepaid card and call for further instructions. But it’s all a scam.
Anyone receiving such a phone call should hang up immediately and contact local police. They are then asked to call I&M’s customer operations center at (800) 311-4634 to report the scam.
I&M representatives pointed out that the utility will never disconnect service without warning and will never insist on a payment with a prepaid credit card.
For more information, go to IndianaMichiganPower.com/StopScams.
Another merger
First Merchants Corporation, parent company of First Merchants Bank, has announced another merger, this one with Fort Wayne-based Independent Alliance Banks Inc.
If the deal is approved by shareholders and banking regulators, 16 IAB locations in northeast Indiana will merge into First Merchants Bank.
The combined company will have assets of $8.3 billion and will be the second-largest financial holding company headquartered in Indiana, the companies said in a press release. It will have 122 bank branches in 31 Indiana counties and two counties in both Illinois and Ohio.
The merger agreement says IAB shareholders will receive 1.6530 shares of First Merchants common stock for each share of IAB common stock owned. First Merchants says the transaction value of the outstanding shares of IAB common stock not already owned by First Merchants is $251.3 million.
Broyles hired
Kelly Broyles has been appointed manager of Region 7 for Indiana Department of Child Services, with responsibility for Jay, Randolph, Delaware, Blackford and Grant counties.
Born and raised in Richmond, she has been with DCS for 21 years as a family case manager, supervisor and director of the Wayne County office.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington.
No antibiotics
As of June, chicken products sold by Tyson Foods Inc. will be antibiotics-free, Reuters reported this week.
That will make Tyson, parent company of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland, the world’s leading producer of chicken raised without antibiotics. The company had earlier set a target of next fall for making the switch.
“We think that we can be very competitive in that space in the next 12 months,” Noel White, Tyson’s chief operations officer, told Reuters.
Routine use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent illness in healthy farm animals has contributed to rising numbers of dangerous human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria dubbed “superbugs,” researchers say.
“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 2 million people in the United States are infected with drug-resistant bacteria each year and that 23,000 die as a direct result,” Reuters reported.
Expanding
POET Biorefining is considering a major expansion of its Marion, Ohio, ethanol plant that could add 20 new jobs.
Local officials there are moving forward with a 12-year tax abatement on the proposed new construction.
POET, parent company of POET Biorefining-Portland, is reportedly planning similar expansions at a number of its plants. There are 28 ethanol plants in the POET network.
Office closing
The Blackford County WorkOne office will close effective March 17, it was announced this week by Alliance for Strategic Growth.
“Rather than diminish its presence in Blackford County, this announcement represents the emergence of a new workforce development delivery system that will be more responsive, convenient and efficient for employers, customers and stakeholders alike,” said Mike Row, president and chief executive officer of Alliance for Strategic Growth and the Eastern Indiana Workforce Development board, in a prepared statement.
The public was referred to www.asgcorp.org and the Delaware County WorkOne office at (765) 289-1861.
New president
Toshiyuki Shimabara is the new president of Honda of America Manufacturing, a major customer of FCC (Indiana) of Portland.
He’ll oversee four Ohio plants, two in Marysville, one in East Liberty and one in Anna.
Shimabara succeeds Tomomi Kosaka, who has been president since 2014.
Ardagh, parent company of glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, was taken private by Irish financier Paul Coulson in 2003. He owns about 36 percent of the business.
Since 2003, the company has been on something of a buying spree, acquiring Anchor Glass and Verallia North America while racking up significant debt, 8.23 billion Euros as of the end of December.
But its companies — glass and metal container operations in the U.S. and Europe — have performed well. The Irish Times reported this week that Ardagh’s operating earnings jumped 23.9 percent last year to 1.16 billion Euros. Sales rose to 6.34 billion Euros, up from 5.2 billion a year before.
The company has said the IPO will amount to a 5 percent stake in the company and the proceeds will be used to pay down debt.
“We are moving into a deleveraging phase now,” The Irish Times quoted Coulson as saying this week.
Joins Stutzman
Former state representative and Portland businessman Bill Davis will be joining his friend Marlin Stuzman as part of The Stutzman Group, a newly launched consulting and lobbying firm.
Davis and Stutzman served in the Indiana General Assembly together and were roommates in Indianapolis during a portion of that time. Davis served as district director for Stutzman from 2015-16 when Stutzman was representing this district in Congress.
Former owner of LPI in Portland, Davis and his wife Mary now reside in the Fort Wayne area.
Stutzman, who ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for Senate in 2016, has landed on his feet since leaving Congress. He’s been named president of Wishbone Medical Inc., Warsaw, and chief executive officer of Crystal Valley Power Equipment, Middlebury.
Sales soar
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported this week that its online sales jumped 29 percent in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year. The giant retailer is now second only to Amazon in total U.S. online sales.
But online sales still only amount to about three percent of the giant retailers total global sales, and the company is still far behind Amazon. Wal-Mart’s online sales totaled about $14 billion, compared with Amazon’s $94 billion.
Scam warning
Indiana Michigan Power is warning customers of scam artists who are posing as I&M personnel.
The scammers threaten to disconnect service unless an immediate payment is made.
They then tell customers to go to a certain store and buy a prepaid card and call for further instructions. But it’s all a scam.
Anyone receiving such a phone call should hang up immediately and contact local police. They are then asked to call I&M’s customer operations center at (800) 311-4634 to report the scam.
I&M representatives pointed out that the utility will never disconnect service without warning and will never insist on a payment with a prepaid credit card.
For more information, go to IndianaMichiganPower.com/StopScams.
Another merger
First Merchants Corporation, parent company of First Merchants Bank, has announced another merger, this one with Fort Wayne-based Independent Alliance Banks Inc.
If the deal is approved by shareholders and banking regulators, 16 IAB locations in northeast Indiana will merge into First Merchants Bank.
The combined company will have assets of $8.3 billion and will be the second-largest financial holding company headquartered in Indiana, the companies said in a press release. It will have 122 bank branches in 31 Indiana counties and two counties in both Illinois and Ohio.
The merger agreement says IAB shareholders will receive 1.6530 shares of First Merchants common stock for each share of IAB common stock owned. First Merchants says the transaction value of the outstanding shares of IAB common stock not already owned by First Merchants is $251.3 million.
Broyles hired
Kelly Broyles has been appointed manager of Region 7 for Indiana Department of Child Services, with responsibility for Jay, Randolph, Delaware, Blackford and Grant counties.
Born and raised in Richmond, she has been with DCS for 21 years as a family case manager, supervisor and director of the Wayne County office.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington.
No antibiotics
As of June, chicken products sold by Tyson Foods Inc. will be antibiotics-free, Reuters reported this week.
That will make Tyson, parent company of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland, the world’s leading producer of chicken raised without antibiotics. The company had earlier set a target of next fall for making the switch.
“We think that we can be very competitive in that space in the next 12 months,” Noel White, Tyson’s chief operations officer, told Reuters.
Routine use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent illness in healthy farm animals has contributed to rising numbers of dangerous human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria dubbed “superbugs,” researchers say.
“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 2 million people in the United States are infected with drug-resistant bacteria each year and that 23,000 die as a direct result,” Reuters reported.
Expanding
POET Biorefining is considering a major expansion of its Marion, Ohio, ethanol plant that could add 20 new jobs.
Local officials there are moving forward with a 12-year tax abatement on the proposed new construction.
POET, parent company of POET Biorefining-Portland, is reportedly planning similar expansions at a number of its plants. There are 28 ethanol plants in the POET network.
Office closing
The Blackford County WorkOne office will close effective March 17, it was announced this week by Alliance for Strategic Growth.
“Rather than diminish its presence in Blackford County, this announcement represents the emergence of a new workforce development delivery system that will be more responsive, convenient and efficient for employers, customers and stakeholders alike,” said Mike Row, president and chief executive officer of Alliance for Strategic Growth and the Eastern Indiana Workforce Development board, in a prepared statement.
The public was referred to www.asgcorp.org and the Delaware County WorkOne office at (765) 289-1861.
New president
Toshiyuki Shimabara is the new president of Honda of America Manufacturing, a major customer of FCC (Indiana) of Portland.
He’ll oversee four Ohio plants, two in Marysville, one in East Liberty and one in Anna.
Shimabara succeeds Tomomi Kosaka, who has been president since 2014.
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