Ticker Archive
DECEMBER 2007
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- Bosch Group acquired shares in Health Hero Network
(Press Release)
The Bosch Group has announced it has acquired a majority share holding in Health Hero Network, a leading innovator in the remote health monitoring business. Health Hero Network is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and since it was founded in 1992, the company has been issued 63 patents. Health Hero Network currently employs 44 associates, all of whom will be retained by Bosch.
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- Nufern to be bought by German laser maker
(Hartford Courant)
Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc., a German-based manufacturer of industrial laser equipment and one of the world's leading developers in this segment, announced that it had signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Nufern as a wholly-owned subsidiary of RSTI, in a cash transaction.
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- Manufacturer with German ties to settle in Aurora
(Chicago News)
Centa Corp. will expand warehousing and launch manufacturing operations in the United States for the first time with a new plant in Aurora. The North American daughter company of Centa Antriebe Kirschey GmbH -- a world-leading German manufacturer of flexible couplings and drive shafts for marine and industrial power transmission applications -- previously had a small leased warehouse and distribution office in Westmont.
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- Munich Re to pay $352M for Sterling Life
(Herald Tribune)
Reinsurer Munich Re AG said it reached a deal to buy U.S. healthcare insurer Sterling Life Insurance Co. for US$352 million in cash, giving it more access to older Americans who want to buy health insurance.
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- Daimler wins orders for 1,052 hybrid city buses
(Aviation Newswire)
Daimler AG's North American bus business has won orders from New York City and Ottawa for a total of 1,052 diesel-electric hybrid public transit buses, the company said. These buses will be powered by BAE Systems' hybrid propulsion system and will be delivered into 2010.
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- Senate ratifies protocol to German-American tax treaty
(RGIT)
The U.S. Senate unexpectedly ratified changes to the German-American double taxation tax treaty. The Protocol amends Article 25 (Mutual Agreement Procedure) to mandate binding arbitration for disputes pending for more than two years (and in other circumstances), the first-ever such provision in a U.S. tax agreement. The Protocol takes effect in both countries on the date on which the instruments of ratification are exchanged.
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- Bayer's Nunhems seed business acquires Paragon Seed
(CNN Money)
Bayer AG's Nunhems BV vegetable seed business, a sub-unit of Bayer CropScience AG, has acquired U.S. company Paragon Seed Inc for an undisclosed. In 2006, Paragon Seed generated sales of about 5.8 mln eur, supplying both the US market as well as Mexico, Bayer said in a statement.
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- Kavitsky becomes CEO of Allianz of America
(San Francisco Business Times)
The CEO of Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., Chuck Kavitsky, will take on a number of new roles next year, including CEO of Allianz of America, effective Jan. 1. Kavitsky has been president of the Allianz of America holding company, and as of next month will be both its president and chief executive. Jan Carendi, Allianz of America's chairman, is stepping down to become a consultant to the company, according to a spokeswoman.
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- Wacker to acquire Air Products' stake in construction polymers joint ventures
(Euro Adhoc)
Wacker Chemie AG plans to acquire full ownership of Air Products Polymers (APP) and Wacker Polymer Systems (WPS), its two joint ventures with Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. The two partners announced they have signed an agreement to this effect.
Wacker Chemie AG´s CEO, Peter-Alexander Wacker, saw the acquisition as another logical step in the Group´s growth strategy. "Our agreement will give Wacker fully integrated prduction sites in the USA and Asia. The economies of scale and synergies resulting from this extension of our value chain will bring us cost advantages."
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- German and US astronomical institutions to boost cooperation
(Cordis News)
German-American collaboration in the field of radio astronomy is set to get a boost thanks to a new agreement between Germany's Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) and the US' National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The two institutions will continue their existing observational collaborations and share resources to improve the technical capabilities of each other's telescopes.
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- BASF to reorganize its business into 6 segments
(Herald Tribune)
Chemical company BASF AG said that it will reorganize its business into six segments, a change that will take effect at the start of 2008. The Ludwigshafen-based company said the new segments will be chemicals, plastics, functional solutions, performance products, agriculture solutions and oil and gas.
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- Siemens sells Newport News plant to Continental
(Daily Press)
Siemens AG sold its Newport News fuel injector plant that employs 715 workers to German tiremaker Continental AG as part of a $16.7 billion deal. No layoffs are expected at the local plant as a result of the sale, Continental officials said. But long-term market forces in the struggling automotive sector could force the company to re-evaluate staffing during the Siemens-Continental integration, said Brad Warner, a spokesman for Continental's North American operations.
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- Telekom wins court battle to lock Apple iPhone
(Post Gadget)
Deutsche Telekom won a court battle to keep its Apple iPhone locked, preventing German customers of competitor Vodafone from using the stylish new gadget. Telekom's T-Mobile wireless division had earlier been forced under a temporary injunction to sell the iPhone in Germany without any calling plan or the software lock which confines users to Apple's chosen marketing partner.
But after full argument of the case in state court in Hamburg, Vodafone's legal claims under German competition law were rejected. Judges said T-Mobile was entitled to limit sales of the 399-euro (588-dollar) iPhone to customers signing up for a two-year T-Mobile contract which costs about 1,200 euros. Both prices include tax.
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- Audi sales fell, Porsche sales rose in the U.S.
(Bloomberg)
Audi AG, Volkswagen AG's luxury brand, said U.S. sales fell 1.1 percent last month as demand for the A4 sedan and Q7 sport-utility vehicle dropped. At the same time Porsche reported North American vehicle sales rose 2 percent to 2,776 units in November thanks to a surge in demand for its refreshed Cayenne sport utility vehicle.
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- Biolitec says sales may increase 35% on U.S. demand
(Bloomberg)
Biolitec AG, the German company whose prostate-therapy laser was approved in the U.S. in 2007, expects revenue to rise as much as 35 percent this year, Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Neuberger said.
North American sales accounted for 52 percent of Biolitec revenue in the year ended in June, compared with 42 percent a year earlier, as U.S. demand for cosmetic and medical lasers increased. The German company has 20 percent of the U.S. market for prostate laser therapy and aims to have 40 percent by the end of 2008, Neuberger said.
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- Fresenius pays $200 million for Renal Solutions
(Pittsburgh Business Times)
Warrendale-based Renal Solutions Inc. has been acquired by Fresenius Medical Care for $200 million. "It's a huge deal for Renal, and it's a huge deal for the region, to have a success like this," said Renal CEO Peter DeComo.
Renal develops and manufactures products to treat kidney disease. Fresenius Medical Care, based in Bad Homburg, Germany, was founded in 1996. It is the largest integrated provider of products and services for dialysis patients in the world, DeComo said.
