-
Loews Hotels plans to consolidate back-office functions in Nashville for its 19 hotels and resorts, a move that will create 200 jobs over about two years and give a much-needed boost to downtown office leasing activity.
The New York-based company has leased 40,000 square feet of space in the Fifth Third Center for the shared services center, which it plans to open in September.
Nashville was among four U.S. cities that made a final cut for the project from an initial list of 10. Loews plans to centralize tasks such as accounting, payroll and purchasing in the new office space.
-
Rising floodwaters didn't disrupt operations at most Nashville- area hospitals, but industry players still were busy making news of their own, from an acquisition deal to an HCA filing to return to being a publicly traded company.
Sumner Regional Health Systems' bankruptcy filing, with plans to sell for an estimated $155 million to Brentwood-based hospital operator LifePoint Hospitals Inc., came as no surprise. The Gallatin-based system has been dealing with high debt brought on by rapid expansion, as well as concerns about reliability of its financials after revenues were overstated.
Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst at CRT Capital in Stamford, Conn., believes LifePoint is paying a fairly steep price for fairly weak assets. The deal still requires approval of the Sumner County Commission, and other companies could make rival offers under a court-directed bidding process.
-
The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Psychiatric Solutions hospital chain for documents related to pay, stock sales and stock options for certain senior executives, although the Franklin-based company says it doesn't expect an adverse outcome from the inquiry.
The hospital company also received another subpoena related to its communications with investment firms and investors and other stock-related documents.
The investigation probably is related to 2010 management compensation packages established only two weeks before news broke about Psychiatric Solutions being for sale and whether its board was aware of Chief Executive Officer Joey Jacobs' private intentions to sell the company, analyst John Ransom of Raymond James in Tampa said in a research note.
-
An initial public offering by Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. is set to be priced tonight, which would allow shares of the Franklin-based aluminum products producer to make their trading debut Thursday morning.
Noranda plans to offer 16.67 million shares at $14 to $16 each with plans to use proceeds of roughly $250 million to repay debt.
It, however, remains to be seen if the IPO will go forward in a volatile stock market. Last week, four companies postponed IPOs that had been scheduled for U.S. stock markets.
-
O’Charley’s lost $4.3 million in the first quarter, surprising analysts who had been looking for a profit of about the same number. Sales at the Nashvile-based restaurant chain fell 7 percent to $271 million.
Per diluted share, O’Charley’s lost 21 cents even though the Street had expected a proft of 20 cents. CEO Jeff Warne said the big shortfall was due in large part to customers trading down to smaller and cheaper menu items without replacing their spending with appetizers or desserts. The average O’Charley’s concept guest check fell more than 5 percent versus a year ago to $12.45.
-
Tennessee’s revenue collections may have finally turned a corner.
Revenue collections in April were up 2.2 percent compared to a year ago — ending “an unprecedented 22 consecutive months of negative collections,” Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave Goetz said in a news release.
Collections for the month were $1.24 billion. That’s $43.4 million more than the state budgeted.
Sales taxes were up 5.6 percent compared to April 2009, bringing in $548.8 million. That’s $9.7 million more than the state budgeted for April, and the first time this year that it has exceeded expectations.
-
Health-care tech company HealthStream signed a seven-year lease extension at its Cummins Station offices.
The terms of the deal, which covers about 32,000 square feet, were specified in the company's quarterly SEC filing.
"On April 22, 2010, the Company renewed a lease, and expanded the square footage, for its principal office located in Nashville, Tennessee for a seven year period. The initial term of the renewed lease will end on April 30, 2017, and includes a two year renewal option. The monthly rental payments at this location will be as follows: $50,434 through April 2012, $53,430 through April 2013, $53,725 through April 2014, $54,021 through April 2015, and $57,027 through April 2017. The lease also includes certain periods of free rent and tenant improvement allowances," the filing read.
-
The Nashville Business Journal is moving its office from downtown to Midtown.
Publisher Kate Herman said the move to the Plaza 18 Building at 1800 Church Street will improve the staff’s access to businesses in the West End and MetroCenter while still remaining close to downtown. It also offers ample free parking for staff and guests.
The 25-year-old newspaper is currently located at 344 Fourth Ave. N, in a first floor office at the Public Square Garage, where it has been for seven years.
links for 2010-05-13
Advertisement
