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Southeast Florida Business Briefs - Dec. 2006
BOCA RATON
Geo Group, a correctional and mental health services firm, is buying Palm Beach Gardensbased CentraCore Properties Trust, a corrections real estate investment trust. The acquisition will result in a $396.1 million in holdings combination that gives Geo Group control of CentraCore assets it was leasing.
? Nabi Pharmaceuticals agreed to sell its PhosLo drug to a U.S. subsidiary of German drug maker Fresenius AG for up to $150 million in cash and royalties on sales. PhosLo is aimed at reducing dangerously high phosphate levels in the blood.
DELRAY BEACH
Office Depot (NYSEODP) has agreed to buy a controlling interest in an office products and services dealer in China. The purchase of AsiaEC allows Office Depot to leverage operations in Japan and South Korea, according to the company. Financial terms were undisclosed.
FORT LAUDERDALE
Muvico Theaters has wrapped up a $64-million financing deal with an institutional investor. Part of the money will be used to build Muvico Boynton Beach 14, an anchor of the 1.2-millionsq.- ft. Boynton Beach Mall. The theater is scheduled to open next summer.
? AirTran is adding daily non-stop flights to Fort Lauderdale from New York's Westchester County Airport. The flights will begin on Dec. 21.
HALLANDALE BEACH
The state has given the nod to Gulfstream Park to operate slot machines at its horse race track. Gulfstream expects to have 516 slot machines. Mardi Gras Gaming & Racing Center received its slot machine license last month.
JUPITER
BabyUniverse has received $2 million in new financing. The online retailer and content publisher received the money from affiliates of Wyndcrest Holdings, a company controlled by BabyUniverse CEO John Textor. The money is earmarked for general corporate use.
PORT EVERGLADES
Denmarkbased Maersk Line is adding service to and from the east coast of South America. The company expects its service to handle 26,000 container moves each year.
PORT ST.LUCIE
The Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies plans to build a 100,000-sq.-ft. facility 29 miles north of Jupiter's Scripps Florida. The county awarded $56.5 million in incentives to the La Jolla, Calif.-based researcher. Construction is slated to begin in early 2007. Torrey Pines expects to bring 189 jobs with an average salary of $56,000 to St. Lucie County.
ST.LUCIE COUNTY
Hit hard in 2004 by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, the county has planted 164,646 new plants, most of them sea oats, along its beaches to help restore and preserve the coastline. Funding for the project included more than $4 million from the state and $1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
SOUTH FLORIDA
The Governor's Office of Film & Entertainment says 14 productions and one digital media company took advantage of state incentives totaling $5.6 million. Nine of those productions took place in south Florida.
WEST PALM BEACH
1st United Bank is opening a branch at 1700 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. It is slated to open next spring. >> Struggling Jacuzzi Brands is going private. The company is selling out to New York-based equity firm Apollo Management in a deal worth $1.25 billion.
WESTON
The Cleveland Clinic purchased for an undisclosed sum Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s 51% stake in the 150-bed Cleveland Clinic Hospital.
