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Southeast Florida Business Briefs - Dec. 2007
BOCA RATON —
» DayJet has launched service between Lakeland, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Pensacola and Boca Raton. The air taxi service also plans to begin service to other Southeastern states.
» 1st United Bancorp signed an agreement to buy Equitable Financial Group of Fort Lauderdale for about $55.6 million in cash and stock, about 2.15 times Equitable’s $25.8-million book value.
FORT LAUDERDALE —
» Citrix Systems has completed its $500-million acquisition of XenSource. The acquisition is the largest in Citrix’s 18-year history. The new technology allows users to group multiple operating systems on a single server.
» Port Everglades generates about 11,000 direct jobs in south Florida and about $16.8 billion in overall economic activity, according to an economic impact survey.
» Levitt & Sons has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has temporarily stopped building homes as it restructures debt. The company plans to take pretax charges of $160 million to $170 million as a result of losses on its home-building inventory and is roughly $430 million in debt. The company’s projects include Seasons at Tradition in Port St. Lucie.
HALLANDALE —
» Trump Financial opened its first south Florida office with six loan officers and plans to grow to 20 by early next year. Trump is the preferred lender for several condominium projects in south Florida, including the Mondrian in South Beach, Trump Hollywood Florida and Midtown Miami in the designer district.
HOLLYWOOD —
» BioRASI, the life sciences initiative of the Russian Academy of Scientists, has relocated its world headquarters from Miami. The 12,000-sq.-ft. building now houses 10 employees. Privately held BioRASI plans to recruit an additional 45 employees within the next two years. It now has 250,000 scientists in more than 1,000 locations world-wide.
» Michael Bloom, president and second-ranking officer of the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino, has resigned.
PLANTATION —
» American Express plans to add 600 jobs next month to the 3,800 it already has at its credit card call service center.
PORT ST. LUCIE —
» Mann Research Center, a company formed by medical device entrepreneur Alfred E. Mann, plans to develop a “major life sciences complex” next to the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies’ planned campus. Mann Research has a contract to buy 22 acres in the Tradition development west of I-95. Early plans for the property call for a five- or six-building complex with a mix of research and development, medical, office and retail space.
