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Miami-Dade Business Briefs - Nov. 2008
Coral Gables — Mercantil Commercebank, owned by Venezuela-based giant Mercantil Servicios Financieros, received $70 million from its holding company. The bank says the money will support ongoing growth, including new branches in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
» Zipcar, a car-sharing service that lets drivers rent vehicles hourly or daily, opened its first Miami-Dade location at the University of Miami. For the first time, UM freshman are not allowed to bring their own cars to campus. Zipcar’s rate is $8 an hour, including gas and insurance, plus an annual $35 membership fee.
Hialeah — Spanish-language television producer Telemundo Communications Group created a digital media and emerging businesses division. The unit hopes to offer content — including Spanish soap operas — on cell phones, online chatting with stars and opportunities to suggest plot twists. Telemundo is the world’s No. 2 Spanish network in terms of content production behind Univision.
Kendall — Baptist Health South Florida broke ground on West Kendall Baptist Hospital, a $160-million campus with a medical office building and 80-bed hospital. The non-profit health system expects to open the facility in 2011. The hospital is designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
Miami — Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, which owns Ivax Corp., sold its 72% interest in Ivax Diagnostics to a group controlled by pharmaceutical entrepreneurs Paul Kennedy and Patrice Debregeas for $14 million. Ivax Diagnostics began life as a spinoff of Ivax Corp. It develops diagnostic test kits, instrumentation and software.
» IAC/InterActive Corp., the Barry Diller-owned conglomerate, spun off timeshare firm Interval Leisure Group. On its first day of trading, the stock was up 12.5%, giving it a market value of $885.3 million.
» Developer Urbana Holdings is suing Bank of America for $90 million over a failed construction loan for its Logik office condo. Urbana alleges the bank promised to lend it $39.5 million for the 133,000-sq.-ft. development and to secure other lenders for an equal amount of money. Urbana says it stopped construction and closed its offices earlier this year.
» Three prominent heart surgeons — Roger G. Carrillo, Andres Medina and Donald Williams, a former chairman of Mount Sinai Medical Center’s department of surgery — have left Mount Sinai for the new University of Miami Hospital. Williams will also become a professor at UM’s Miller School of Medicine. Carrillo will become an associate professor.
Miami Beach — City commissioners replaced the Miami Beach Convention Center’s longtime management company, SMG, with a partnership of Art Basel Miami Beach owner Messe Schweiz and Global Spectrum, a Comcast subsidiary. In return, Art Basel committed to hold the show in the city through 2011.
Miami-Dade County — The county will begin planning the construction start of a $515-million ballpark for the Florida Marlins baseball team after a judge ruled that it will serve a “paramount public purpose.” The ruling came during a lawsuit by auto dealer Norman Braman, who sued to stop the county and city from using Community Redevelopment Agency funds to build the stadium at the former Orange Bowl site. The ruling did not address whether to require a public vote on the plan, and Braman plans to proceed with his suit.
» Texas-based property management firm Lynd Co. expanded into south Florida with a new regional office. The company manages 35,000 apartment units across the U.S.
Pinecrest — American Bank of Florida launched an initial public offering of 1 million to 1.9 million shares of stock at $10 a share. The bank plans to open this spring under CEO Robert L. Bonnet, former CEO of Florida Savings Bank.
South Florida — The Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post have agreed to test content sharing, including basic news stories.
