Putnam Investments Being Sold for $3.9B
BUSINESS IN BRIEF
Putnam investments being sold for $3.9B
BOSTON – Marsh & McLennan Cos. today announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its Putnam Investments mutual fund division in Boston to Great-West Lifeco Inc., a financial services company controlled by Canada-based Power Financial Corp., for $3.9 billion.
The deal had been widely anticipated, as news reports began to surface about a pending sale of Putnam to Power Financial about a month ago.
Putnam Investments employs about 3,000 people, primarily in Massachusetts. Putnam expects to keep its brand, its headquarters in Boston, and its current management team, including Putnam CEO Charles “Ed” Haldeman, after the sale.
HAEMONETICS CORP. SHARES FALL $1.94
BRAINTREE – Shares in Haemonetics Corp. dropped nearly 4 percent yesterday after the Braintree-based medical device maker issued a lackluster earnings report.
The company, which manufactures blood collection devices, saw its net income fall 40 percent to $16.9 million in the quarter that ended on Dec. 30 from $27.9 million in the same quarter a year ago, partially because of an arbitration award that the company accounted for in the year-ago quarter. Revenue, meanwhile, rose 7.4 percent to $114 million.
The company also said its revenues continue to be affected by sales declines in its Japanese business. It now expects revenue growth of 7 percent to 9 percent for the year.
Shares in Haemonetics fell $1.94 yesterday to close at $48.24.
VERIZON PLANS TO HIRE 300 WORKERS IN N.E.
Verizon Wireless plans to add 300 employees in New England during the first half of 2007.
The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based company’s total work force in New England, however, will remain relatively stable at about 2,800, a company spokesman said. That’s because the new hires will replace people who will either leave through attrition, promotion or reassignment.
About half of the new hires will be spread among the company’s roughly 140 stores in New England and retail locations at BJ’s Wholesale Club and Circuit City. The other half will join call centers in Meriden, Conn., and Wallingford, Conn.
Verizon Wireless said workers who are fluent in both English and Spanish are in particularly high demand.
BIOSPHERE POSTS LOST DESPITE SALES GAIN
ROCKLAND – BioSphere Medical Inc. saw a sales gain in the last quarter, but still posted a loss. The Rockland-based medical device company said its revenue rose 23 percent to $6.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. But its quarterly loss grew slightly to $340,000, up from a loss of $270,000 in the same time a year ago.
ARCHITECTURE FIRM’S HEADQUARTERS MOVING TO BOSTON
BOSTON – ADD Inc. is moving its headquarters and 160 employees from Cambridge to South Boston. The Boston Business Journal reported that the architecture firm has bought a 60,000-square-foot office building at 311 Summer St. in the Fort Point Channel area from a partnership of Archon Group and The Goldman Properties.
PLUMBING, ELECTRICAL CHAIN OPENS SECOND STORE ON CAPE COD
YARMOUTH – J.D. Daddario, a Franklin-based plumbing and electrical supplies chain, has opened a store on Route 28 in Yarmouth. The company, which is a division of Ferguson Enterprises Inc., employs three people at the 11,000-square-foot showroom. It’s the second shop on Cape Cod for the company; the other is on Route 28 in Mashpee.
Patriot Ledger staff
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