Report: $3.1B Sikorsky deal in hover mode
Taiwan”™s government reportedly is delaying the purchase of 60 Black Hawk helicopters from Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., originally valued at $3.1 billion after contract negotiations were first disclosed in early 2010.
The order includes 120 helicopter engines from the GE Aviation division of Fairfield-based General Electric Co., which would be manufactured in Lynn, Mass.
Taiwan official gave differing reasons for the delay, according to the Associated Press, with an original 2016 date now delayed at least three years. Executives at Sikorsky parent United Technologies Corp. did not address any contractual issues in a conference call with investment analysts last month.
During a January visit to China by U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a senior China defense official reiterated the country”™s stance against the Taiwan arms sale, which also included Patriot anti-ballistic missile systems from Lockheed Martin Corp.
Feds: Let the seller beware
Federal regulators moved to address a key element of the financial system that contributed to the economy”™s collapse in 2008 ”“ the ability of financiers to securitize assets like mortgages and sell them, without retaining some of the risk embedded in those securities.
A new rule under the Dodd-Frank financial reform act would require creators of asset-backed securities to retain at least 5 percent of the credit risk of the assets underlying those securities, with companies not allowed to transfer or hedge that risk.
By retaining an element of risk, regulators hope that will provide a strong incentive for any company creating an asset-backed security to ensure the quality of the instrument it creates, lessening the odds of a repeat of 2008 when buyers of mortgage-backed securities saw those assets decline sharply in value as homeowners with subprime mortgages were unable to keep up with sharply escalating interest rates.
Separately, lawmakers introduced a bill that would disband mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, replacing them with private companies allowed to issue mortgage-backed securities backed by federal guarantees. Officials hope that through capital requirements and other measures, safeguards can be maintained while drawing more private capital to the housing market.
Lime Rock affiliate files for IPO
An affiliate of Lime Rock Resources filed for an initial public offering of stock valued at up to $282 million, intending to spend the money in acquiring, developing and operating oil and natural gas fields in North America.
LRR Energy L.P. lists its primary office in Houston, where Lime Rock has an office in addition to its Westport headquarters.
Both companies are run by Eric Mullins and Charles Adcock, who before joining Lime Rock in 2005 both worked for Goldman Sachs Group. Lime Rock has some $3.9 billion in capital under management and has approximately $625 million set aside for acquiring additional oil and gas properties.
LRR is debuting as a corporate entity with oil and gas fields in the South containing an estimated 30 million barrels of oil as measured on the industry”™s equivalent basis.
Two EPA awards for Westporters
Multiple Fairfield County environmentalists were recognized in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency”™s annual merit awards.
Richard Harris and Peter Fraboni received a lifetime achievement award for establishing Westport-based Harbor Watch/River Watch in 1986 as a citizen”™s monitoring program that gathered data on hypoxia in local harbors. In 1993, the organization became part of Earthplace, a nature and science museum with a mission to educate the community about the environment. Earthplace maintains a 62-acre wildlife sanctuary with exhibits, trails and an interactive natural history museum. It also recently established a water-quality lab on Norwalk Harbor to monitor water quality from the Norwalk River to the harbor and identified pipes.
Westport resident Dan Levinson won a merit award for his Green Village initiative, which among other projects developed a historic town farm, a sustainability center and gardens at multiple sites in Westport and Bridgeport.
Fairfield commuters get car-charging stations
United Illuminating Co. installed its first public electric vehicle charging station in Fairfield County, at the Sherman Town Green in Fairfield.
New Haven-based United Illuminating is installing commuter vehicle charging systems from Fairfield-based General Electric Co. and said it is planning stations for Bridgeport and Stratford as well.
Starwood Property continues buying spree
Starwood Property Trust Inc. raised $477 million in an offering of stock, planning to spend the proceeds on purchases of commercial real estate loans.
A sister company of Starwood Capital Group Inc., Starwood Property held its initial public offering of stock in 2008, when it raised nearly $1 billion. The company earned $31.4 million in the first quarter, up from about $5.9 million a year ago.
Passur swaps out debt for equity
The chairman of Passur Aerospace agreed to take shares of stock as repayment for cash he loaned the company, which Passur said helps cut its debt by more than two-thirds to $4.8 million.
Greenwich-based Passur provides aviation companies and airports with departure and arrival times, using passive radar that pinpoints aircraft according to commercial broadcast signals that bounce off fuselages. In its first fiscal quarter ending Jan. 31, Passur earned $300,000 on revenue of $3.5 million, up by half from a year earlier.
Chairman Beckwith Gilbert agreed to take Passur stock as payment for $5.8 million in loans he had previously issued the company, along with another $4.3 million in cash Passur raised by selling stock to multiple investors, including three directors. The company still owes Gilbert $4.8 million more.
Teavana files for IPO
Teavana, an operator of retail tea shops, filed for an initial public offering of stock, planning to spend a portion of the proceeds on expanding its lone distribution center in Stratford and possibly adding a second distribution node elsewhere in the country.
The New York City-based company did not immediately specify how much it planned to raise in an IPO.
Teavana holds two leases that expire in 2016 and 2020 on its distribution facility in Stratford, which totals 80,000 square feet of space.
The company has stores at the Danbury Fair Mall and the Westfield Trumbull Shopping Mall, among nearly 150 stores nationally.
Shelton contractor cited by OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking $140,000 in fines against a Shelton-based contractor over what it says were dangerous conditions at a Bridgeport roofing site.
Total Remodeling Services exposed workers to falls of more than 20 feet at the site, according to OSHA, due to inadequate safety precautions in the use of scaffolding and ladders. OSHA said it has cited the company on previous occasions the past few years for fines totaling $100,000.
