Report: Shays run could force Republican primary
Former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays reportedly will run for the U.S. Senate next year in a bid to replace retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman, according to a report by Connecticut News Junkie citing unidentified sources.
A Shays run could possibly set up a Republican Party primary battle with former World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. CEO Linda McMahon, who has yet to announce whether she will run. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal defeated McMahon in the 2010 race for the seat of former Sen. Christopher Dodd.
Shays represented the fourth district in Congress between 1987 and 2008, when he was defeated by U.S. Rep. Jim Himes.
U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy has entered the race to secure the Democrat nomination for Lieberman”™s seat.
U.K. company engineers Omega deal
For $475 million, Spectris plc is acquiring Omega Engineering, which makes a range of process measurement and control instrumentation devices for use by varying industries and labs.
Stamford-based Omega employs about 700 people at five manufacturing facilities and two distribution sites. The company had a $39.6 million operating profit last year on sales of $168 million.
In 2010, Spectris”™ existing measurement, controls and instrumentation products produced North American sales totaling $370 million, of $1.5 billion in worldwide sales.
Spectris is based in Surrey outside London and employs 6,000 people. The company traces its history to 1915 and the launch of the Fairey Aviation Co., which manufactured seaplanes.
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Paliwal realigns Harman
Harman International Industries Inc. is juggling its existing automotive and consumer divisions into two new units dubbed lifestyle and infotainment, coming off a year in which it cut its North American workforce by about 100 jobs.
Separately, Stamford-based Harman disclosed it spent $80 million to acquire MWM Acoustics L.L.C., an Indianapolis company that makes microphones and loudspeakers embedded in computers, telephones, headsets, mobile devices and autos.
Harman makes a range of consumer and professional sound systems and related equipment. For the fiscal year ending June 30, the company earned $136 million as revenue rose 12 percent to nearly $3.8 billion.
The realignment leaves its professional products unit largely untouched, which is expected to produce about $600 million in revenue in the current fiscal year.
The new lifestyle division, with revenue of roughly $1.1 billion, will include Harman brands AKG, Harman Kardon, JBL, Mark Levinson, Infinity and Lexicon. At $2.1 billion in revenue, the infotainment division includes a mix of products for satellite-based navigation, hands-free calling, wireless connectivity, and in-vehicle systems such as camera, infrared and laser technologies.
“We will be the first commercial infotainment company to bring safe-and-sound systems in the car so that your texting, your emailing, your social media can be in the car without touching anything, without looking at anything,” said CEO Dinesh Paliwal, in a conference call with investment analysts in mid-August. “That is very different with some of our competitors right here in (the) U.S. ”¦ they get into trouble because of the safety concerns.”
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SBA lauds ATMI
ATMI Inc. received another accolade from the U.S. Small Business Administration, numbering among the “SBA 100” companies featured on the White House”™s website that have made the most of federal funding.
ATMI makes canisters at its Danbury headquarters used to hold toxic gases in the production of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals and prevent any leakage. ATMI last year was among the handful of inductees into the SBA”™s inaugural hall of fame.
Also making the SBA 100 list was Black Diamond Inc., a Utah-based maker of rock-climbing equipment that merged with a Stamford-based shell company called Clarus Corp.
Seaview House put on market
The waterfront office building that houses XL Capital”™s U.S. headquarters was put up for sale, with the owner hiring commercial broker Grubb & Ellis to market the property.
Seaview House at 70 Seaview Ave. totals nearly 100,000 square feet of space, with Bermuda-based XL occupying more than 90 percent of the building with a lease running through 2016.
The property includes a marina with nearly 60 slips.
Smiths to make handheld radiation detector
Smiths Detection has begun manufacturing a newfangled handheld radiation detector in Danbury, with deliveries planned this month to the domestic nuclear detection office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Smiths Detection says its RadSeeker eliminates the background “false positives” produced by naturally occurring radiation or other legitimate everyday radiological materials.
New head for Deloitte Northeast
Deloitte named Henry Phillips vice chairman and regional managing partner for its Northeast operations, including offices in Wilton and Stamford that employ more than 700 people.
In all, Deloitte has 11,000 workers in 13 offices in the region. Phillips, 42, of Ridgefield, takes the role of regional managing partner from Gregory Durant, who is now managing partner for clients and industries.
Phillips is a graduate of Albion College and is a certified public accountant.
Greenwich engineers install hospital solar system
Via a $325,000 contract made possible by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, Greenwich-based Hoffman Engineering Consultants installed a solar thermal water system for Gaylord Hospital. The Wallingford rehabilitation hospital says the system will provide two-thirds of its hot-water needs.
Former FrontPoint executive admits guilt
Joseph Skowron III pleaded guilty to obstructing justice during a federal probe by getting tips on a pharmaceutical company”™s clinical trials, allowing him to avoid some $30 million in losses on the stock.
Skowron, 42, of Greenwich, faces up to five years in jail when he is sentenced in November, and paid $5 million as restitution.
FrontPoint was spun out from Morgan Stanley this year as an independent hedge fund.
