Company News
Published 08/31/01
Drug Emporium Inc., Powell, Ohio, said its Chapter 11 plan
was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Youngstown,
Ohio. The plan sells Drug Emporium to Minnetonka-based
Snyder's Drug Stores Inc. for $21 million in cash plus the
assumption of certain liabilities. Current Drug Emporium
shareholders will get nothing. Snyder's will operate Drug
Emporium as a wholly owned subsidiary.
NetRadio Corp., Minneapolis, said that Navarre Corp., New
Hope, and ValueVision International Inc., Eden Prairie,
have agreed to sell their shares of NetRadio Corp. to Advisory
Board Inc., a New York City-based media company, for $1.05
per share. Navarre also agreed to sell a $3.1 million promissory
note to Advisory Board for $1.1 million in cash, and the
Advisory Board and NetRadio agreed to convert the note into
NetRadio common stock. Advisory Board investors have
agreed to buy up to $10 million worth of NetRadio convertible
preferred stock so that NetRadio can maintain $7 million in
cash, which NetRadio expects will help it continue meeting
Nasdaq listing standards.
Fitch has assigned an AAA rating to the Minneapolis-St.
Paul Metropolitan Airport Commission's $26.9 million
general-obligation revenue refunding bonds, series 14,
scheduled for competitive sale Sept. 11.
Digital River Inc., Eden Prairie, and WebSideStory Inc., a
provider of e-business services, have formed a partnership for
Digital River to offer WebSideStory's products to its clients.
Zebra Technologies Corp., Vernon Hills, Ill., and Fargo
Electronics Inc., Eden Prairie, have settled a lawsuit against
Zebra, Fargo and members of Fargo's board. The lawsuit was
related to Zebra's planned acquisition of Fargo. In the
settlement, Zebra and Fargo agree that, among other things,
the termination fee payable by Fargo to Zebra under certain
circumstances would be reduced from $5.6 million to $4.1
million. Fargo also would provide additional information
regarding dates of historical discussions with other parties and
valuation methodologies used by Raymond James & Associates
Inc., Fargo's financial adviser.
The Chromaline Corp., Duluth, has formed a partnership
with Aicello Chemical Co., Japan, to distribute Chromaline's
PhotoBrasive sandblast photo-resist products in Europe.
The Rottlund Co. Inc., Fridley, has sold its subsidiary,
Rottlund Homes of New Jersey Inc., to Orleans Homebuilders
Inc. for $8.4 million in cash and $6.3 million in notes payable
within one year. As a result of the sale, Rottlund expects to take
a charge of about $360,000, or 6 cents per share, in the fiscal
second quarter ending Sept. 30. In the fiscal year ended March
31, Rottlund Homes of New Jersey, Inc. accounted for about
$22 million in revenue, or about 8.5 percent of total company
revenue.
HEI Inc., Victoria, has completed a $6.7 million private
placement of its common stock. HEI sold 950,000 shares of
common stock at $7 per share to funds managed by RS
Investments, a San Francisco-based investment firm, and
Constable Capital, Deephaven. ThinkEquity Partners,
Minneapolis, was the placement agent for HEI.
Shallbetter Industries Inc., Minneapolis, signed a letter of
intent to acquire SBN.Com and Superior Business Networks
Inc. of Irvine, Calif. The companies must now negotiate a final
purchase agreement. |
