Business briefs: Genzyme buys plant in Lynnwood
Published 7:27 pm Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A $2.8 billion deal between two pharmaceutical companies means new ownership for a Lynnwood-based Leukine manufacturing plant. The Cambridge-based Genzyme Corp. will now head up operations at the newly constructed facility as part of a deal to acquire the rights to three oncology drugs produced by Bayer Healthcare, including Leukine. The plant will likely cost Genzyme between $75 million to $100 million, pending an agreement between the companies in the second quarter of this year. Bayer Healthcare built the Lynnwood plant with the intent of producing Leukine. The facility is slated for approval from the Food and Drug Administration next year, and Genzyme expects to take over production at that point and hire personnel.
Tech spending expected to fall
Dragged down by the weak economy, global spending on technology products and services will likely decline nearly 4 percent this year, research firm Gartner Inc. said Tuesday. Gartner expects a broad-based slowdown, leading to a 3.8 percent decline from 2008, to $3.2 trillion. Hardware will see the sharpest drop, nearly 15 percent compared with a 2.8 percent increase last year. Spending on software, which can help companies save money, is expected to stay nearly flat, rising less than half of 1 percent.
Retirees protest Verizon CEO pay
A group representing 100,000 retirees said Tuesday it is going to vote against the pay package for Verizon’s chief executive, saying it’s overly generous. Verizon Communications Inc.’s Ivan Seidenberg is one of the first CEOs at a major company to face the need to justify his pay directly to shareholders. At the phone company’s annual meeting on May 7, shareholders will vote on whether CEO Ivan Seidenberg’s 2008 compensation package is reasonable. The vote won’t be binding, but it could be embarrassing to the company. Seidenberg earned a pay package valued at $20.2 million in 2008, essentially the same as in the previous two years.
Macy’s reduces goodwill value
Macy’s Inc. said Tuesday it will book a hefty $5.1 billion after-tax charge to write down the value of goodwill in 2008. The charge falls within the range of the department store retailer’s $4.5 billion to $5.5 billion forecast. Goodwill represents certain values a company has beyond its physical assets, such as its brand, customers, reputation, etc. The impairment charge, which totals $12.07 per share, is mainly the result of the weak economic environment and the decline in the company’s share price, which fell 60 percent in 2008. Including the one-time item, Macy’s 2008 loss totaled $4.8 billion, or $11.40 per share. Macy’s does not expect the charge to affect its business, bank credit agreement or bond indentures.
From Herald staff and news services
