Palm Beach Business.com News and Notes

Grau named CEO at Cross Match

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Cross Match Technologies Inc., which makes biometric security systems, announced Wednesday that James Grau will succeed James W. Ziglar as president and CEO.

Ziglar is retiring in August.

Grau has more than 30 years experience in sales and marketing, manufacturing and operational planning, including 13 years in a chief executive management capacity. Previously, Grau was a group president for Smiths Group Plc. Grau also has served as CEO for LEA International, Veridien Corp. and Nationwide Industries.

Before, he held various management and sales and marketing positions in Kaepa, Inc., Marketing Corporate of America, Borden Co. the Drackett Co. division of Bristol Myers. Grau has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati.

H.I.G. sell electronics firm

MIAMI — H.I.G. Capital said Friday that it has sold Source Electronics Corp. to Avnet, a global distributor of electronic components, computer products and technology services and solutions.

Source Electronics, based in Hollis, N.H., is a provider of outsourced custom programming services for integrated circuits. Terms of the deal were not released.

Palm Beach Capital buys insurer

WEST PALM BEACH — Private investment firm Palm Beach Capital said Friday it has bought SUNZ Group, a St. Petersburg-based workers comp insurer, for an undisclosed amount.

SUNZ, founded in 2005, provides coverage primarily for staffing firms.

Spirit launches Bogata service

MIRAMAR — Starting July 24, low cost carrier Spirit Airlines is offering daily non-stop service from its Fort Lauderdale home to Bogota, Colombia. In addition, Spirit also offers connections from its network of 16 other U.S. cities to Bogota.

Becker develops breast implant

BOCA RATON — Dr. Hilton Becker of Boca Raton, who has been working on creating breast implants for the last 20 years, has created — the Spectra Adjustable Gel Implant which is 90 percent
silicone and can adjust in both shape and size after it has been implanted.

The implant is not FDA approved, but is approved in Europe and Asia, it will be introduced there first through seminars and training.

Sun Capital buys strawberry firm

BOCA RATON — Private investment firm Sun Capital Partners Inc. Tuesday announced that it has bought Sunrise Growers~Frozsun Foods. The company markets frozen strawberry products as well as fresh strawberries and red peppers.

Sunrise sells under its own brands as well as through its customers’ private label programs. Its frozen berry operations produce in excess of 130 million pounds of processed strawberry and other fruit products annually, giving Sunrise the number one U.S. market share in frozen strawberries.

The fresh fruit segment, distributes over seven million trays of fresh strawberries annually. Customers of Sunrise include major grocers, food service retailers and food distributors. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

FPL Energy dedicates wind plant

CENTER, N.D. — FPL Energy, a subsidiary of FPL Group, Tuesday dedicated its Oliver County Wind Energy Center in Oliver County, N.D.

North Dakota Governor John Hoeven was among the 200 to attend the ceremony. The Oliver County Wind Energy Center is capable of generating enough electricity to power more than 24,000 homes. Initial operation of the 54 wind turbines at the wind farm began in December 2006.

CIGNA adds urgent care centers

BLOOMFIELD, Conn. — CIGNA HealthCare has added more than 49 urgent care facilities to its network in Florida. The addition of these new in-network facilities expands the number of urgent care centers available to CIGNA HealthCare members in Florida by more than 46 percent from last year.

There are 182 urgent care locations that are covered by CIGNA HealthCare in Florida, with an additional 15 urgent care clinics presently in the credentialing process. Information on CIGNA HealthCare-covered clinics is available at www.cigna.com.

H.I.G. buys engineered parts maker

MIAMI — H.I.G. Capital, LLC, a private investment firm, said Friday that it has bought Stant Corp. from Tomkins Plc, a publicly traded UK company. Terms were not disclosed.

Stant, based in Connersville, Ind., makes highly engineered vapor and fluid control components used by industrial and automotive original equipment manufacturers and automotive aftermarket customers. Stant has been in business for 108 years. It has more than 1,000 employees and operates six manufacturing plants in four countries, including the U.S.

Greenberg Traurig adds corporate attorneys in Boca Raton office

BOCA RATON — Greenberg Traurig has expanded its Palm Beach County presence by adding four former Blank Rome attorneys. The four, who practiced corporate and securities law, will work out of Boca Raton.

The law firm now has more than 70 attorneys practicing in two offices, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

Those joining Greenberg include:

— Bruce C. Rosetto, who joins as a shareholder, represents private and public companies, private equity funds, investment banks and banks. His practice focuses on entrepreneurs and small to middle market public companies. Rosetto holds a law degree from Villanova University and a bachelor’s from La Salle University.

— Rebecca G. DiStefano, who also joins as a shareholder, practices securities regulation, corporate finance, corporate governance, private equity and venture capital, broker-dealer compliance, and mergers and acquisitions law. DiStefano has law degrees from Georgetown University and Nova Southeastern University, and an A.B. from the University of Georgia.

— Batya Goodman and Amy Avalos, who join as associates. Goodman has a law degree from Yeshiva University; and a B.A. summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Albany. Avalos has a law degree and MBA from Florida State and a bachelor’s from Georgetown.

Palm Beach Realty Advisors offers new pay package for agents

WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach Realty Advisors Inc., www.PBRealtyAdvisors.com, a real estate brokerage firm, said Monday that it has added a compensation plan that offers real estate agents 100 percent commission payout on real estate transactions. The plan is available to those agents that do business in Florida.

“We are aggressively recruiting agents and continue to grow our business both in the commercial and investor markets as well as the residential market,” firm President John Freeland said. “We believe that in this challenging real estate environment, skilled and professional agents should keep more of what they make.”

Palm Beach Realty Advisors is recruiting agents who specialize in all areas of real estate, including: residential, commercial and investor, property management, international and out of area properties and rentals. Opportunities are also available for franchise offices in all parts of Florida.

H.I.G. buys oleochemicl firm

MIAMI — Private stock investment firm H.I.G. Capital said Monday that it has the purchase of Croda International’s U.S. oleochemical business for $92 million.

H.I.G. and the current management team plan to use the company as a platform for future internal growth and selective additional deals in the specialty chemical industry.

The business is a leading North American supplier of oleochemicals which are used in personal care products, industrial lubricants, chemical derivatives, and other household and industrial products. The company is headquartered in Chicago, IL and is home to one of the industry’s largest and most efficient oleochemical production facilities. Oleo has annual revenue of more than $190 million.

Ruden McClosky law firm expands Palm Beach County presence

FORT LAUDERDALE — Ruden McClosky said Friday that it is expanding its Palm Beach County presence as seven attorneys of Elk, Christu & Bakst are joining the Fort Lauderdale-based firm as of Monday.

Ruden McClosky will have 24 lawyers working in its West Palm Beach and Boca Raton offices. The combination of the two firms strengthens Ruden McClosky' in bankruptcy, litigation, real estate, and trusts & estates law.

The new Boca Raton office is at Sanctuary Centre, 4800 N. Federal Highway, Suite 200 E; the West Palm Beach location will in Esperante, 222 Lakeview Avenue, Suite 800.

FPL to install smart meters in Broward County this summer

JUNO BEACH — Having successfully tested 50,000 ‘smart meters’ earlier this year, Florida Power & Light Co. recently began deploying a second batch of 50,000 units to its customers in Broward County.

The smart meters are designed to help customers monitor their electricity usage and help FPL identify and correct service issues once installed this summer. The meters use technology developed by Silver Spring Networks.

The meters will allow customers to go online and monitor how much energy they have used by the month, week, day or hour, while allowing FPL to monitor its grid in real time and spot outages more quickly.

DayJet expands air service

BOCA RATON — DayJet Corp. said Wednesday that it has added Jacksonville and Sarasota to its service network, giving members access to 45 community airports across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina when they begin or end their travel in Jacksonville, Sarasota or ten other DayPort airports.

With the addition of the two cities, which rank among the nation’s top 20 job growth markets, 62 percent of Florida’s population now lives within 35 miles of a DayPort airport.

Tenet to sell medical buildings

DALLAS — Tenet Healthcare Corp. has announced plans to sell 34 medical office buildings, including eight in South Florida Tenet has retained Jones Lang LaSalle to assist the promoting, marketing and sale of the buildings.

The buildings are being offered as a single portfolio or as separate, regional portfolios. The buildings will be sold subject to long-term ground leases, which will be targeted for medical use only.

“This portfolio sale will allow our hospitals to focus on our core business of caring for patients and removes the non-core function of property management responsibilities,” Tenet Chief Financial Officer Biggs Porter said.

The South Florida buildings include:

— Central Professional Building, East Professional Building, Medical Mall and North Professional Building, Fort Lauderdale.

— Hialeah Medical Office Building, Hialeah.

— Palmetto Medical Plaza, Hialeah.

— Farris Building, West Palm Beach.

— PHD Pavilions, West Palm Beach.

Golden Bear Realty goes international through web effort

NORTH PALM BEACH — Nicklaus family owned and operated Golden Bear Realty said Monday that it has begun an international listing syndication program, and it has changed its name to reflect the change. The web-based program will offer clients the opportunity to have their listings syndicated worldwide through Golden Bear Realty International, the company’s new name.

“South and Southwest Florida are a major draw for international buyers and we have the best system with which to reach prospects overseas,” said Michael Nicklaus, president of Golden Bear Realty International. “Florida leads the nation in international home buyers, accounting for 26 percent of all international sales in the U.S., and we are poised to market our listings to these important audiences.”

The international syndication program is a proprietary realtor sales portal that places Golden Bear Realty International’s listings onto sites throughout the globe that reach high-end buyers. The program is designed to sell homes by going beyond traditional listings on MLS and local ads.

Ladenburg Thalmann Finanancial completes Punk Ziegel deal

MIAMI — Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. said it has completed its deal for Punk, Ziegel & Co. L.P., a specialty investment bank based in New York City. Terms were not disclosed.

William J. Punk, Jr. has become a managing director of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. and chairman of its newly-formed Punk Ziegel Healthcare division, responsible for overseeing the growth of the firm’s healthcare business on both the investment banking and research fronts.

Formed in 1990, Punk Ziegel is a privately-held specialty investment bank providing research, stock market making, corporate finance, retail brokerage and asset management services centered on high growth sectors within the healthcare, technology, biotechnology, life sciences and financial services industries. Punk Ziegel has 45 employees and is known for its research and corporate finance advice particularly in healthcare and financial services.

Jupiter hospital affiliates with UM

JUPITER — The Jupiter Medical Center and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have announced an affiliation agreement giving the North County hospital access to an academic medical center.

The hospital said the agreement will give it expanded access to the latest research, treatments and clinical trials; greater availability of specialists; streamlined process for patients who may require additional care through the University of Miami Health System.

Spirit begins Long Island service

MIRAMAR — Spirit Airlines Thursday began daily non-stop service between New York’s Long Island MacArthur Airport and Fort Lauderdale.

Spirit is offering $9 introductory fares available Thursday at www.spiritair.com. Every day value season fares from $87 are also available at www.spiritair.com.

Golf pros to offer free lessons

PALM BEACH GARDENS — PGA/LPGA Professionals nationwide are offering free 10-minute sessions to help golfers of every age and skill level learn to play better golf during PGA Free Lesson Month. Log onto PlayGolfAmerica.com to find professionals participating in your area, then call to set up your free lesson.

PGA Free Lesson Month is a collaborative campaign by The PGA of America, Golf Digest, the GOLF CHANNEL, Golf For Women and Golf World. Nike Golf is the official program sweepstakes sponsor and will donate $1 per sweepstakes card (up to 15,000) to the Tiger Woods Foundation and subsidize a complimentary subscription to Golf Digest.

About 115,500 golfers turned out for free lessons last May and more than 820,000 have taken advantage of the program in a decade.

Tilson gets Staples PR campaign

BOCA RATON — Public relations firm Tilson Communications has won Staples Inc. to handle the company’s 2008 back-to-school PR campaign.

Tilson Communications will execute a national campaign involving community outreach and media relations for the office supply retailer. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We have been working with Tilson Communications for more than four years, and they have become an important and effective part of our team," said Paul Capelli, Staples’s vice president of public relations. "We awarded the Back-to-School campaign to Tilson based on the originality of their proposed campaign and their proven ability to generate results."

Bluegreen gets $75 million loan

BOCA RATON — Bluegreen Corp. said Thursday that it has signed a $75 million revolving loan with Textron Financial Corp. Bluegreen said it intends to use the money to expand its vacation properties. The facility expires in April 2010.

B of A launches Latin service center

MIAMI — Bank of America said Monday that it is launching a service center in Miami that will handle multinational clients' treasury needs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The service center will provide clients with a single point of contact for all of Bank of America's payments, liquidity and trade capabilities, and sales and product advice, implementation, servicing and investments.

Spirit connects to San Antonio

MIRAMAR — Spirit Airlines said Monday that it has begun daily non-stop service between San Antonio and Fort Lauderdale today. A second daily flight will begin on May 1.

In addition, Spirit has announced that it will begin service from Fort Lauderdale to Boston; New York’s Long Island; Cartagena, Colombia; and Columbia, S.C., before summer.

Pediatrix buys cardiology practice

FORT LAUDERDALE — Pediatrix Medical Group Inc. said Friday that it has bought a pediatric cardiology practice based in Pembroke Pines and serves patients in communities in northwest Miami-Dade and western Broward counties.

Dr. Raul Aquirre founded the practice in 2002. The practice also has a referral base from obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists for fetal echocardiography services.

Pediatrix paid cash for the practice, which is expected to contribute immediately to earnings per share.

Judge allows Pompano suit against Westwood suit to proceed

MIAMI — A Federal Judge is allowing Pompano Helicopters to continue its breach of contract suit against broadcast giant Westwood One.

Pompano Helicopter is suing Westwood for $362 milion, alleging that the company used deceptive business practices to drive Pompano out of business. Pompano provided traffic and news reports to local broadcast stations.

Bluegreen raises $60 million

BOCA RATON — Bluegreen Corp. said it has has raised $60 million through a private offering of timeshare loan-backed securities.

The proceeds have been used to repay $51.0 million of a $60.6 million loan, set aside for a reserve fund and pay fees. The remaining $5.8 million will be used for general corporate purposes and pay debt.

NationsHealth faces delisting

SUNRISE — NationsHealth Inc. has received notice from Nasdaq that is not in compliance with listing requirements because its share price has been below $1 for at least 30 consecutive days.

On Oct. 2, Nasdaq’s listing qualifications department advised NationsHealth that the company had 180 calendar days, or until March 31, to bump up the price or face delisting. NationsHealth plans to appeal, which would stay delisting, but there’s certainty about how Nasdaq will rule.

Wackenhut buys mine disposal firm

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Wackenhut Services Inc. President and CEO Dave Foley said Friday that the company has bought RONCO Consulting Corp.

"WSI is pleased to announce that it has acquired one of the world's premier humanitarian and commercial mine action, ordnance disposal and security companies,” Foley said. “The purchase of RONCO affords us immediate expansion into the international market and significantly increases our core capabilities."

Since 1981, RONCO has completed over 650 mine and unexploded ordnance clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, security-related, and specialized training projects.

RONCO operates in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan and maintains
training centers in Mozambique and Sri Lanka. Clients include the U.S. Department of State, Department of Defense, United Nations, NATO Maintenance & Supply Agency, World Bank, Canada, Britain, and commercial clients.

Founded in 1974, RONCO employs over 1,200 people worldwide and is based in Washington.