IN HAWAII
Grace Pacific subsidiary to sell mold product
Grace Pacific Corp. said it has acquired the exclusive Hawaii rights to market MicroGuard, a protective glass-like coating manufactured by Florida-based Adsil.MicroGuard was designed by retired NASA chemist John Schutt to prevent mold growth and corrosion, and can be applied to cars, air conditioners, cabinets, flooring and other items. Grace Pacific said it has created a new subsidiary, GP Maintenance Solutions Inc., that will partner with Adsil and aims at producing $6 million in revenue next year.
USDA buys Hawaii pineapple products
The federal government purchased $2.5 million of Hawaii pineapple juice and canned pineapple during the first week of August, according to U.S. Rep. Pasty Mink.The Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture bought the products for domestic food assistance programs, such as needy family and child nutrition programs.
The majority of the purchases, about $1.9 million, were from the Maui Pineapple Co. The remainder was divided between Barrios Foods Inc., Imperial Sales Co. and Silver Wolf Enterprises. In the 2001 fiscal year, the USDA bought $18 million in canned pineapple from Maui Pineapple.
Travel agents congress adds new seminar
The American Society of Travel Agents will offer a seminar for travel suppliers at its upcoming 2002 World Travel Congress at the Hawaii Convention Center.Named "Beyond the Trade Show Booth: Building the Agent/Supplier Relationship," the seminar will be held Nov. 3 at 8:30 a.m. and 1:45 p.m.
ASTA's World Travel Congress runs Nov. 3 through Nov. 8. Capt. Jim Lovell, commander of the aborted Apollo 13 moon flight, will speak to delegates Nov. 5.
For more information, visit www.ASTAnet.com on the Web.
MAINLAND
Bankrupt telecom sold for $250 million
NEW YORK >> Once worth tens of billions of dollars, Global Crossing is being sold for $250 million to the same investors who only months ago agreed to pay three times as much for the world's most extensive fiber-optic network.The agreement announced Friday with Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong and Singapore Technologies was approved by the judge overseeing Global Crossing's bankruptcy case.
The deal provided startling proof of how fast the business of fiber-optic networks continues to disintegrate in an environment poisoned by the WorldCom accounting scandal and a global glut of capacity for Web traffic and e-commerce.
It also appears that Global Crossing's lenders and creditors made an extremely costly miscalculation in holding out for a better payoff on their debts, which totaled $12.4 billion when the company filed for bankruptcy in late January.
Under the original deal with the two Asian firms, announced in January with the bankruptcy filing, Global Crossing's debtholders would have split $300 million in cash and an additional $800 million in new notes from the company.
Now they'll still get $300 million in cash, but only $200 million in notes. They will, however, retain a larger stake of the equity in the new firm: 38.5 percent rather than 21 percent under the earlier deal.
In other news ...
NEW YORK >> New York prosecutors could file additional charges against former Tyco International Ltd. Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski, including grand larceny, sources close to an investigation said today. Other people connected with Tyco could be charged with falsifying business records to assist Kozlowski, the sources said.
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[Hawaii Inc.]
On the board
>> Karl Stahlkopf has joined Hoku Scientific Inc.'s board of directors. He is senior vice president for energy solutions at Hawaiian Electric Co. Hoku Scientific is developing hydrogen fuel cell technology.>> The Hawaii Society of Corporate Planners has elected Michael A. Chong president for 2002-03. He is a mechanical engineer at Cedric D.O. Chong & Associates. Chong succeeds Sherri Rienzi Bulkley, vice president of employee benefit trusts at Pacific Century Trust. Other officers include: Secretary Guy Akasaki, president and chief executive officer of Commercial Roofing & Waterproofing Hawaii Inc.; and Treasurer Shirley Ikehara, certified financial planner with American Express Financial Advisors.
New Jobs
>> Nicole Malia Apoliona has joined the Kula Clinic at Kula Hospital as a part-time family practice physician. She has a special interest in Native Hawaiian healthcare. Apoliona was most recently a physician with Kaiser Permanente at Kihei for the past four years.>> Summit Lending has hired Rose S. Sebastian as a loan officer. She most recently worked at Pacific Guardian Life as a marketing associate.
>> Gaylin Gapol Paaluhi has joined Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. as a loan officer. She was previously a mortgage specialist with PRMI.