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Bank merger vote total matches earlier figure

CB Bancshares Inc., confirming what it previously announced, said yesterday preliminary tabulations by independent inspectors show that CB shareholders rejected Central Pacific Financial Corp.'s proposal to acquire a majority of CB's outstanding shares.

Final results were expected Friday, but Michael Barbera, vice president and treasurer of Newark, Del.-based IVS Associates Inc., said the independent voting service's final tally won't be released until the completion of a review period from both sides. Not surprisingly, CB and CPF could not agree yesterday on when they would meet to review the results.

IVS' results, which matched information released by CB at the May 28 shareholders meeting, showed that 15 percent of shareholders approved the proposal, 33 percent rejected it and 3 percent abstained. IVS said there was a quorum reached with 50.3 percent, or 1,752,541 shares, represented from 3,482,383 shares eligible.

However, CPF is contesting that a quorum was reached and the number of shares counted, in particular CB's elimination of CPF's 88,741 shares and 348,264 shares owned by Ton Finance B.V., CB's largest shareholder. CB said the shares were ineligible to vote under the Hawaii Control Share Acquisitions statue.

Analyst downgrades Bankoh

Analyst James Bradshaw of Great Falls, Mont.-based D.A. Davidson & Co. has downgraded Bank of Hawaii Corp.'s stock to "neutral" from "buy."

Bank of Hawaii's stock closed up 1 cent yesterday at $34.91, a penny off its all-time high reached Friday.

Bradshaw's rating change was his first since October 22, 2001, when he upgraded the stock to "buy" from "outperformbuy."

Of the six analysts listed by Bloomberg News as covering the company, there is one "buy" rating, three "holds" and two "sells."

Investor ups ML Macadamia stake

Farhad Fred Ebrahimi, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Quark Inc., has increased his family's stake in ML Macadamia Orchards LP to 9.2 percent.

Ebrahimi, the Big Island company's largest shareholder, now owns 690,500 shares. He previously owned 7.8 percent, or 582,500 shares.

Quark makes the desktop publishing software QuarkXPress.

Dennis Simonis, president and chief operating officer of ML Macadamia, said Ebrahimi's stake is seven or eight times larger than any other group. "He continues to increase his holdings from 3 percent about 2 1/2 years ago," Simonis said. "We've spoken to him and he doesn't seem to have the intention of gaining a majority control at this time.

"(ML Macadamia's stock) is just probably a good value when you look at the dividend yield (6 percent) and look at Hawaiian real estate."

Foundation accepts grant requests

Hawaii Women's Legal Foundation is accepting grant requests from organizations that work to improve the legal status and welfare of women and children in Hawaii. The organization has given grants to such groups as the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline to cover such things as court costs and guardians ad litem. For information, e-mail blittman@cades.com or call Bernice Littman at 521-9219.

AT&T completes Cingular acquisition

AT&T Wireless said Monday it has completed the acquisition of a wireless operation on Kauai from Cingular Wireless.

The addition of the Kauai license means that AT&T Wireless now has statewide coverage in Hawaii, said Lissa Guild Eveleth, AT&T's marketing and public relations manager.

AT&T announced the deal in December but received all the necessary federal approvals effective June 1, she said.

Eveleth said the deal was a cashless swap between the two companies where AT&T acquired wireless licenses in Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma, Mississippi and on Kauai. Cingular, in turn, received wireless licenses in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas, she said.

Cingular had been operating on Kauai since the beginning of 2001, she said.

AT&T now has about 25 retail outlets and kiosks in Hawaii.

In other news ...

>> Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan lauded the "remarkable resilience" of the U.S. economy yesterday, predicting that growth will pick up soon and praising the timing of the Bush administration's tax cut.

>> Schering-Plough Corp. announced an agreement with federal regulators on a plan to rectify manufacturing deficiencies on allergy, respiratory and hepatitis C medications that led to a record $500 million fine a year ago.

>> Federal authorities yesterday arrested a third former Enron executive, John M. Forney, for allegedly manipulating California's energy market, leading to rolling blackouts across the state two years ago.

>> Shares of Mirant Corp. plunged nearly 25 percent yesterday on news the struggling energy supplier is shopping a bankruptcy plan to its creditors.