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Hoku Scientific wins deal-of-the-year honors

Local fuel-cell technology company Hoku Scientific Inc., which inked a multimillion dollar joint development relationship with Sanyo Electric Co. earlier this year, has won the 4th annual Venture Capital Deal of the Year Award from the Hawaii Venture Capital Association.

The company, led by entrepreneur Dustin Shindo, will receive the award at a Dec. 4 luncheon at the Plaza Club in downtown Honolulu.

Fuel cells are being designed to convert fuel to electricity cleanly, and Hoku has developed a fuel-cell membrane that performs better while reducing production costs, the company says.

"Hoku has put Hawaii on the map when it comes to hydrogen fuel cell technology by demonstrating that something profoundly valuable to this industry can be invented here," said Bill Spencer, president of HVCA.

Last year, Hoku completed a $1.5 million round of funding led by Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.

For more information on the luncheon, call 262-7329.

Shareholders OK ResortQuest sale

Shareholders of ResortQuest International Inc. have voted overwhelmingly to sell the company to Gaylord Entertainment Inc., owner of the Grand Ole Opry musical show and several hotels and convention centers. Gaylord shareholders voted to approve an issue of new stock to carry out the transaction.

The deal, for about $147 million in Gaylord stock, gets Gaylord the management of nearly 5,500 hotel and condominium units in Hawaii, run by ResortQuest's Aston Hotels & Resorts and Maui Condominium and Home subsidiaries.

ResortQuest has said the merger will not result in any Hawaii layoffs and the company should grow in Hawaii.

Nashville-based Gaylord will get a total of about 20,000 vacation rental units, including those in Hawaii.

In the transaction, which is expected to close later this week, shareholders of Memphis-based ResortQuest will get 0.275 of a share of Gaylord for each of their ResortQuest shares.

Gaylord also agreed to take over $71 million in ResortQuest debt, making the total transaction worth about $218 million.

Sales strong at BIA home show

New home sales during last month's Building Industry Association Parade of Homes doubled compared to the previous year's show, the association reported yesterday. The three participating developers, Castle & Cooke, Haseko and Schuler Homes sold 85 homes between them.

More than 13,000 people visited this year's show. At the end of the four-day period, an average of 1,500 people visited each of the nine model home, more than double the 600 that visited each entry last year.

The 2004 BIA Parade of Homes is scheduled for the first two weekends of October.

Longs posts regular dividend

Longs Drug Stores declared a dividend of 14 cents a share, unchanged from the previous quarter and payable Jan. 10 to shareholders of record Dec. 2.