HAWAII

Pleasant offers $269 isle packages

Pleasant Holidays LLC, Hawaii's largest wholesale operator, is offering two specials in honor of the company's 50th anniversary, which also happens to coincide with the state's 50th anniversary of statehood.

From now through Jan. 31, Pleasant Holidays is offering Hawaii packages for $269. Packages from San Francisco to Oahu, Maui or Kauai and from Los Angeles to Oahu or Maui include round-trip air and a Hertz rental car for three days. Hotel accommodations are not included.

American Air renews Aloha contract

American Airlines has renewed its passenger and ground-handling contract with Aloha Contract Services for another three years.

The contract covers services for Kahului, Kona and Lihue.

Aloha Contract Services was purchased by Pacific Air Cargo in May 2008.

NATION

3 investors seek to buy IndyMac

WASHINGTON » A trio of private investors - J.C. Flowers & Co., Dune Capital Management and Paulson & Co. - have teamed up in an effort to buy failed thrift IndyMac, a person familiar with the deal said yesterday.

The two private-equity firms and hedge-fund Paulson have applied for a federal holding company charter, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the deal has not been completed.

The investors want to convert IndyMac Federal Bank, which was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in July in the second-largest bank failure of the year, to a stock-held institution.

Mavs owner buys cinema stake

NEW YORK » Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and co-owner of the Landmark Theaters cinema chain, has acquired a 9.4 percent stake in Carmike Cinemas Inc., according to a regulatory filing yesterday.

Hoku sets up investment firm

Hoku Solar Inc. and United Fund Advisors announced yesterday the establishment and capitalization of an investment company intended to provide financing for photovoltaic power systems to be installed and operated in Hawaii by the Hoku Scientific Inc. subsidiary.

Hoku previously announced its selection by the state Department of Transportation to design, engineer and install PV power systems at airports across the state. Under the terms of its agreement with UFA, Hoku will assign its power purchase agreements to Hoku Solar Power I, LLC, which has been created to own and operate each system, and that will sell the electricity generated by the PV power systems to DOT at a predetermined rate over a contract period of 20 years.

Hoku and UFA confirmed that the financing is expected to be sufficient for Hoku to complete all seven planned PV installations at DOT facilities on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island, a total of nearly 1 megawatt of clean solar power.

These projects are the first major PV installations on Hawaii government-owned facilities, and among the largest third-party financed PV projects in the state.

UFA reported that it planned to invest in Hoku Solar Power I, LLC through its renewable energy fund, UFA Renewable Energy Fund which is being financed by U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp. Sennet Capital, a Hawaii-based merchant bank, arranged the financing and played a key role in structuring the deal.