REGIONALREPORT Triangle
Is biotech really up?
A report that shows North Carolina’s publicly traded biotechnology companies increased profits more than any other state’s might be overstating it — at least where the Triangle is concerned. The study says net income of Tar Heel biotechs grew 237% between 2009 and 2010. But New York-based Ernst & Young LLP examined only “selected” businesses and did not release their identity or number. Many in the Triangle — home of 15 of the 24 public biotechs in the state — saw profits fall dramatically.
$525 million
The price Cree Inc., a Durham manufacturer of light-emitting diodes, paid for Racine, Wis.-based Ruud Lighting Inc. With the acquisition, Cree’s revenue is projected to eclipse $1 billion this year.
“Not a happy place to work right now.”
— Cisco Systems Inc. analyst Joanna Makris, on the California-based company’s plans to lay off 170 at its Research Triangle Park location by early 2012. Cisco employs nearly 5,000 there.
Source: Raleigh News & Observer
SILER CITY — Omtron USA plans to close its Townsends chicken-processing plant, two feed mills and a hatchery here by Oct. 4, idling about 680. The Georgetown, Del.-based company, created by Ukrainian billionaire Oleg Bakhmatyuk in February, also plans to close its plant in Mocksville, laying off 476. Additionally, it will end contracts with about 200 chicken farmers in four counties.
DURHAM — Drug developer Argos Therapeutics hopes to raise $86.2 million in its initial public offering. It will use the money for clinical testing of its cancer and HIV treatments.
RALEIGH — Surveillance-equipment seller Law Enforcement Associates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, warning in a regulatory filing last month that a recent legal judgment could force it to close. It has assets of up to $50,000 and debts of nearly $1.7 million
DURHAM — Semprius plans to open a solar-panel factory next year in Vance County and hire 256 during the next five years. It will be eligible for nearly $18.3 million in state and local incentives. The jobs will pay an average salary of $45,565.
RALEIGH — Cynthia Marshall has returned as president of AT&T’s North Carolina operations after treatment for colon cancer. She took a leave of absence after she was diagnosed in December.
MORRISVILLE — Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s board persuaded Director John C. Brantley to delay retirement, giving him a 6% raise to $241,574 effective Oct. 1. Brantley, 69, had planned to leave July 31. He has agreed to stay until Dec. 31 while the board searches for a replacement.
Triangle companies raised nearly $109 million in venture capital during the second quarter, their biggest haul in the last year. Regional businesses have raised $205.8 million through June, a 17% increase from the first six months of 2010.