Gillette sells stationery division
EAST BOSTON – The Gillette Company has sold its stationery division to Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. A Gillette spokesperson told the Boston Globe that the fate of its 4,000 employees in the division was confidential. In announcing the sale, Gillette said it had decided to focus on its core product lines, such as razors, shaving cream, mouth wash, batteries etc. The only stationery plant owned by Gillette in the United States is in California. The rest are overseas, from England to India. The stationery products include Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman and Liquid Paper.
CMGI said to be Krafts’ choice for stadium
FOXBORO – Quoting various unspecified Internet sources, the Boston Globe reported that CMGI Inc. had been chosen by the Kraft family, owners of the New England Patriots to buy the naming rights of the team’s new stadium, now under construction. The Globe said CMGI, an Internet incubator based in Andover, had been chosen over several contenders, including APC, the Rhode Island based power surge protection device manufacturer, FleetBoston Financial Corp., and Nokia, the cell phone and telecommunications company. The deal is reportedly for 15 years and will cost CMGI $7.6 million per year.
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Fleet divestitures continue in Connecticut
BOSTON – FleetBoston Financial announced that it had completed divestiture of seven branches and related assets to American and Webster Banks in Connecticut. In the process three former BankBoston banks in Connecticut (Middlebury, Southbury and Woodbury) representing 13,000 accounts with a total of $109 million in deposits and $5.7 million in loans became American Banks in Connecticut. Also in Connecticut four BankBoston branches (in Brookfield, Guilford, Meriden and Thomaston) representing more than 20,800 accounts with balances totaling $139 million and loans totaling $13.8 million have reopened as Webster Banks. The process is the result of a plan developed with the Department of Justice in order for Fleet Bank and BostonBank to gain government approval for their merger into FleetBoston Financial. The plan involves the sale of 315 bank branches with related assets to eight banks. The final divestiture is scheduled for this fall to The Community Bank in Connecticut.
New England Council to honor Blue Cross chief
BOSTON – The New England Council will honor William C. Van Faasen, president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts as New Englander of the Year at its annual dinner next month. Also selected for the award is U.S Secretary of Defense William Cohen, former U.S. Senator from Maine. The council, the oldest regional business organization in the country, will be marking its 75th anniversary at the September 28 dinner at the Westin Hotel Copley Place. Van Faasen, who has been with Blue Cross and Blue Shield for more than 30 years, has been credited with leading his company into new a new level of successful service and financial growth. Meanwhile Blue Cross/Blue Shield has been an active participant in community programs such WellChild, the Foundation for Life and Jump Up and Go! in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Thermo TerraTech to sell Pennsylvania unit
WALTHAM – Thermo TerraTech, Inc., which offers environmental clean-up services has agreed to sell its Lancaster (Pa.) Laboratories to Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison, Inc., a Minneapolis-based investment firm, for $72 million cash. The lab offers environmental, animal health, and food testing service to industrial and drug companies. Thermo Terra Tech is 87 percent owned by Thermo Electron Corp., the largest maker of laboratory equipment and mammography systems.
Woolf sports representatives adds motor sports
BOSTON – Woolf Associates, a leading sports representative and marketing company has created a motor sports division, the company announced. The Boston Globe reported that Paul Lufkin, a motor sports industry veteran from Bozell Kamstra had been brought in to run Woolf’s new division.
Friendly’s hires Hill Holliday
WILBRAHAM – Friendly Ice Cream Corp. has hired GMO/Hill Holliday to be its advertising agency, and is considering an $18 million media budget, the Boston Globe reported. GMO/Hill Holliday is the West Coast version of Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopoulos, based in Boston. Friendly’s recently reorganized its structure, closing some of its smaller and older stores and focusing instead on its larger family restaurants.
Avant, Megan Health in licensing agreement
NEEDHAM – Avant Immunotherapeutics, Inc. and Megan Health, Inc. announced a cross-licensing agreement that will permit Avant, based here, to further develop its Ty800, a single dose oral vaccine for typhoid fever. Megan Health of St.Louis-based vaccine development company, with a plant in Maine, will get nonexclusive rights to use Avant’s system for human and non-human vaccines.
(Compiled from news reports and releases, print and electronic.)
