Sycamore reports completion of Sirocco purchase
CHELMSFORD – Sycamore Networks, Inc., an optical networking start-up reported it has completed its acquisition of Sirocco Systems of Wallingford, Conn. In a stock exchange, the value of the acquisition is put at about $3.55 billion, the Boston Globe reported.
NStar signs licensing pact with EnergyGuide
NEWTON – EnergyGuide.com reports it has agreed to a licensing arrangement with NStar to provide its home heating and electric conservation service to NStar’s 1.3 million Massachusetts customers. NStar is the parent company of Boston Edison and Commonwealth Electric. Terms were not disclosed, the Boston Globe reported.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
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Hanscom to LaGuardia link delayed
BEDFORD – The Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would wait until next month before deciding whether to authorize Shuttle America’s proposal to begin daily flights between Hanscom Field and LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Shuttle America had already begun selling tickets for the service, which it had announced, would begin September 12. The prices ranged from $59 in advance or $129 for walk-up each way. Moreover, the company had leased space at LaGuardia, obtained an additional 50-seat aircraft and hired more pilots. The FAA has been under pressure from surrounding towns and especially the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which it acknowledged, in deciding to review the potential impact of the service on historical sites. Minuteman Historical Park is within the flight plan.
Hotel plan for Prudential site to be reviewed
BOSTON – A proposal to build a luxury hotel on the last remaining site at the Prudential Center will be reconsidered by a citizen review committee which had previously rejected the proposal. The Prudential Project Advisory Committee first rejected the proposal two months ago because the original plans called for housing on the site. Some members of the committee, however, the hotel plans did not get sufficient consideration in the earlier examination. The hotel proposal calls form an 11-story building to house a Four Seasons hotel, three floors of condominiums are planned for the top of the building, and two “high end” retail stores would anchor the property at either end, the Boston Globe reported. The building would face Fairfield Street, just west of the Lord & Taylor store.
Genzyme to buy GelTex
Cambridge (Bloomberg) — Genzyme Corp. agreed to buy GelTex pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $900 million in cash and stock, gaining full control of a dialysis drug and expanding its development and product lines. GelTex shareholders will receive 0.7272 share of Genzyme’s General unit stock or $41.95 in cash for each GelTex share, with the cash portion limited to $500 million, Genzyme spokesman Bo Piela said. The purchase will give Genzyme full ownership of Renagel, a dialysis treatment it markets with GelTex. Renagel had 1999 U.S. sales of $19.5 million in the U.S., and Genzyme expects sales to reach $45 million this year and $500 million in five years. Genzyme also gains GelTex’s WelChol, a cholesterol-lowering drug.
Polaroid wins Canadian court case
Cambridge (Bloomberg) — Polaroid Corp. said a Canadian court dismissed an appeal by Continent-Wide Enterprises, which had been found to have violated Polaroid’s pricing policies, ending a 14-year legal battle. The Court of Appeals for Ontario upheld a lower court’s order that Continent-Wide pay the No. 1 instant photography company more than C$1 million ($676,000). Polaroid’s products have two prices, one for export and one for domestic use. Continent-Wide, a Toronto-based consumer goods importer and exporter, ordered products for sale in Canada and instead sold them overseas for higher profit. The practice, known as “gray marketing,” costs Canadian companies millions of dollars in lost revenue every year, David Love, controller of Polaroid Canada Inc., said in a statement.
Verizon hopes to add long distance in Mass.
New York (Bloomberg) — Verizon Communications is aiming by the end of October to file applications in Massachusetts and Connecticut to sell long-distance phone service, the head of the company’s Washington office said. Verizon plans to apply at the Federal Communications Commission by Sept. 30 to sell service in Massachusetts and by the end of October for Connecticut, Ed Young, senior vice president federal government relations, said at a Schwab Capital Markets conference in Washington. Applications for Pennsylvania and New Jersey will be filed with the FCC around Jan. 1, he said. By law, large regional phone companies such as Verizon are barred from selling service in the $100 billion-a-year market until they prove local markets are open to rivals. Verizon’s Bell Atlantic unit met those standards in New York in December. The company has signed up more than 1 million customers in the state. Once the company wins access to the Massachusetts market, Young said it likely will make one filing to sell the service in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
