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Business today

By wire services
Published February 22, 2005

HOFFMAN RETIRES: Al Hoffman Jr. is retiring from WCI Communities, the Bonita Springs developer of more than 50 luxury communities in Florida and other states, and will become chairman of the board. Jerry Starkey, who has been with WCI and its predecessor, Florida Design Communities, since 1988, is the new chief executive. He will continue as president and a director. Hoffman, who founded WCI, is a major Republican party fundraiser and has been involved in education and the arts. The company has revenues of almost $2-billion and owns more than 17,000 acres of developable land. Its Florida properties include the under-construction Westshore Yacht Club in South Tampa, Sun City Center, Waterlefe in Bradenton, Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda and the Venetian Golf and River Club in North Venice. It plans a luxury residential and resort community in Hernando County. Last month, WCI's Club Renaissance, the $10-million clubhouse at Sun City Center, won two awards out of 360 entries from the Senior Housing Council of the National Association of Home Builders: the Juror's Innovation Award recognizing forward-thinking design and the Platinum Award for Best Community Center for an Adult Community with more than 1,000 Homes.

KMART/SEARS SHAREHOLDERS MEETINGS MARCH 24: Kmart Holding Corp. and Sears, Roebuck and Co. will hold special meetings of their shareholders on March 24 to vote on the companies' proposed merger. The meetings will be at Sears headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Ill., which will serve as the headquarters of the combined company after the merger. The new company, Sears Holdings Corp., will trade on the Nasdaq market as SHLD, the company said Monday. The registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the proposed merger has been declared effective, and joint proxy statements will be mailed to shareholders starting today. Sears Holdings will have a 10-member board of directors, which will include seven members from Kmart's board and three from Sears' board. Also, Glenn Richter, who is Sears' executive vice president and CFO, will leave after the merger.

CHOICEPOINT FALLOUT REACHES EVERY STATE: ChoicePoint Inc., under fire for being duped into allowing criminals to access its database of personal information, said Monday that consumers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories may have been affected by the breach of the company's credentialing process. In Florida, 10,216 people were affected. The data warehouser also said it will rescreen 17,000 business customers to make sure they are legitimate.

NOVARTIS BUYS TWO COMPANIES: Novartis AG announced a major push into the U.S. and German generic drug markets Monday by buying Eon Labs Inc. of the United States and Hexal AG of Germany for $8.3-billion in cash. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant said integrating the companies into its Sandoz division would create the world's largest generic drug company.

[Last modified February 22, 2005, 05:15:57]