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8/20/2010
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$1.50/AUGUST 23 - 29, 2010
Vol. 31, No. 33
Panther in the hunt for IPO Provider of freight services looks to move toward profitability through sale of stock By DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com
Panther Expedited Services Inc. intends to sell more than freight services in the near future. It has proposed to the Securities and Exchange Commission an initial public offering of its stock and, if the market buys enough of it, Sevillebased Panther will retire as much as
$110 million in high-cost debt that’s been gnawing at its bottom line. Executives at Panther and its majority owner, private equity firm Fenway Partners of New York, both declined to discuss the proposal, citing SEC regulations that prohibit companies from talking publicly during so-called “quiet” periods (before the SEC approves a stock sale and underwriters determine a price
for the offering.)Panther in its SEC filing did not estimate a price range for the stock, nor say how much it intends to raise through an IPO, but it did outline what it will do with the proceeds if the offering is successful. If the offering raises enough money, Panther said it will use its proceeds to repay a portion of a $64.3 million term loan that carries an interest rate of 9.25% and comes due at the end of 2011. It will use another $46.5 million to redeem senior notes that carry an interest rate of 17% and expire in the summer of 2012. Panther also says it plans to use
the IPO to buy $16.4 million in preferred stock owned by Fenway and another $2 million in preferred owned by Panther founder and current chairman Dan Sokolowski. Panther says it also would pay at least part of the $20.6 million in accumulated dividends owed to those preferred shareholders. Fenway bought a majority interest in Panther in 2005 for $76 million, according to Fenway’s web site.
Path to profitability Removing the debt and some of See PANTHER Page 6
High-profile developer deals with debt issues Shopping center developer John McGill says business won’t ever be the way it used to be for him as he struggles through a personal bankruptcy reorganization that involves $18 million in assets and $116 million McGill in liabilities. His situation also likely will affect project stakeholders. Read Stan Bullard’s story on Page 3.
Employers begin to reinstate pay cuts
A FORMIDABLE STRUCTURE CWRU’s lab puts the pressure on bridges, buildings and other big projects
Some operations hold off amid a tepid economy
By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
By TIMOTHY MAGAW tmagaw@crain.com
B
uilt something that can withstand a million pounds of pressure? You can prove it at Case Western Reserve University’s new infrastructure laboratory, a concrete-filled room built to test whether towers, bridges and buildings will be able to withstand whatever forces might come their way. The university in April opened the 2,400square-foot lab, and now some big experiments are under way. For instance, under the lab’s tall ceiling stands part of a cell phone tower. A telecommunications company is paying the lab to test the tower’s ability to stand up to wind over a long period of time. A hydraulic piston mounted on the lab’s massive concrete “strong wall” slowly pushes the tower back and forth. See LAB Page 17
ON THE WEB: For a video tour of Case Western Reserve University’s infrastructure lab, visit. www.CrainsCleveland.com/lab.
JANET CENTURY
Dr. Dario Gasparini (left), a professor of civil engineering at CWRU, and Dr. Xiangwu “David” Zeng, the department’s chairman, stand in front of a structure that tests the foundation support for wind turbines and a partial cell phone tower in the university’s new infrastructure lab.
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INSIDE
Companies and organizations throughout Northeast Ohio stomached across-the-board pay cuts last year in the heart of an ugly recession, but with the economic situation appearing less grim, some of them are restoring what was once taken away. It’s not a groundswell, but Steve Millard, executive director of the Council of Smaller Enterprises, said he’s heard anecdotally that as the economy picks up, smaller companies are starting to restore pay, offer bonuses and contribute to retirement plans again. Still, Mr. Millard said, the activity isn’t universal, and many employers that last year reduced pay are waiting to see how much of 2011 pans out before committing to a reversal of those cuts. “I think they’re still fairly conservative about what might happen,” Mr. Millard said. A survey early this year by ERC, a local organization dedicated to human resource issues, indicated See PAY Page 17
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SPECIAL SECTION
EVENT PLANNING Serving large crowds with various needs presents challenges for catering companies ■ Page 13 PLUS: SELLING CLEVELAND ■ STADIUM USES ■ & MORE
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