Houston Business Journal articles from January 1998

Houston Business Journal archives from January 1998

IT firm launches roll-up; BrightStar IPO will meld seven computer services companies. (BrigthStar Information Technology Group Inc.; initial public offering)
January 2, 1998... Houston-based BrightStar Information Technology Group Inc. has filed to go public to raise the capital it needs to purchase seven computer services companies. BrightStar has entered into definitive agreements to acquire the seven companies -...

Purchase of local promoter helps SFX keep Pace with expansion. (SFX Broadcasting; Pace Entertainment Corp.)
January 2, 1998... Megapromoter Pace Entertainment Corp. probably couldn't have staged a better deal if it tried. The Houston-based company, founded in 1966 by insurance salesman Allen Becker and banker Sidney Shlenker, was snapped up last week for $130 million...

Not just kid's stuff: Gerber spinoff buys two more Houston child care facilities. (Childtime Learning Centers Corp.; Gerber Products Corp.; Fun N Care, Honor Roll School)
January 2, 1998... Michigan-based Childtime Learning Centers Corp. has nabbed two Houston child care facilities in the past week, boosting the number of locations here to 17. An offspring of baby foods giant Gerber Products Corp., the rambunctious company has...

Engineering firm targets cogeneration pollution with new process. (Petrocon Cos.)
January 2, 1998... Who says you can't have the best of both worlds? Not Petrocon Cos., a local environmental firm that says it has developed a way to make cogeneration power plants produce less pollution. Some small engine-driven cogeneration power plants are...

Video veterans: Image in Action is taking corporate presentations and employee training high tech.(Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
January 2, 1998... David Waserman was fresh out of college in 1989 when his father closed his 20-year-old locally based Video Systems Inc. Although the city's lackluster economy encouraged the closure of Video Systems, that didn't discourage the younger Waserman...

Inner city breeds business incubator; public/private coalition promotes project in vacant building near downtown. (Houston, Texas)
January 23, 1998... A broad-based coalition of city, education, and private industry leaders is promoting a plan to start up a major small business incubator south of downtown Houston. The proposed incubator will provide subsidized office space, laboratory...

Downtown project finds new funding.
January 23, 1998... The president of a local company with big plans to redevelop the 220 Main building near Market Square says he's finally found financing for the ambitious project that has been in limbo for months. Houston-based Q-Ratio Texas Inc. has stripped...

The world according to girls: in-your-face firm finds success filling female niche in fashionable sportswear market. (Girl World Sports Inc.)
January 23, 1998... In-your-face firm finds success filling female niche in fashionable sportswear market The office of Girl World Sports Inc. oozes attitude. Piled high at the Wilt Road facility are thousands of brightly colored t-shirts emblazoned with spunky...

County sues stores over pollution; lawsuit alleges sewage, drinking water violations. (Harris County, Texas)
January 23, 1998... Lawsuit alleges sewage, drinking water violations Harris County filed suit last week against Petroleum Wholesale Inc. and sister company Sun Development Co. The Harris County District Attorney's office claims that four Houston-area Petroleum...

Merchants Bank agrees to merge with Tennessee's Union Planters.
January 23, 1998... Merchants Bank, Houston's seventh-largest locally owned bank, has agreed to merge with a Tennessee-based bank that ranks among the 50 largest in the nation. The deal, a $124 million tax-free stock exchange - or pooling of interests - is expected...

Poor enrollment could mean $30 million shortfall at county HMO. (Harris County Hospital District's health maintenance organization)
January 23, 1998... District may outsource management of struggling managed care provider The Harris County Hospital District's HMO is doing so poorly in enrolling members in the state's new Medicaid managed care program that it could create as much as a $30...

Making connections: adding new services, Debra Schindler is turning Genesis Telecom into a new creation.(Growth Strategies)
January 23, 1998... Adding new services, Debra Schindler is turning Genesis Telecom into a new creation Last year was a big year for Debra Schindler. She made some major changes at her company, Genesis Telecom Inc., and now all she really has to do is sit back...

Local trash companies to combine: USA Waste inks deal with TransAmerican. (USA Waste Services Inc.; TransAmerican Waste Industries Inc.)
January 30, 1998... USA Waste inks deal with TransAmerican USA Waste Services Inc. continued its consolidation play in the garbage business by agreeing to purchase Houston-based TransAmerican Waste Industries Inc. in a $70 million stock deal. USA Waste has been...

Hitting Rock Bottom: fickle drinkers and flat sales force Richmond brew pub to pull plug. (Rock Bottom Brewery Inc. to close down its Houston, Texas, plant)
January 30, 1998... Fickle drinkers and flat sales force Richmond brew pub to pull the plug Boulder, Colo.-based Rock Bottom Brewery Inc. has tapped out in Houston. The company, which erected a mammoth brew pub here four years ago with high hopes, will pour...

Hotel hotbed: four new inns find room in Westchase. (Houston, Texas)
January 30, 1998... A few years ago, the Westchase District boasted just a pair of hotels, but plans now underway to construct four new hotels in the growing submarket will boost that figure to 13 by next year. Western International and Candlewood Hotel Corp. are...

Record storage giant buys rival, doubles size in Houston market. (Record Archives buys Pierce Leahy Corp.; Texas)
January 30, 1998... Record Archive's, a 40-year-old Houston company, has become the first acquisition of 1998 for the largest records management company in North America. Pierce Lahey Corp., a Pennsylvania-based provider of records storage and management, was a...

Architectural landscape firms merge to create largest in city. (SWA Group to merge with Slaney Santana Group; Houston, Texas)
January 30, 1998... SWA Group, Slaney Santana agree to combine operations Two of Houston's largest architectural landscaping firms are joining forces. SWA Group and Slaney Santana Group will merge next week under the SWA name to create the city's largest...

Horizon Offshore floats IPO to raise capital for fleet expansion. (Horizon Offshore Inc.'s initial public offering)
January 30, 1998... Company seeks turnaround with management change, new joint venture partner Horizon Offshore Inc., a Houston-based marine construction company, is attempting to turn around its fortunes with a revamped management team, a new joint venture and...

After investigation, Columbia fires three hospital executives. (Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. fires three Columbia North Houston Medical executives)
January 30, 1998... North Houston Medical could lose accreditation in flap over delinquent records Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. has fired three top executives at Columbia North Houston Medical - including the CEO - in a case of misrepresentation of documents....

An oil field original. (Michel Halbouty)
January 30, 1998... Outspoken wildcatter and maverick geologist Michel Halbouty has always done things his way In 1994, Michel Halbouty quit the Independent Petroleum Association of America in a fit of pique after serving 54 years as a member. He was upset by...

BJ Services Co. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
January 30, 1998... NYSE BJS 5500 N.W. Central Drive, Houston 77092 (713) 462-4239 BJ Services Co. is a leading provider of pressure pumping and other oilfield services serving the petroleum industry worldwide. Total shares of common stock outstanding as...