Houston Business Journal articles from June 1999

Houston Business Journal archives from June 1999

TMC slates ambitious expansion.(Texas Medical Center)
June 4, 1999... $418 million in new projects unveiled The Texas Medical Center board has approved plans for a major expansion program that includes about $418 million in new, previously unannounced construction projects. TMC commissioned a study to...

Daniel departure ends another business chapter.(Emerson Electric Co. acquires Daniel Industries)
June 4, 1999... In the space of a month, Houston has lost two public companies with long local histories. And in an ironic twist, both companies were headed by the same CEO. Daniel Industries is being acquired by Emerson Electric Co. of St. Louis for $460...

Familiar inner-city realty firm agrees to acquisition.(Coldwell Banker Madeline O'Brien Realtors acquires Swilley Hudson and Associates Inc.)
June 4, 1999... Swilley Hudson & Associates has been a fixture on the inner-Loop real estate scene for more than 20 years. Now, the brokerage firm's familiar brown signs dotting commercial and residential lots throughout the Heights and Montrose area are about...

CEO Zeringue exits Input/Output as stock continues to languish.(W.J. Zeringue)
June 4, 1999... Input/Output inc. experienced another upset in top management with the resignation of W. J. "Zeke" Zeringue as director, chairman and CEO last week, just a few weeks after the departure of chief financial officer Ron Harris. Although the...

Columbia/HCA, Memorial swap local hospitals in three-way deal.(Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., Memorial Hermann Healthcare System)
June 4, 1999... Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. will sell off four of its local hospitals and has backed out of plans to construct a new medical facility in Sugar Land as part of a national reorganization. Memorial Hermann Healthcare System has signed a...

Turning a new page: John Cryer helps reinvent PageSoutherlandPage into its second century.(architecture and engineering firm)
June 4, 1999... John Cryer buys into that old adage that necessity is the mother of invention. The discreet yet driving force in the Houston office of PageSoutherlandPage, Texas' oldest architecture and engineering firm, Cryer says understanding the...

Strategic branding aids firm in preparing for new chapter.(Walter P. Moore and Associates Inc.)
June 4, 1999... Creating an updated image for a company is a delicate process, especially when the company has a reputation that has served it well for many years. Many mid-sized firms have faced a challenge similar to the one recently confronted by...

Travis Cafe: a regard for detail peppered with occasional aridity.
June 4, 1999... The Travis Cafe is a good-looking restaurant that serves good-looking food. But while dedication to appearance can verge on the fussy, attention to culinary. details sometimes slips, causing some lapses in generally very inviting food. ...

Transocean Offshore Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 4, 1999... NYSE, Oslo RIG 4 Greenway Plaza, Houston 77046 (713) 871-7500 Transocean Offshore Inc. is an international offshore drilling company engaged in contract drilling of oil and gas wells. Total shares of common stock outstanding as...

Builders clone patented projects; Parkside partners create affordable communities with nostalgia and New Urbanism.(KM+P principals Mark Kaufman and Don Meeks)
June 11, 1999... Two years ago, Mark Kaufman and Don Meeks broke ground on Parkside at Clayton Park, an affordable housing community on the city's west side. The principals in the architecture and land planning firm of KM+P outfitted their development with...

Purple uproar: military orders set off media barrage for local medal maker.(Graco Industries)
June 11, 1999... For 20 years, Lee Graves has been making military medals at his downtown Tomball factory without much fanfare or notice by the general public. All that changed this month when the U.S. Defense Department placed two large orders with his...

Fluor cuts jobs in Sugar Land; layoffs could reach 1,300 by end of year.(Fluor Daniel Inc.)
June 11, 1999... Fluor Daniel Inc. could lay off up to 1,300 employees in Sugar Land by the end of the year as part of a nationwide restructuring. More than 320 local people have lost their jobs so far, with the final cuts expected to total between 1,000...

Investment bankers buy pro football team.(MTR Inc.; Houston Outlaws)
June 11, 1999... Tim Graves has a new game plan for keeping professional football alive in Houston. Graves calls the signals for MTR Inc., a team of investment bankers from Primex Capital who have taken over ownership of the Houston Outlaws, the local...

LifeCell drops The Woodlands for New Jersey digs.
June 11, 1999... LifeCell Corp., one of the city's more successful biotechnology firms, will move its headquarters from The Woodlands to a biotech hub in Branchburg, N.J. LifeCell develops tissue regeneration and cell preservation products. The...

Transfer of electric power: after decades in Don Jordan's shadow, Steve Letbetter takes over as guiding light at Reliant Energy.
June 11, 1999... The executive offices in the downtown skyscraper occupied by Reliant Energy Inc. are bathed in natural sunlight and outfitted with sleek, functional modern furniture. Gone is the dark mahogany paneling and traditional heavy furniture found on...

Mixing business with treasures: antique dealers Lewis and Maese have built a three-store chain selling vintage furnishings.
June 11, 1999... The hard luck of city executives during Houston's bust turned out to be something of a launching ground for David Lewis and Ernest Maese's antique business. Operating a small consignment store during the city's economic downturn, the two...

Newfield Exploration Co.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 11, 1999... NYSE NFX 363 N. Sam Houston Parkway East, Suite 2020, Houston 77060 (281) 847-6000 www.newfld.com Newfield Exploration Co. is an oil and gas exploration/production company. Total shares of common stock outstanding as of March 15,...

Texas' disposable income climbs, ranks No. 5 in earnings after taxes.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 11, 1999... ACBJ RESEARCH REPORT State Shares of U.S. Total Disposable Income, 1997 Share of Rank State U.S. Total 1997 1 California 12.40% $717.17 billion 2 New York ...

Enron backs big downtown land play.(Enron Corp.'s acquisition of a portion of real estate in downtown Houston, Texas)
June 18, 1999... Ex-councilman blocks up real estate for potential retail, sports development Former City Council member Louis Macey has been quietly blocking up downtown land east of U.S. Highway 59, with Enron Corp. snapping up the option to purchase...

Brokers battle bankers for middle market.(investment banking's entry into the middle-level commercial lending market)
June 18, 1999... When Robert Reese worked for a local bank, he had visions of snaring James Coney Island as a client. "I was raised on JCI as a kid in the '60s and as a banker, I always wanted them as a client," says Reese. 'oThey were a trophy. But they...

Memorial plans Cypress hospital.(Memorial Hermann Healthcare Systems' plan to build the $75.9-million Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital)
June 18, 1999... System will construct 74-bed facility in northwest Houston The Memorial Hermann Healthcare System is set to spend $75.9 million to construct a new hospital and medical office building in northwest Houston. Pending approval by the...

Heights developer with loft plans buys county's Lomas & Nettleton.(Developer Frank Garvey's acquisition of the Lomas and Nettleton building in Harris County, Texas, for over $4 million)
June 18, 1999... Deal closes after commissioners reject extension After years of trying to remodel or dispose of the Lomas & Nettleton Building, Harris County has unloaded the property at 201 Main in a deal worth more than $4 million. Houston Heights...

Dynergy seeks synergy in proposed merger with Illinois utility.(Houston, Texas-based Dynergy Inc.'s union with Illinova of Decatur, Illinois)
June 18, 1999... Union positions both companies for growth Dynegy Inc. will merge with an Illinois utility in a strategic move that sets up both companies for growth. The union between Houston-based Dynegy and Decatur-based Illinova appears to be a...

Acquisition of Coach USA offers U.S. growth for British company.(Perth, Scotland-based Stagecoach Holdings' $1.8-billion purchase of Coach USA Inc. of Houston, Texas)
June 18, 1999... Houston-based Coach USA Inc. has agreed to a buyout by a Scottish tour company run by a former bus conductor in a deal worth $1.8 billion. Stagecoach Holdings, an international passenger transportation company headquartered in Perth,...

Evans president resigns as firm strives to restructure.(Evans Systems' Richard Dix's resignation five weeks after assuming the company's presidency)
June 18, 1999... Stock price soars, then sinks in attempt to move from petroleum to the 'Net Richard Dix has resigned five weeks after being named as president of Evans Systems. Evans is a longtime Bay City distributor of petroleum products and owner...

Bunches of beignets.(Crescent City Beignets of Houston, Texas)(Company Profile)
June 18, 1999... Crescent City siblings fry up expansion for pastry and coffee chain The owners of Crescent City Beignets have all six hands full. Siblings Wayne, Tucker and Marcy Bunch are juggling a new location in Austin this week, preparing to remodel...

R and B Falcon Corp.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 18, 1999... NYSE FLC 901 Threadneedle, Houston 77079 (281) 496-5000 www.rbfalcon.com R&B FalCon Corp. is the oil and natural gas industry's largest and most diversified offshore drilling company. Total shares of common stock outstanding...

Developers resurrect second Katy mall.(Simon Property Group and Trammel Crow draw up plans to build shopping centers in Katy, TX)
June 25, 1999... Simon Property, Trammell Crow bid to follow Mills Just when it looked as if west Houston was won and The Mills Corp. would build the lone Katy mall, two more sizable players have galloped onto the scene. Only eight months after...

City struggles to keep convention hotel alive.(Houston, TX)
June 25, 1999... With other options apparently exhausted, city officials are devising a plan to finally build a downtown convention center hotel - with or without a real estate partner. Now that the agreement to build the oft-delayed hotel between the...

Aetna agrees to divest NYLCare.(Aetna U.S. Healthcare)
June 25, 1999... Mandated deal allows purchase of Prudential Healthcare Aetna U.S. Healthcare agreed this week to sell the commercial HMO operations of NYLCare in Houston and Dallas, acquired last year, so it can complete an acquisition of Prudential...

Shareholders file class-action lawsuit against Landry's Seafood Restaurant.
June 25, 1999... Shareholders have filed a class-action lawsuit against Landry's Seafood Restaurants, claiming the company and five of its top officers and directors artificially inflated the stock value and then cashed in through illegal insider trades. ...

Expected loss at Compaq drives first realignment since 1991.
June 25, 1999... Two months after the departure of CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer, Compaq Computer Corp. expects to post its first quarterly loss from normal business operations since 1991 - the same year it sacked co-founder and CEO Rod Canion. In addition, one of...

Furniture, fame and Fingers.(Robert Finger, CEO of Finger Furniture Co.)
June 25, 1999... Success selling furnishings has turned Robert Finger into a local celebrity In a city where ambitious entrepreneurs are celebrated as much as sports stars and television anchors, Robert "Bobby" Finger is king. When he escorts his two...

Benefits in hand.(Hand & Associates)
June 25, 1999... Brothers turn to technology to continue growth at 60-year-old family firm Sixty years ago, Thomas Hand formed a Houston company based on the premise that retirement plans would become serviced less and less by insurance companies and more...

Pentacon Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... NYSE JIT 10375 Richmond Ave., Suite 700, Houston 77042 (713) 860-1000 www.pentacon-inc.com Pentacon Inc. is the largest independent distributor of fasteners and other small parts to original equipment manufacturers in the United...

Once fizzling Enron finds new ways to sizzle in 1998.(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... In 1995 Enron did not look like the red-hot leader it would be by late 1998. The company's stock price had lagged, stagnating at midpoints ranging from around $30 to $33 each year from 1993 through 1995. And among local publicly traded...

Compaq charts its course for stock market rebound.(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... Over four billion shares of Compaq Computer were traded on Wall Street during 1998, more than twice the volume of any other stock on the New York Stock Exchange. And while its share price plunged after Dec. 31, Compaq shareholders enjoyed a...

Conoco talks the mid-size talk, walks big-firm walk.(Company Profile)
June 25, 1999... Conoco is a mid-sized integrated :oil and gas company, insists Archie Dunham, its president and chief executive officer. But in 1998 Conoco looked very big. In an arena with acquisitive majors that have mushroomed into super-majors,...