Denver real estate developer Ray Pittman has been hired by Rocky Mountain Speedway Corp. as project director for the group’s proposed NASCAR-style racetrack.
The wholly owned subsidiary of International Speedway Corp. hopes to build a motorsports and entertainment complex on one of several parcels being considered in Adams County near Denver International Airport.
Pittman has amassed considerable experience working in the vicinity of DIA since 2000, first at CB Richard Ellis and then as senior vice president and regional manager for Catellus Development Corp. The past several years he has guided the controversial development of the 1,800-acre High Point master-plan community just south of DIA. Pittman sold that project in May to Miami-based LNR Property Corp. but continued to oversee it as the company’s senior vice president until late 2006.
International Speedway Corp. officials announced their intention to enter the metro Denver market in February.
GOLDEN
New Coors Banquet can comes from past
Coors Brewing Co. today will introduce new packaging for its Banquet beer that mirrors the first aluminum can introduced in 1959, when Coors products were available only west of the Mississippi.
The concept behind the packaging is to re-emphasize the product’s Rocky Mountain roots. First brewed in 1873 at a plant in Golden, the beer became known as Coors Banquet during a mining boom, when founder Adolph Coors gave banquets for miners.
The new packaging features elements of the original “yellow belly” can, including depictions of the Rocky Mountains, the company said.
DENVER
Pet insurer to open claims office in May
Veterinary Pet Insurance, the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance, announced Monday that it will open a claims processing center in Denver in May.
The facility, at 1325 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 606, will initially employ about 25 claims specialists.
CHICAGO
ServiceMaster to be sold for $4.5 billion
Lawn care, pest control and cleaning services provider ServiceMaster Co. agreed Monday to be bought by an investment group in a cash deal valued at $4.5 billion, as the company tries to recover from declining financial results.
Bowing to shareholder pressure, the owner of TruGreen Lawn Care, Terminix pest control and Merry Maids announced a deal with a group led by private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc.
NEW ORLEANS
Enron shareholders can’t sue as a class
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Enron Corp. shareholders cannot proceed with a class-action lawsuit against investment banks for their alleged role in the accounting fraud that led to Enron’s collapse.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion reversed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon in Houston, who had said shareholders could sue as a class.
ATLANTA
Delta workers to get cash, equity payout
About 39,000 Delta employees will share $480 million in lump-sum payouts and equity in the company when the nation’s third-largest carrier emerges from Chapter 11 protection in May, according to material to be disclosed in a bankruptcy court filing today.
The cash payment for non-contract employees is based on 8 percent of their 2006 earnings, or a total of $130 million. The employees will get a total equity stake equal to 3.5 percent of the company, valued at an estimated $350 million.
CENTENNIAL
Profits rise for National CineMedia
National CineMedia Inc., the seller of movie-theater advertising that went public in February, reported a $6.9 million fourth- quarter profit on higher rates and rising film attendance.
The profit of 16 cents a share compared with a loss of $3 million a year earlier.
NEW YORK
Ex-Citibank exec gets 15 months in prison
The former head of Citibank’s worldwide commodities trading desk was sentenced to 15 months in prison Monday after pleading guilty to conspiracy last year in a scheme to inflate trading profits by as much as $20 million.
At a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein also ordered David Becker to pay $200,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine. The prison term will be followed by two years supervised release.
DALLAS
New, higher bid for Triad Hospitals Inc.
Community Health Systems Inc. stepped in Monday with a last-minute deal to buy rival Triad Hospitals Inc. for about $5.1 billion.
Community trumped a $4.7 billion bid announced last month by private-equity firms.
CHICAGO
Board of Trade to talk about takeover bid
The Chicago Board of Trade will enter talks with Intercontinental Exchange Inc. on its unsolicited $9.48 billion takeover bid, aimed at breaking up a planned merger with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
The board of CBOT Holdings Inc., parent of the exchange, authorized talks and agreed to share financial information with Intercontinental, CBOT Holdings said in a statement Monday.
WASHINGTON
AMA fears monopoly in Sierra Health sale
The largest U.S. physicians group has urged antitrust authorities to block insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s $2.6 billion purchase of Sierra Health Services Inc.
The American Medical Association told U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in a letter released Monday that the acquisition would give UnitedHealth the “potential to exercise monopoly power” in Nevada.
WASHINGTON
Treasury auctions $36 billion in T-bills
The Treasury Department auctioned $20 billion in three- month bills at a discount rate of 4.930 percent and an additional $16 billion in six-month bills at a rate of 4.910 percent.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value.
For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,875.38, while six-month bills sold for $9,751.77.
