Hospital operator Exempla Healthcare and insurer Cigna HealthCare have reached an agreement on a contract that will become effective Aug. 1 and run through July 31, 2012.
The agreement includes Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette and Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge.
The contract also includes a three-year agreement with Exempla Physician Network, a group practice of 60 physicians.
Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital has had a relationship with Cig na for two decades, and Exempla Lutheran Medical Center has collaborated with Cigna for more than 10 years. Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center also has worked with Cigna since the center opened in December 2004.
Additional business news briefs:
GREENWOOD VILLAGE
First Data to buy Brazilian company
First Data Corp., the Greenwood Village-based payment processor that accepted a $26 billion buyout from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., said it will acquire Check Forte Processamento de Dados Ltd. to expand in Brazil.
The acquisition is expected to be closed in the third quarter of this year, the companies said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
LONGMONT
Horizon Banks begin change to new name
Longmont-based Horizon Banks will change its name to Mile High Banks N.A. to settle a trademark dispute.
Company officials expect the conversion process to take several months while signs, advertising, website and collateral materials are produced with the new identity. According to the terms of the agreement, Horizon Banks has until Dec. 31 to complete the changeover.
TOLEDO, Ohio
Dana autoworkers approve new pact
Autoworkers at eight Dana Corp. plants have approved a new contract that will free the company from paying for health care for retirees and establish a two-tier wage structure, the United Auto Workers said Wednesday.
Approval of the new contract puts the auto-parts maker closer to emerging from bankruptcy protection. Toledo-based Dana announced an agreement three weeks ago that included contracts with its unions and a deal with Centerbridge Capital Partners, which will invest $500 million in the company.
SEATTLE
Amazon.com shares rise to 7 1/2-year high
Shares of Inc., the world’s biggest online retailer, rose to their highest level in 7 1/2 years after the company beat analysts’ profit estimates by curbing technology spending and lifted its sales forecast for the second time since April.
The stock surged $16.93, or 24 percent, to $86.18 at 4 p.m. in composite trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares of have more than doubled this year, making it the best performer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.
Sun to release its next earnings report online
Sun Microsystems Inc., which has had talks with regulators about releasing news in corpor ate blogs instead of statements, will distribute its next earnings report on its website and through an Internet feed.
Sun also will send its fourth- quarter earnings statement over PR Newswire 10 minutes after the news is posted on its website, spokeswoman Kristi Rawlinson said in an e-mail. The report is set for Monday after Nasdaq Stock Market trading ends.
BOSTON
Judge delays ruling in Facebook lawsuit
A federal judge Wednesday delayed ruling on whether to throw out a lawsuit filed against the founder of , saying he needed more information about allegations that Mark Zuckerberg stole the ideas of the creators of a rival social networking website.
Judge Douglas Woodlock gave ConnectU founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss – who are twin brothers – and Divya Narendra until Aug. 8 to flesh out their allegations against Zuckerberg, which include fraud, copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets.
FRANKFURT, Germany
Siemens to buy, sell German, U.S. firms
Siemens announced two multibillion-dollar deals Wednesday as part of its new chief executive’s plan to retool the company, which has been tinged by scandal.
Siemens will sell its automotive parts division to another German company, the tire maker Continental, for $15.6 billion, and acquire Dade Behring Holdings, a maker of medical diagnostic products based in Deerfield, Ill., for $7 billion. The deal for Dade is worth $77 a share.
WASHINGTON
Effect of hot weather on gasoline disputed
Oil executives denied that drivers are overpaying for gasoline because the fuel expands in hot weather and provides less energy per gallon.
An Exxon Mobil Corp. executive said gas station operators would have to pay to install in pumps new measuring devices that factor in temperature changes. Operators probably would pass the cost on “without any additional benefit to consumers,” said Ben Soraci, the company’s retail sales director.
Critics say that when drivers buy gasoline during hot weather, they are paying as much as $1.5 billion a year in overcharges. That amounts to 3 cents to 9 cents per gallon.
