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Tribune staff report | BMO Capital Markets, the investment and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial Group, has announced five hires for its M&A, financial sponsors, healthcare and industrials groups.
Among the hires, Mike Jones joins the M&A Group in Chicago, where he will work in the food and consumer sector. Jones comes from Wachovia Securities, where he most recently headed consumer and retail M&A.
Associated Press | The CEO of Goldman Sachs testily defended his company’s ethics and business practices during the nation’s financial crisis on Tuesday, saying customers who bought securities from the Wall Street giant came looking for risk “and that’s what they got.”
“Unfortunately, the housing market went south very quickly,” Lloyd Blankfein told skeptical senators on an investigatory panel. “So people lost money in it.”
Get the full story: Goldman CEO denies wrongdoing in crisis.
From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel | Madison-based Cellular Dynamics, the company created by stem cell pioneer James Thompson, confirmed on Tuesday it has raised $40.6 million of private equity funding. The round was led by Tactics II Stem Cell Ventures, with Sam Zell’s Equity Group Investments LLC and Sixth Floor Investors LP participating in the round. This brings the total amount of money raised by the company to $70 million.
Get the full story: jsonline.com.
By Bruce Japsen | Dr. Steven Malkin of Buffalo Grove was installed this past weekend as
president of the Illinois State Medical Society during its 2010 annual
meeting, the doctors group said this afternoon.
Dr. Malkin is an internist and member of the Medical Care Group in
Arlington Heights. He serves on the medical staffs of Alexian Brothers
Medical Center and Northwest Community Hospital.
His term as president runs until April of next year. In his role, he
will be the primary spokesman for policy initiative of the Illinois
State Medical Society, which represents 12,000 physicians in the state.
Tribune staff report | Bolingbrook-based Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. announced that Chuck Rubin will join the company as president and chief operating officer and as a member of the board of directors effective May 10.
Following a transition period of up to four months, Rubin is slated to become chief executive. Lyn Kirby will continue as CEO through the transition period. Rubin was previously president of North American retail at Office Depot. He is also a former partner at Accenture Consulting.
Associated Press | The Hollywood sign has been spared from urban
sprawl and will stand unobscured to welcome future actors, writers and
Austrian bodybuilders, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday.
The actor-turned politician said a $900,000 donation by Playboy founder
Hugh Hefner and a $500,000 matching grant capped a $12.5 million
fundraising drive to protect 138 acres (56 hectares) near the famous
sign from the development of luxury estates. Schwarzenegger called it “the Hollywood ending we hoped for.”
Associated Press | Playboy has named Christoph Pachler chief financial officer and
executive vice president, filling a post that has been vacant since
last year. Pachler, 43, will start his new job on May 24, the company
said Monday. He currently serves as senior vice president of strategy
and operations at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
From Reuters | Simon Properties Chief Executive David Simon is expected to travel to Chicago to be at the meeting regarding Simon’s offer to recapitalize General Growth Properties. The meeting is planned for Thursday, according to sources, and will be with General Growth’s board of directors on Thursday.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
By Kiah Haslett | Northern Trust Corp. elected David H. B. Smith Jr. to its board of directors on Wednesday, and board members Harold B. Smith and Arthur L. Kelly announced their retirement. Smith is the executive vice president of policy & legal affairs and general counsel at the Mutual Fund Directors Forum. Previously, he held several positions at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including associate director in the Division of Investment Management. He also serves on the board of directors at Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Northern Trust announced Tuesday that its first-quarter profits had fallen short of expectations.
By Becky Yerak | Naperville-based
Calamos Asset Management Inc., which manages $32.7 billion in client
funds, paid Chief Executive John Calamos more than $3.4 million in
2009, down from nearly $5 million in 2008.
Calamos, who is also chairman and co-chief investment officer, earned
$250,000 in salary, $984,011 in stock awards, more than $1.9 million in
cash incentive compensation, and $307,385 in “other” compensation. That
included $223,428 for personal use of the company’s leased private
aircraft.
By Becky Yerak | Bank
of America Corp., which in 2007 acquired LaSalle Bank, has named
LaSalle veteran C. John Mostofi head of commercial banking in Illinois,
Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio.
Mostofi, one of the few LaSalle lenders still working for Bank of
America, succeeds Gene Godbold, who’ll continue to lead commercial real
estate banking, a national business. Both are based in Chicago.
Dow Jones Newswires | Packaging Corp. of America’s fourth-quarter profit declined 25% due to lower product prices and higher recycled fiber and pulpwood costs, which offset higher revenue.
The paper-products company projected second-quarter earnings of about 30 cents a share, below Wall Street’s target of 33 cents, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Lake Forest-based Packaging Corp. attributed the view to higher pricing, although it said most of the increases wouldn’t be realized until the third quarter. Meanwhile, three mills are expected to be down for maintenance outages during the quarter, which will reduce production and increase costs.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
| The head of California’s largest multiple listing service is headed to the Chicago area to oversee Midwest Real Estate Data LLC.
MRED, the Lisle-based company that operates the local real estate multiple listing service, announced the hiring of Russ Bergeron as its new chief executive officer, beginning in late May. He replaces Bud Fogel, whose contract was not renewed.
Since its formation in 1993, Bergeron has been CEO of the Southern California Multiple Listing Service, the largest MLS in California and the second largest in the nation.
Associated Press | Mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. said Monday
it has named longtime company executive Mark Shockley as senior vice
president of global go-to-market for its mobile devices business,
responsible for overseeing the segment’s worldwide sales operations. He
will report to Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of its mobile
devices and home business.
By Becky Yerak | Eileen Kennedy, who spent more than 20 years at Bank One Corp. and predecessor First Chicago NBD Corp., will join Chicago-based ShoreBank Corp. as a full-time employee — if Shorebank is able to raise much-need capital from investors.
Kennedy, the former treasurer of Bank One, would join David Vitale, who has also agreed to join ShoreBank Corp. as chairman if its capital raise is successful. Vitale had served as vice chair and president of First Chicago and First Chicago/NBD, and as vice chair and director of Bank One.
