March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Libra Alliance Corp. (OTCBB: LBAL), a provider of telecommunications services to businesses and residential consumers, has four new members to the company’s board of directors.
On February 12, 2010, Libra Alliance completed a securities exchange transaction pursuant to which it acquired Lightyear Network Solutions. Lightyear will continue to focus on servicing the telecommunications needs of its approximately 60,000 business and residential customers while pursuing a strategy to increase revenue and earnings via a combination of organic and acquisition growth.
Along with Henderson, the additional board members also serve as directors of LY Holdings, LLC, which is Libra’s majority shareholder.
The new board members are:
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Tronox Inc. (OTC: TRXAQ) plans to raise the price for all Tronox titanium dioxide grades effective April 1, 2010 or as contracts allow. The company said it will raise prices in North America $.05 per pound, and in Latin America by $150 per ton.
The company said that other increases may be announced locally within each region.
Oklahoma-based Tronox is a producer and marketer of titanium dioxide pigment. Titanium dioxide pigment is an inorganic white pigment used in paint, coatings, plastics, paper and many other everyday products.
The company’s pigment plants, which are located in the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, supply products to around 1,100 customers in 100 countries.
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — YM BioSciences Inc. (AMEX: YMI) (TSX: YM) said it has closed a registered direct offering of 14.583 million units at an issue price of US $1.20 for gross proceeds of around US $17.5 million.
Each unit consists of one common share and one half common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant may be exercised to purchase one common share at $1.60 until March 10, 2015.
Following this issue, the pro-forma total number of YM common shares outstanding is 80,187,476, including 2,380,953 common shares issued but held in escrow, and there are now outstanding 8,166,480 common share purchase warrants (including warrants issued to the agents).
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — 3SBio Inc. (NASDAQ: SSRX), a chinese biotechnology firm, said that Liping Xu, the firm’s executive director and vice president, will retire from its board and her position as a company officer for health reasons, effective March 10. Xu was one of the founders of the company.
She and has been a director of 3SBio and its predecessor company, Shenyang Sunshine, since 1993.
Concurrently, effective March 10, Peiguo Cong will join the board and serve as an independent, non-executive director.
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) (AIM: SOLA), a manufacturer of solar wafers and provider of solar module original equipment manufacturer, has appointed Charles Bai, ReneSola’s chief financial officer, as its chief strategy officer.
Julia Xu, ReneSola’s vice president of international corporate finance and corporate communications, will succeed Bai as CFO. Henry Wang has been appointed vice president of finance.
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX), a firm that operates an electronic trading platform for U.S. and European bonds and other types of fixed-income securities, has named James N.B. Rucker as its chief operations, credit and risk officer. Antonio L. DeLise will succeed him as chief financial officer, effective March 8.
DeLise was foremerly head of accounting and finance at MarketAxess, where he was responsible for financial regulatory compliance and oversight of all controllership and accounting functions.
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Sparta Commercial Services, Inc. (OTCBB: SRCO) said it could receive an annual $5 million in municipal lease purchase agreements from the company’s strategic agreement with Armet Armored Vehicles, a maker tactical armored and other specialty vehicles for governmental and other markets.
Sparta said that Armet Armored has chosen it as the primary sales and financing option for municipal lease purchases by local, county, and state governmental agencies that acquire specialty vehicles from Armet.
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Viterra Inc. (TSX: VT) (OTC: VTRAF) said it has signed a definitive merger agreement with Dakota Growers Pasta Co. under which a subsidiary of Viterra will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Dakota Growers, a producer and marketer of dry pasta products in North America.
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: PNK) said it has reached a settlement agreement with the Missouri Gaming Commission regarding the license of the company’s subsidiary president Riverboat Casino-Missouri, Inc., which operates The president Casino at Laclede’s Landing in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.
[...continued]
March 11, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Carbon Friendly Solutions Inc. (TSX Venture: CFQ) said it received TSX Venture Exchange approval for its recently formed Pacific Briquetters Inc. and its proposed business structure and issue of share purchase warrants resulting from the same.
[...continued]
FirstAlert(tm) Daily 3/11: Food Chain
- Market Commentary -
Hospitals are tasked with serving the uninsured, a job they’ve always done by jacking up prices to people who can pay, the insured, and the insurers. In a screwball dance of overcharges, underpayments, winks and nudges, hospitals get enough to survive another day or week, month or year.
The part of the insurance food chain breaking down now is the number of insured people falling. Many have lost jobs that once gave them insurance, and as anyone without a job and sufficient income can attest, insurance ain’t cheap.
With that piece of the food chain broken, look for the next biggest link–the hospitals–to begin failing, unless of course it gets some help. And you know it’s going to happen. As it should, probably. Without a few disasters, nothing will happen to fix the health-care problem.
[...continued]