BUSINESS BRIEFS
Prospect sells shares of Japan firm
Advertiser Staff
An affiliate of Hawai'i Kai-based Prospect Asset Management has agreed to sell a major block of shares in Japanese real-estate developer Shin-Nihon Tatemono Co. Ltd., reducing its 50.1 percent interest in the company.
The company said Columbus KK will purchase a little more than 11 million shares of Shin-Nihon's stock at a price of 800 yen ($7.12) per share. The sale amounts to about 33 percent interest in the real-estate developer.
Prospect Asset Management is part of the Prospect Group, which is led by investor Curtis Freeze and focuses on investments in Japan. The group manages about $1.27 billion in assets.
Prospect said it had invested in Shin-Nihon in 2006 and provided 10 billion yen of financing to the company. That helped Shin-Nihon increase earnings. Columbus KK is a subsidiary of daVinci Advisors KK, a large Japanese investment fund.
Bloomberg News reported earlier this week that daVinci offered 800 yen a share for Shin-Nihon's stock in an effort to buy a 32 percent stake in the company worth about $77 million.
GAS PRICE UP TO $3.481 PER GALLON
The price of a gallon of regular gasoline has crept up 66 cents over the past year and currently costs an average of $3.481 in Hawai'i, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report Web site.
That price is about 16 percent higher than the national average, which yesterday was $3.
The site shows Honolulu's average price for a gallon of regular was $3.360, up from $2.739 a year earlier.
HAWTEL MOVING KAHULUI BASE YARD
Hawaiian Telcom is moving its Kahului base yard operations from Alamaha Street to nearby Lalo Place next month.
The Alamaha Street yard has been home to the company's fleet, warehouse, construction and field operations since 1965. The company's current lease expires on Dec. 31. Several employees have moved to the company's Wailuku office while the warehouse facility has moved to Eha Place in Wailuku. The rest of the crews will move to the Lalo Place facility.
"We are still here, Maui — we're less than a block away," said Val Ogata, Hawaiian Telcom's Maui island manager. "This base yard has been a landmark in Kahului for decades. At one time, residents used to pay their phone bills here."
Ogata expects the new yard to be fully functioning by Jan. 10.
L&L TO OPEN IN AMERICAN SAMOA
Honolulu-based L&L Drive-Inn plans to open its first restaurant in American Samoa in about six months.
L&L President Eddie Flores Jr. says the chain is looking forward to serving the Samoan community in American Samoa.
Founded in 1976, L&L now has more than 175 restaurants in Hawai'i, California, Washington state, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Texas and New York.
MALLS RAISE $100,000 FOR CHARITIES
Fundraisers at four General Growth shopping malls across the state raised more than $100,000 for participating charities this holiday season. The four malls — Ward Centers, Windward Mall, Queen Ka'ahumanu and Prince Kuhio Plaza — raised the funds as part of the company's Festival of Giving.
Each mall designated a special shopping day or weekend for Festival of Giving. Shoppers could purchase a ticket that entitled them to receive discounts and special offers from participating merchants. Local nonprofits sold the tickets for $5 to $10 and were able to keep 100 percent of all ticket sale proceeds.
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