BUSINESS BRIEFS
Union workers in town for rally
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Unite Here Local 5 yesterday kicked off a campaign to unite hotel workers across the nation and Canada ahead of union contract negotiations this summer.
Union contracts covering nearly 6,500 Hawai'i hotel workers at 10 hotels on O'ahu expire June 30. The kick-off rally at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena included actor and union supporter Danny Glover, Unite Here general president Bruce Raynor and hotel workers from other cities around the country. Union contracts of nearly 60,000 U.S. and Canadian hotel workers expire this year.
SENNET CAPITAL LAYS ROOTS HERE
Sennet Capital, LLC, a merchant bank that provides advisory services and private equity financing for middle-market and emerging growth companies, has launched operations in Honolulu.
Established by longtime Hawai'i executives John Bower, Kenton Eldridge and Richard Lim, Sennet will offer its clients capital sourcing, strategic planning, board participation and positioning for merger or acquisition.
Sennet Capital's initial clients include PCLender, Atlantis Cyberspace, Kona Bay Marine Resources, Edutainment, America's Mattress and It's All About Kids.
MICROSOFT NEWS SINKS SHARES
SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. shares sank more than 11 percent to a new 52-week low yesterday after the company said it planned to significantly beef up investments in many areas where it is not dominant, but refused to provide details.
Analysts said such investments, while risky, may pay off in the long term but could hurt more immediate financial results at the world's largest software maker. Microsoft shares fell $3.10 to close at $24.15 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, reducing its market capitalization by more than $32 billion.
VONAGE PREDICTS DOUBLY ROSY IPO
NEW YORK — Vonage Holdings Corp., the country's largest Internet telephone service, yesterday more than doubled the amount it expects to raise in its initial public offering and reported record subscriber growth.
Vonage, which in February said it expected to sell shares worth $250 million, said in regulatory filing yesterday that it planned to sell 31.25 million shares at $16 to $18 each, putting the total value of the offering at around $530 million.
HYUNDAI EXEC JAILED IN SCANDAL
SEOUL, South Korea — The chairman of Hyundai Motor Co. was arrested and jailed yesterday in an embezzlement and slush fund scandal engulfing South Korea's largest automaker.
Chairman Chung Mong-koo's arrest came as Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. are aggressively expanding operations.
