BUSINESS BRIEFS
Shidler, Arizona firm to merge
Advertiser Staff
Local real estate investor Jay Shidler has agreed to form a public company with an Arizona firm that will combine a property portfolio including several Hawai'i office buildings.
Shidler's private Pacific Office Properties Trust LLC is to be acquired by Arizona Land Income Corp., a dissolving publicly traded company with about $7 million in assets.
The combined company to be led by Shidler would be reincorporated as Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc. and traded on the American Stock Exchange.
Honolulu properties included in the transaction include Davies Pacific Center, City Center, Waterfront Plaza, the Pan Am Building, the First Insurance Building and several office buildings in San Diego and Phoenix.
The deal, which is subject to Arizona Land shareholder approval, is expected to close in January and is valued by the companies at $570 million.
KAUA'I UTILITY'S HEAD TO RETIRE
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Kauai Island Utility Co-op president Dutch Achenbach told company employees Monday that he will retire once the county electric utility finds a replacement.
Achenbach joined the electric company in December 2004 on an interim basis and later was named permanently to the top spot. His contract runs through Jan. 2, 2007, but he said he would remain with the company long enough to get a successor ready to take over. The utility's board has launched a search for a new president, said KIUC public affairs officer Anne Barnes.
HAWAIIAN WILL STILL REPORT DATA
The U.S. Department of Transportation said it will not require Hawaiian Airlines to report its monthly on-time performance records, but the local airline said it will continue do so.
Hawaiian, which has led the nation in on-time performance and baggage handling during the past several years, will continue to provide the data on a voluntary basis.
The Transportation Department said the monthly reports are required for all airlines with $744 million or more in annual revenues. Hawaiian's revenue for the year ending March 31 was $731 million, the department said.
TOYOTA'S SALES IN U.S. JUMP 24%
Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales surged 25 percent in September on demand for fuel-efficient cars and an incentive-fed jump in truck sales. Most of its biggest rivals posted declines. It was the steepest percentage gain in 17 months for Toyota, the world's second-largest carmaker behind General Motors Corp., and its 16th consecutive monthly sales increase.
GM reported a 3.1 percent drop. Industrywide, U.S. sales rose 1.9 percent from September 2005 to 1.35 million vehicles.
