BUSINESS BRIEFS
St. Francis sale gains vital OK
Advertiser Staff
The sale of St. Francis Medical Center and St. Francis Medical Center-West passed a key hurdle after the state attorney general's office approved the $68 million deal.
Buyer Hawaii Medical Center LLC, which includes dozens of local doctors and Wichita, Kan.-based Cardiovascular Hospitals of America, said it expects to complete its purchase by the end of the year. The deal requires approval from the Hawai'i State Health Planning and Development Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice.
REAL-ESTATE RENEWALS ONLINE
The state is encouraging Hawai'i's more than 21,000 real-estate professionals to renew their licenses online.
Online renewals will be accepted until midnight Dec. 31 at www.ehawaii.gov/pvlrenew. Real-estate professionals must renew their licenses every two years. During the last renewal cycle in 2004, 39 percent of real-estate brokers and 44 percent of real-estate salespeople used the online renewal system.
MARATHON DRAWS MORE FROM JAPAN
The number of Japanese citizens registered for this year's Honolulu Marathon and Race Day Walk is running well ahead of last year's pace, race organizers said.
A total of 16,502 Japanese citizens have registered for the Dec. 10 event, compared with 15,157 at the same time last year. Organizers expect another 7,000 to 8,000 entrants from Japan to register by race day, putting the event on track to surpass last year's total of 21,739 entrants from Japan.
The Honolulu Marathon last year drew 28,408 entrants from all countries, with an additional 5,444 entrants for the Race Day Walk.
TORI RICHARD NAMES NEW GM
Tori Richard Ltd. has appointed Dale Hope general manager of its newly acquired Kahala Sportswear Group.
Hope will be responsible for all creative, sales and marketing efforts for the Kahala brand. He has a long history with Kahala, having served as its owner, president and creative director from 1986 to 2001. Tori Richard purchased the Kahala brand in August.
Hope also is the author of the well-known book, "The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands." Most recently, he was creative director for Patagonia's aloha apparel division.
