By The Huffington Post News Editors
By Alessandro Speciale
Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Friday (March 29) dismissed criticism of Pope Francis‘ decision to wash the feet of two women during a Maundy Thursday Mass at a Rome youth prison.
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More on Pope Francis
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Vanguard Health Systems Receives Arizona Medicaid Agency Contract Award Notification
NASHVILLE, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Vanguard Health Systems, Inc. (NYS: VHS) (the “Company”) today announced that its Phoenix, Arizona health plan subsidiary, VHS Phoenix Health Plan, LLC (“PHP“), received a letter from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (“AHCCCS“) on Friday March 22, 2013, informing PHP that it was not awarded an acute care program contract for the program year commencing October 1, 2013. Under its current contract with AHCCCS, which expires on September 30, 2013, PHP covers members in nine Arizona counties: Apache, Coconino, Gila, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal and Yavapai. PHP has served Arizona residents since 1983.
Pursuant to the terms of AHCCCS‘s request for proposal, pursuant to which PHP submitted its bid (the “RFP“), PHP, as an unsuccessful incumbent acute care contractor in Maricopa and Pima counties, filed a formal request on March 23, 2013, to receive a capped contract in those two counties. If AHCCCS exercises its discretion to grant PHP‘s request with respect to either or both of those counties, PHP would continue to provide services to its existing members in those counties under the terms and conditions of the RFP, but would not receive any new members as long as enrollment remains capped. PHP anticipates a response to its formal request by March 31, 2013.
PHP also has the right to protest AHCCCS‘s decision. PHP is evaluating the scoring of its bid as well as other relevant information to determine whether to file a protest. AHCCCS scored all bids submitted under the RFP based on four weighted criteria: capitation (33%); program (33%); access of care/network (17%); and organization (17%). If it chooses to do so, PHP must file its protest no later than April 1, 2013.
PHP represented approximately 80% of the segment revenues, and substantially all of the segment EBITDA and income from continuing operations before income taxes associated with the Health Plans segment as reported in the Company’s Form 10-Q for the six months ended December 31, 2012. As of December 31, 2012, PHP‘s membership was 186,200, which represented 79% of the Company’s total health plan membership. Approximately 116,200 of the PHP members resided in Maricopa and Pima counties as of December 31, 2012. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had goodwill and net intangible assets of approximately $85 million related to PHP on its balance sheet.
“After serving the residents of Arizona for nearly 30 years under the AHCCCS program, we were both surprised …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. Announces Completion of Acquisition of First Associations Bank
IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. (NAS: PPBI) (“Pacific Premier” or the “Company”) today announced that, on Friday March 15, 2013, it completed the acquisition of First Associations Bank (“FAB“), a Dallas, Texas-based state chartered bank exclusively focused on serving homeowners associations (“HOAs”) and HOA management companies nationwide. The acquisition of FAB is expected to add approximately $375.7 million in assets and approximately $319.8 million in deposits.
Effective immediately, FAB will operate as a division of Pacific Premier Bank. John Carona, FAB‘s largest shareholder and director, has been added as a director on the Boards of Directors of the Company and Pacific Premier Bank.
Under the terms of the definitive agreement, FAB shareholders, in exchange for their shares of FAB common stock, will be entitled to receive an aggregate of $37.2 million in cash and 1,279,217 shares of Pacific Premier common stock. The value of the total deal consideration was approximately $56.7 million, which includes $16.0 million of stock consideration (based on the closing stock price of Pacific Premier common stock on March 15, 2013), $37.2 million of cash consideration and $3.5 million of cash consideration to the holders of FAB stock options and warrants.
“We are very pleased to complete our acquisition of FAB and welcome its national roster of HOA-related clients to Pacific Premier,” said Steven R. Gardner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Premier Bancorp. “We have been actively preparing for the integration of FAB into our operations over the past several months, including solidifying relationships with its largest customers, identifying additional banking talent that can further build our HOA-related business, and repositioning our balance sheet to take advantage of the liquidity and low-cost deposit base provided by FAB. As a result of the upfront planning we have done, we believe we are well positioned to quickly realize the synergies projected from this transaction and also continue growing our share of the national market for HOA banking services in the coming years.”
On a pro forma combined basis with the FAB acquisition and the proposed acquisition of San Diego Trust Bank, Pacific Premier is expected to have total assets of $1.7 billion.
Advisors
Pacific Premier was advised in this transaction by …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Marco Della Cava
USA Today
ROME (RNS) An animated and impassioned Pope Francis addressed the entire College of Cardinals in an ornate Vatican hall Friday (March 15), looking very much like the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics but sounding like a local priest addressing his flock.
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More on Pope Francis
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
NTS, Inc. Sets Date for Fourth Quarter 2012 Conference Call
LUBBOCK, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)– NTS, Inc. (NYSE MKT and TASE: NTS), a diversified communications services provider, announced that it will host a conference call on Friday March 22, 2013 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, to discuss its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2012, as well as recent developments.
NTS invites all interested parties to join management’s discussion of the Company’s financials, corporate progression and other meaningful developments. The conference call may be accessed in the U.S. and Canada by dialing toll-free 1-877-407-8035. International callers may access the call by dialing 1-201-689-8035. A webcast slide presentation will also be available.
To access the live webcast, log onto the NTS website at http://www.ntscom.com. The webcast can also be accessed at http://www.InvestorCalendar.com. An online replay will be available shortly after the call.
A replay of the teleconference will be available for 30 days after the call and may be accessed domestically by dialing 1-877-660-6853 and international callers may dial 1-201-612-7415. Callers must enter conference number 410913.
About NTS, Inc.
NTS is a provider of high speed broadband services, including internet access, digital cable TV programming and local and long distance telephone service to residential and business customers in northern Texas and southeastern Louisiana. NTS‘ Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) network provides one of the fastest internet connections available. The Company currently has operations in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana and also serves customers in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. For the Company’s website, please visit: www.ntscom.com.
NTS, Inc.
Niv Krikov
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: (806) 771-1181
E-mail: niv@ntscominc.com
or
IR
John Nesbett/Jennifer Belodeau
Institutional Marketing Services (IMS)
Tel: (203) 972-9200
E-mail: jnesbett@institutionalms.com
KEYWORDS: United States North America Louisiana Texas
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:
The article NTS, Inc. Sets Date for Fourth Quarter 2012 Conference Call originally appeared on Fool.com.
Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Elan Provides Update on Tysabri Transaction and $1bn Share Repurchase
DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Elan Corporation, plc (NYS: ELN) (the Company) today provides an update on the Tysabri Restructuring Transaction (“the Tysabri Transaction“) announced on February 6, 2013 and further information regarding the Company’s recently announced proposed $1billion share repurchase program.
Tysabri Transaction Update
The regulatory closing conditions in connection with the Tysabri Transaction are the review process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (“HSR“) in the United States and the review by the Spanish Competition Authority in Europe.
The waiting period for the US antitrust review under HSR expires today, Friday March 8, 2013. This follows the clearance earlier this week of the Tysabri Transaction by the Spanish Competition Authority. Consequently, in accordance with the terms of the Tysabri Transaction agreement with Biogen Idec, closing is expected to occur in the coming weeks.
$1billion Share Repurchase Program
Elan is also providing details of its proposed $1.0 billion share repurchase program (“Share Repurchase“) to be implemented following the close of the Tysabri Transaction.
The Share Repurchase is in addition to the unique Tysabri linked cash dividend announced on March 4, 2013, and will be effected through a tender offer, to be commenced on Monday next, March 11, 2013, by way of a “Dutch Auction”. The price range will be $11.25 to $13.00. In the event that the Share Repurchase is over-subscribed, the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
American Spectrum Realty Announces Successful Completion of a New Loan Refinance for Windrose Shopping Center
HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– American Spectrum Realty, Inc. (NYSE MKT:AQQ), a real estate investment, management and leasing company headquartered in Houston, Texas, announced today that it has successfully negotiated a new loan for Windrose Shopping Center located at 20423 Kuykendahl Road in Houston, TX.
American Spectrum Realty Advisors, LLC (“ASRA”) secured a new fixed rate for the loan of $3,500,000, which was approximately 70 percent of the appraised value. The original loan of $2,450,000 was set to mature in April of 2013. The excess funds were used for tenant improvement projects, leasing costs, and working capital. The shopping center is currently 100% leased with 75% leased to medical related tenants for five to ten year terms with escalating base rental rates on a triple net basis. Windrose was acquired in 2007 from Atari for approximately $3.8 million.
Aggressive marketing initiatives and creative leasing strategies resulted in significantly increased occupancy, revenue growth, and NOI. These combined efforts increased the appraised value of the property significantly allowing American Spectrum to successfully negotiate a new loan on more favorable terms. The transaction closed on Friday March 1, 2013.
American Spectrum offers a turn-key approach to asset management that is committed to maximizing financial performance. Our vast experience and market insight provides a strategic, proactive, long term solution to investment challenges. American Spectrum provides creative solutions that outperform the market and grow the value of each asset under its management.
About American Spectrum
American Spectrum Realty, Inc. is a real estate investment company that owns interest in office, industrial, self-storage, retail, student-housing, and multi-family properties throughout the United States. The company has been publicly traded since 2001.
American Spectrum Management Group, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company that manages and leases all properties owned by American Spectrum Realty, Inc. as well as third-party clients. ASMG provides first-class management and leasing services for office, industrial, retail, self-storage, student housing, and multi-family properties, totaling over 11 million square feet in multiple states. For more information on what ASMG can do for your properties, visit www.asrmanagement.com or call 888-315-2776.
Certain matters discussed in this release are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Eleven fantastic teams have already announced their intention to participate in the The Ubuntu Global Jam (Raring Ringtail edition)!
Don’t see an event near your? You can help fix that!
The Ubuntu Global Jam is happening Friday March 1, Saturday March 2, and Sunday March 3, 2013.
Please add your event to the LoCo Team Portal http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/global/2221/detail/ so the world can start seeing all the amazing things that you’re doing for Ubuntu.
More information is here:
http://randall.executiv.es/raring-global-jam
Thanks in advance for participating in the Ubuntu Global Jam!
The Ubuntu Global Jam (Raring Ringtail edition) is coming! This event is an incredible opportunity for the Ubuntu community to unite together to improve Ubuntu.
Everyone is able to contribute to the Jam, and everyone is welcome and encouraged to get involved. Are you curious about how to make a real difference to Ubuntu? This is a great chance to make that difference.
I would like to encourage you to register an event for your team for the upcoming Ubuntu Global Jam occurring on these dates:
This part is important! Please add your event to the LoCo Team Portal http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/global/2221/detail/ so the world can start seeing all the amazing things that you’re doing for Ubuntu.
Good documentation about how to create a successful Global Jam event is here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGlobalJam
A short video explaining the most basic steps is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITk8PGBkMXQ
Gathering Ubuntu people together is always fun and I’m sure you are going to have a great time with your team! Thanks in advance for participating in this cycle’s Global Jam event. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.
