Tesoro’s logistics IPO valued at $230M

SAN ANTONIO » Tesoro Corp. expects to generate $230 million through the sale of a stake in its logistics business, up from a previous estimate last month of $200 million.

The San Antonio oil refiner, which operates the largest refinery in Hawaii, filed an initial public offering for Tesoro Logistics on Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company announced its plan to sell a stake in the partnership on Dec. 13. The price range and the number of common units to be offered have not been set.

Tesoro Logistics is a limited partnership that owns, operates, develops and acquires assets involving oil and petroleum products. The partnership’s assets include an oil-gathering system in the Bakken Shale/Williston Basin area of North Dakota and Montana, eight fuel terminals, a storage facility and pipelines in Utah.

The units are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "TLLP."

IRS liens ‘torment’ ailing taxpayers

WASHINGTON » A government watchdog says the Internal Revenue Service is tormenting struggling taxpayers in the midst of a slumping economy by increasing the number of liens the agency has filed against people who owe back taxes.

The IRS filed nearly 1.1 million liens in the budget year that ended in September, a 14 percent jump over the previous year. Liens punish taxpayers and often hurt their ability to pay back taxes, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson said this week in her annual report to Congress.

"By filing a lien against a taxpayer with no money and no assets, the IRS often collects nothing, yet it inflicts long-term harm on the taxpayer by making it harder for him to get back on his feet when he does get a job," said Olson, an independent watchdog within the IRS. "Absent data that show liens make a meaningful contribution to revenue collection and especially in this economy, I find it unacceptable that the IRS continues to torment financially struggling taxpayers in this way."

The IRS responded that liens are not filed until taxpayers are given numerous opportunities to pay their tax bills or to sign up for payment plans. 

MasterCard buys Beijing arena name

NEW YORK » The 18,000-seat Wukesong Arena in Beijing, site of the 2008 Olympics, will be renamed the MasterCard Center, the Purchase, N.Y.-based payments company said yesterday. In Chinese the name will be Wanshida Zhongxin.

Financial terms were not disclosed. 

ON THE MOVE

The Hawaii Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America has elected the following officers for its 2011 board of directors: Moani Wright-Van Alst, president; Melissa Malahoff-Kamei, president-elect; Deborah Sharkey, secretary; Kristen Bonilla, treasurer; Nathan Kam, immediate past president; Duke Gonzales, assembly delegate and western district delegate; Nancy Daniels, director of outreach; Rebecca Pang, director of member services; Lee Britos, director of professional development; and Noreen Kam, director of communications. Other committee chairs are Franziska Roessy and Erica Yamauchi, membership co-chairs; Donda D. Spiker, accreditation chair; Thi Lam, young professionals group chairwoman; Amy Hennessey, education, University of Hawaii chairwoman; Nancy Daniels, education, Hawaii Pacific University chairwoman; Crystal Yamasaki and Jill Bona, professional development co-chairwomen; Huy Vo and Shauna Goya, Koa Anvil Awards co-chairs; and Nathan Kam, sponsorship chairman.