Hoku CFO resigns
Honolulu-based Hoku Corp. said chief financial officer Darryl Nakamoto has resigned effective March 31.
Nakamoto had been the alternative energy company’s CFO since 2005. His key accomplishments were managing the company’s initial public offering in 2005 and helping bring in Chinese investors who took control of the struggling company in 2009.
"As we have moved from a startup to an emerging growth company, I feel that now is the right time for me to move on to my next challenge," Nakamoto said in a news release.
Online game developer’s stock falls in IPO
NEW YORK » As its workers celebrated with hot chocolate and cinnamon buns, Zynga saw its stock dinged on its first day of trading Friday — an unexpected turn for a closely watched public debut seen as a precursor to Facebook’s next year.
Zynga Inc., the online game developer behind "FarmVille," "Mafia Wars" and other popular time killers on Facebook, raised at least $1 billion in its initial public offering of stock, the largest for a U.S. Internet company since Google’s $1.4 billion IPO in 2004.
By Friday afternoon Zynga’s stock fell 50 cents, or 5 percent, to close at $9.50.
The stock was priced at $10 on Thursday, at the high end of its expected range. It traded as high as $11.50 on Friday before heading into a downward spiral on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Cellphone firms might get TV frequencies
NEW YORK » Call it the Great Channel Squeeze.
Congress is considering letting cellphone companies pay television stations to give up their frequencies so they can be put to better use for wireless broadband.
The idea is to squeeze over-the-air television, which has few viewers, into a smaller slice of the airwaves. The government would be the broker in the deal and would use some proceeds to fund tax cuts and unemployment benefits.
In years to come, one might see Channel 17 cease to broadcast and Channel 49 take its place, for instance. The empty slot at Channel 49 would then become available for a range of wireless services.
That could mean faster downloads for smartphones and tablet computers.
Blowout preventer’s maker will pay BP
NEW orleans »Cameron International, maker of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer that failed to stop last year’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has agreed to pay $250 million to BP under a legal settlement, BP said Friday.
BP said it was "in their mutual best interests, and the agreement is not an admission of liability by either party." The companies are dropping all claims against one another, they said.
The settlement comes in advance of a federal trial over the catastrophic oil spill.
The trial is slated to begin in February to determine fault in the April 20, 2010, explosion and subsequent spill off the Louisiana coast of more than 200 million gallons of oil.
Delta announces big LaGuardia expansion
NEW YORK » Delta Air Lines Inc. plans a massive flight expansion out of New York’s LaGuardia Airport, hoping to improve its competitive edge against its two biggest rivals in one of the nation’s most important air travel markets.
Delta said Friday that the additions make it the biggest airline between the New York area and other cities in the United States, as it adds routes that target American Airlines and put it in a better position to compete against United Continental.
That should help it grab more high-paying business travelers, a critical passenger segment in major cities like New York.
The list of added cities reads like a map of the hubs of competing airlines. Delta is adding Miami and Dallas, both American Airlines hubs. It will also fly to Houston and Denver, which are United hubs, and Charlotte, N.C., a hub for US Airways.
In all it will add more than 100 flights to 29 new destinations.
United Rentals to buy RSC for $1.9 billion
NEW YORK » United Rentals Inc. said Friday it has agreed to buy rival equipment rental company RSC Holdings Inc. for about $1.9 billion in cash and stock.
Shares of RSC surged 58 percent Friday while United Rentals rose more than 7 percent.
United Rentals, based in Greenwich, Conn., said the deal is expected to accelerate its growth with industrial customers, lower costs and provide a less volatile revenue stream.
It said it has already identified $200 million in potential cost savings.
On the Move
» Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa has appointed Katherine Gioia leisure sales manager. She has been in the sales and hospitality industry for six years and was a senior sales and public relations coordinator for the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua.
» Prudential Locations has hired two new agents:
— Summer Banner has extensive real estate experience with Valcore Realty Group.
— Shannon Kaneshiro was previously at Coldwell Banker and a teacher at a private elementary school.
» Swinerton Builders promoted John Ogoshi to vice president of preconstruction and estimating from chief estimator. He has 26 years of experience in the industry.
