California company acquires Abri Health Plan; Corona sells Eddie Z’s in Brookfield; J.B. Kenehan acquires Conley Printing; La Macchia acquires interest in Florida firm; Regal Beloit acquires Dutch company
California company acquires Abri Health Plan
Molina Healthcare Inc. of Long Beach, Calif. recently closed on its acquisition of West Alliis-based Abri Health Plan, a Medicaid managed care organization.
"We are pleased to welcome Abri Health Plan members into the Molina family," said J. Mario Molina, M.D., Molina Healthcare’s president and chief executive officer. "The combination of Abri Health Plan and Molina Healthcare will strengthen the BadgerCare Plus service offering and provide Wisconsin families and individuals participating in the program with a compelling option for accessing quality health care services."
The purchase price for the acquisition is approximately $16 million, subject to adjustments. Abri Health Plan serves approximately 18,000 Medicaid members.
Molina provides Medicaid-related solutions to meet the health care needs of low-income families and individuals and to assist state agencies in their administration of the Medicaid program.
Abri Health Plan provides health care services for BadgerCare Plus and Medicaid SSI members in 23 counties in Wisconsin. Abri Health Plan was a 2009 Future 50 Master Mettle company
Molina Healthcare Inc.’s acquisition of Abri Health Plan is expected to result in an additional 40 to 50 jobs for the Milwaukee area community.
“Prior to the acquisition, (Abri) just signed a new ten year lease at our building on 102nd St., in West Allis,” said Ron Scasny, president of Abri Health Plan. “We plan to add an additional 40 to 50 employees at our location, bringing us close to 100 employees in West Allis.”
According to Scasny, Abri will add additional executive level and middle management positions in addition to customer service representatives and administrative assistants. Abri is actively recruiting and hiring for those positions now, Scasny said.
“We’re really busy recruiting now so they are on staff for the enrollment period,” Scasny said. “It’s a long and difficult process, there are a lot of good people out of work right now. We’re excited for the changes, some of these positions are new to Abri, and work that we usually outsourced out. The acquisition has allowed us to bring some of those jobs in house.”
None of the current Abri employees are at risk of losing their job due to the acquisition, Scasny said.
Corona sells Eddie Z’s in Brookfield
Anthony Corona, owner of Eddie Z’s Blinds and Drapery at 14640 W. Capitol Dr. in Brookfield, has sold the company back to Eddie Z’s Inc. of Chicago.
“They were my business partners,” Corona said. “It was just time for me to move on.”
Corona has owned the Eddie Z’s Brookfield location for the past 15 years. Eddie Z’s has eight locations in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Eddie Z’s Inc. now owns and operates the Brookfield location as well as the location in Madison, Corona said.
Corona and his wife, Missi, own and operate Halloween Express stores in the Chicago area, but Corona said he has not yet decided about his next business venture.
J.B. Kenehan acquires Conley Printing
Waukesha-based J.B. Kenehan LLC has acquired Beaver Dam-based Conley Printing Company.
The name of the Conley Printing operations will be changed to J.B. Kenehan, but no other significant changes are planned, said John Schueller, chief financial officer for J.B. Kenehan.
No immediate employment changes are planned at Conley, Schueller.said. “We do plan to grow the business,” he said.
Existing Conley Printing customers will continue to have their materials printed, bound and mailed from the 172,000-square-foot Beaver Dam facility, J.B. Kenehan president Tom Majdoch said in a letter to Conley customers and in a news release.
BizTimes Milwaukee magazine is printed by Conley Printing.
“For the past six years, Conley Printing and J.B. Kenehan have been working together utilizing each others’ manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise,” Majdoch said. “That close working relationship allowed us to identify several benefits of bringing the two companies together. This acquisition enhances core competencies of both facilities. The combination of the two companies allows for further growth in the industry and provides an impressive variety of services as well as a vast pool of talent and expertise in printing.”
J.B. Kenehan has an 80,000-square-foot facility in Waukesha.
Schueller declined to disclose financial terms of the acquisition.
La Macchia acquires interest in Florida firm
La Macchia Enterprises, the Milwaukee-based parent company of The Mark Travel Corp., has become a strategic investor in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Next One Interactive Inc.
Under the terms of the agreement, William La Macchia, chairman and founder of La Macchia Enterprises, will join the NXOI board of directors and assume a leadership role in the company’s direction within the travel arena. The partnership also includes access to La Macchia Enterprises’ significant industry reach, travel booking solutions and advertising opportunities with key suppliers.
La Macchia has invested in NXOI by way of a private placement. Additionally, The Mark Travel Corp. has made a line of credit available to NXOI, which will be convertible into common stock at $1 per share over the next three years.
"The strategic investment and partnership with La Macchia Enterprises is a perfect fit for Next One Interactive, because Mark Travel offerings will be integrated across NXOI media and drive incremental revenues. Our flagship property, R&R TV, is a full-time television network supported by ‘video on demand’ and enhanced TV applications including broadband and web, focused on vacation travel, real estate and resort ownership with a reach of over 40 million households," said Bill Kerby, CEO and vice chairman of Next One Interactive Inc.
Regal Beloit acquires Dutch company
Beloit-based Regal Beloit Corp. has acquired Rotor B.V., which is headquartered in Eibergen, the Netherlands.
Rotor sells standard and special electric motors to a variety of industries including the marine industry, ship building and offshore oil and gas. In addition to the Netherlands, Rotor also sells throughout Europe and Japan. The management of Rotor will continue to lead the company following the acquisition.
For the remainder of 2010, the business is expected to add approximately $10 million to sales for Regal Beloit.
Henry Knueppel, chairman and chief executive officer of Regal Beloit, said, "We are very excited to announce the acquisition of Rotor. The company has an outstanding management team that has grown the business in Europe and beyond. The addition of Rotor strengthens our European commercial position and adds vertical market segment strengths. The Rotor addition represents continued progress on our strategy of geographic and market segment diversification."
Herbert Weekhout and Mario Pistone, managing directors and owners of Rotor stated, "We are excited to join Regal Beloit and are confident that, following this acquisition, we will become an even stronger company, benefiting our customers and stakeholders."
