Top 10 Business Notebook Briefs Of 2010

Patch's Business Notebook chronicles Hauppauge's business news on mergers, acquisitions, contracts and other news out of the industrial park and local businesses. Looking over the past few months, here are the Top 10 pieces of business news for 2010.

1. Globecomm wins African contract

Systems said in November it landed a contract to provide wireless services in Sierra Leone.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Under the contract, Hauppauge-based Globecomm will provide switching facilities to wireless operators in Sierra Leone that will connect its radio networks to Globecomm's switch controller in New York.

The local satellite-based network provider said the move will help wireless carriers in Sierra Leone efficiently introduce wireless technologies.

2. Cantel Acquires Gambro's U.S. Rights

On Cantel Medical Corp. said in late October its water-purification subsidiary acquired the U.S. rights to manufacture medical technology company Gambro's water-treatment products for use in dialysis.

Hauppauge-based Cantel Medical's Mar Cor Purification subsidiary said total consideration of all assets and liabilities for the transaction was $23.75 million and the licensed business had $14 million in sales before the acquisition.

Mar Cor will immediately begin sales of all Gambro products in the United States, which will increase revenue in its water-purification and filtration division to almost $100 million, Cantel President Andrew Krakauer said  in a statement.

Mar Cor will take over service to Gambro's 1,200 U.S. clinic and hospital clients and will offer employment to all of Gambro's U.S. employees in the water business.

Mar Cor offers filtration, water and disinfection technologies and equipment to medical and industrial companies. With the Gambro acquisition, the Cantel subsidiary now has service offices in 20 cities in the United States and Canada.

3.Globecomm lands $18 million contract

Hauppauge-based Globecomm Systems said in late October it received a new $18 million contract from broadband satellite network provider Hughes Network Systems.

The agreement calls for Globecomm to design, test and install systems that will allow Hughes to offer high-speed communications over its new satellite system slated for 2012.

The contract includes $6 million worth of additional options that can be exercised over five years, which would bring the total contract value to $24 million.

Globecomm Chief Executive David Hershberg said in a statement the contract is particularly important because it lifts the local company's infrastructure division, which has been hampered by the recession.

4. SMSC acquires California chip maker

Hauppauge-based semiconductor company SMSC announced in November it acquired California-based USB chip supplier Symwave.

SMSC had already owned 14 percent of the West Coast company, thanks to a previous $5.2 million investment in 2009. The local company said it also recently injected $3.1 million worth of bridge capital into Symwave.

As part of the merger, SMSC will pay an undisclosed amount to Symwave shareholders pending achievement of certain financial goals in fiscal 2011.

5. VHB acquires White Plains company

has acquired a White Plains planning and development company, expanding its New York practice there for the first time.

The New York division of Massachusetts-based Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, which has a Hauppauge office, acquired Saccardi & Schiff and said in a statement it plans more New York expansion in the future.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. VHB  has an office in Albany in addition to its local branch.

6.United-Guardian declares stockholder's dividends for 2010

Hauppauge-based health care product manufacturer said in December its board of directors announced a 33 cent per share cash dividend to be paid to all stockholders. It will be paid on Dec. 27.

This increases the $0.63 per share the dividends declares by the company. Hence, creating a record dividend for United-Guardian as it's a 5 percent increase over last year.  It's the 15th consecutive year the company has paid a year-end dividend.

7.Vicon reports its Fourth Quarter and 2010 Fiscal Year results

, a Hauppauge-based designer and producers of video and surveillance systems, announced in early December its fourth quarter sales were down with an overall net loss in the 2010 fiscal year. 

In the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010 ending Sept. 30, Vicon said its sales were $13.1 million, down 14 percent compared to $15.3 million in the same fiscal quarter of last year. The company's net income was down at $120,00, equaling 3 center per diluted share compared to 14 cents last year.

For the 2010 fiscal year, the company's overall sales total $487 million, a 19 percent decrease from the $60.4 million in the prior fiscal year. Vicon's  net loss was $1.25 million, or 28 cents a share, when compared to 2009.

8. Audiovox Profit Plummets on Year-Ago Gain

Hauppauge-based . said in October fiscal second-quarter profits sank almost 80 percent on a tax gain in the year-ago quarter and continued having weak consumer sales.

The consumer electronics maker posted a profit of $645,000 for the three-month period that ended Aug. 31, compared to  a profit of $2.8 million in  last year's fiscal second quarter.

Audiovox posted an income tax gain of $1.6 million in the year-ago period while it paid $389,000 in income taxes this year. Income before taxes was down 16.7 percent over the year period.

9. CU Xpress Opens Sunnier Digs

Local company , which provides technology to credit unions so they establish and run an auto leasing program, opened an office in Los Angeles in Septembert, hoping to expand its footprint into California,Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona.

CU was established in 2006 in a joint venture with Hauppauge-based GrooveCar and Fusion Auto Finance, which both link auto dealers with lenders.

CU Xpress and Fusion in June opened a lease return-retail center in Hauppauge, a 45,000-square-foot facility that accepts lease return as well as offers them for sale to members of participating credit unions.

10. GlobeComm Strikes $2.5M Contract

Satellite communications company GlobeComm in Hauppauge said its subsidiary received a $2.5 million multi-year contract from a major U.S. Government prime contractor to provide voice, video and date services through it satellites. This is part of a four-year contract signed in January 2008.