After seven hours of testimony that stretched into the evening Thursday, the lengthy and complex LeNature's bankruptcy case is coming to a close. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge M. Bruce McCullough in Pittsburgh now must decide whether to approve a plan to appoint a liquidating trustee or convert the controversial case to Chapter 7. He ended the hearing without saying when he would make a decision. The financial stakes are high. If McCullough approves a liquidation plan, a liquidating trustee can file lawsuits against Wachovia Bank, the accounting firms of BDO Seidman and Ernst & Young and the Pittsburgh law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates. If the lawsuits are successful, the firms could be required to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to LeNature's creditors.
Business ethics leader steps down
Jim Weber, director of Duquesne University's Beard Center for Leadership in Ethics, is stepping down July 1 from that post, which he has held since the center's founding in 1993. Weber plans to continue teaching full-time as professor of business ethics and management at the university's Palumbo-Donohue School of Business. He will be succeeded at the Beard Center by Virginia Gerde, an associate professor of management at the business school.
Ad agency trims name
Advertising agency Blattner Brunner is shortening its name to Brunner effective Monday, reflecting Michael Brunner's role as sole owner for the last 5 1/2 years. The Downtown agency's bbdigital marketing group will be renamed Brunner Digital. The agency said the changes allow for new, broadened ownership. Scott Morgan, Mary Kay Modaffari and Petra Arbutina will make partner, becoming Brunner's only other stakeholders besides Brunner. Co-founder Joe Blattner sold back his shares in 2003. Blattner Brunner's billings have grown from $76 million to $200 million in the past five years and its staff, from 73 to 200. Clients include several national accounts with billings over $20 million each. The agency has offices in Atlanta and Washington.
Clairton coke hearing
The Allegheny County Health Department will hold a public hearing concerning U.S. Steel's proposed new Clairton coke oven battery project on Thursday. The hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Clairton Municipal Building, 551 Ravensburg Blvd. Testimony must be scheduled in advance, by calling 412-578-8115 by 4 p.m. Wednesday. Speakers are requested to submit a written copy of their comments. Those unable to attend the hearing have until Thursday to mail or e-mail comments to the Allegheny County Health Department, Air Quality Program, 301 39th St., Pittsburgh 15201, or by e-mail .
Discounts on bundles
For the first time, Verizon Communications Inc. is set to give discounts to wireless customers who don't have landlines but order Internet or TV service from the phone company. In response to households dropping traditional service in favor of cell phones, Verizon will introduce a Flex Double Play bundle starting some time next week, giving discounts ranging from $8 to $12 a month for those who combine a Verizon Wireless plan with broadband or FiOS TV. Surveys point to about one in seven U.S. households without landlines.
Other business news
• FNB Capital Corp. of Ross said Friday it provided $5 million to finance the management buyout of Innovative Concepts in Entertainment Inc., in Clarence, N.Y. The suburban Buffalo company is a leading maker of coin-operated amusement games. FNB Capital is the merchant banking business of FNB Corp., the diversified bank corporation based in Mercer County.
• Treasury & Risk magazine named Alan R. Miciak, dean of the Palumbo Donohue School of Business at Duquesne University, one of its "100 most influential people in finance." The article notes the university's year-old master of business administration program in sustainability.
