SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co. today formally announced they have signed a definitive transaction agreement to merge their U.S. and Puerto Rico operations, but the companies made no mention of Milwaukee in the announcement.
The closing of the transaction is subject to a federal antitrust review and other regulatory clearances. The companies said Miller's business and the Coors' business will continue to be conducted separately and "in the ordinary course" until the merger is completed.
SABMiller is the parent company of Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co. Molson Coors is based in Denver.
The companies have not announced whether their merged U.S. headquarters will be located in Denver or Milwaukee. For the record, the word "Milwaukee" does not appear anywhere in their announcement today. The dateline of the release reads, "London and Denver."
The definitive transaction agreement follows the original announcement of the joint venture on Oct. 9.
Graham Mackay, chief executive of London-based SABMiller, said, "Today's announcement is an important step forward towards completing the MillerCoors joint venture, a combination that will ultimately allow us to better meet the needs of distributors, retailers and consumers in the U.S. marketplace by providing greater choice, product availability and increased innovation."
Leo Kiely, chief executive of Molson Coors, said, "This combination of our two highly complementary U.S. businesses creates a stronger brewer and allows us to better compete. We look forward to closing the deal in mid-2008 and are cooperating fully with the regulatory clearance process."

The South 27th Street Business District has changed its name to the South 27th Street Business Preservation Association, as part of the group's fight against the state's plans to close the freeway ramp to the corridor for traffic coming north through the Mitchell Interchange.
Several business owners on 27th Street say that change would hurt their businesses by diverting traffic away from the corridor.
"This area is fragile," said Todd Reardon, chairman of the association and owner of the Braeger Automotive dealerships on 27th Street. "If you drive up and down (27th Street), you see pockets of success, but also closed businesses everywhere."
About 250 business owners and manager have signed a petition opposing the 27th Street ramp closure plan proposed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT).
Under the DOT's plans, which is part of the planned reconstruction and expansion of Interstate 94 from the state line to the Mitchell Interchange, southbound traffic coming from the downtown area and eastbound traffic coming from the west would still be able to exit at 27th Street, but northbound traffic from the southern part of the metro area and Illinois would not be able to. Northbound traffic would instead have to exit at Layton Avenue and go west on Layton to get to 27th Street.
“They want the customers to get off on Layton and travel through six stop lights to get to the same point," Reardon said. "We can't afford to lose one customer here. They're affecting thousands of customers."
The DOT has said it needs to make the ramp changes to improve safety and avoid demolishing homes.
"Someone at the DOT has to figure out a way to make these ramps work without homes being removed," Reardon said.
To view the DOT's I-94 plan, visit www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d2/i94/alt.htm.

Flexographic Packaging Co. (FPC), a Waupun-based printing company, announced today it has begun a $3 million expansion of its plant at 4 Taylor Street.
Company officials said the expansion is doubling the size of the plant to 27,000 square feet and is needed to accommodate the firm's continued growth.
The largest element of the project is a state-of-the-art, eight-color Windmoeller & Hoelscher Primaflex press.
"Our current press is capable of printing one 31-inch roll at 500 feet per minute,” said Erik Blankenberg, vice president of FPC. "The new press can print a 52-inch roll 1,000 feet per minute."
In addition, the new press eliminates or significantly reduces downtime for processes such as analox sleeves, printing sleeves, cleaning, changing and loading films.
The expansion should accommodate additional hiring at the plant, which currently has 14 employees.
FPC president and owner Dave Puente said, "Our customers are very important. We will seek their input regularly to determine how best to improve our business and maintain the highest standards of performance and quality."
The expansion was assisted in part by funds from the Fond du Lac County Revolving Loan program, administered by the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp. (FCEDC). FCEDC also provided technical assistance and existing business development services in the planning of the expansion.

Milwaukee-based Rexnord LLC announced today that its Zurn Industries LLC affiliate has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the stock of GA Industries Inc. (GAI) for $76 million in cash.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of 2008 and will expand Rexnord's strategic water management platform, which was created with the company's acquisition of Zurn Industries in February 2007.
Rexnord anticipates funding the acquisition within its existing credit facilities.
The acquisition further expands Zurn's presence in water and wastewater markets in municipal, hydropower, and industrial environments.
GAI, which includes the Rodney Hunt Co., manufactures automatic control valves, check valves, gate valves, and other engineered flow control products. GAI is based in Cranberry, Pa., and also has a facility in nearby Mars, Pa. Rodney Hunt Co. is located in Orange, Mass.
GAI and Rodney Hunt employ nearly 300 employees with annual sales of approximately $60 million.
Alex Marini, president and chief executive officer of Rexnord's Water Management Group, said, "The addition of GAI and the Rodney Hunt Company will greatly expand and enhance our water management portfolio and make Zurn Industries the preeminent provider of engineered water management solutions."
Mike Colton, CEO of GAI, said, "The merger provides our customers, distributors and employees with the additional strength and resources of Rexnord and Zurn. The newly combined product line greatly enhances the scope of products available to our customers"
Rexnord also is the parent company of Milwaukee-based Falk Corp., which was acquired in 2004 to $295 million.

Milwaukeeworld Publishing is creating an Internet buzz by providing Green Bay Packer and Carolina Panther fans a link to print out free cutout masks of Jessica Simpson.
The link, which was posted Thursday at www.milwaukeeworld.com, received thousands of visitors from fans throughout the country overnight, according to Craig Peterson, owner and founder of Milwaukeeworld Publishing.
Simpson is dating Dallas Cowboy quarterback and Burlington native Tony Romo. She attended the Cowboys' game against the Philadelphia Eagles last weekend. The Cowboys lost that game, and many Dallas fans blamed the loss on Romo being distracted by Simplson.
Dallas, which is tied with Green Bay for the best record in the National Football Conference, will next play the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte Saturday night.
"After Tony Romo's dismal display in Dallas' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last week, Terrell Owens seemingly blamed his quarterback's 22.2 passer rating on a particular blonde in the crowd. Now Milwaukeeworld Publishing is giving people the chance to be that blonde at the Cowboys next game against the Carolina Panthers this weekend," Peterson said.

Ken Hendricks, the Janesville native who rose from being a roofer's son to a roofing company billionaire, died this morning from injuries suffered in a fall at his Afton home Thursday night. Hendricks was the owner of ABC Supply in Beloit. He reportedly was checking on construction work above the garage of the home when he fell. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com.

The Small Business Times Nonprofit Spotlight shines this week upon Aviation Heritage Center of Sheboygan County. The organization's mission statement is "to foster knowledge and appreciation of the world of aviation." Learn how the business community can help this charity. For more information about charitable organizations throughout southeastern Wisconsin, visit the Small Business Times Online Nonprofit Directory.

The long-term financial viability of the Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee City governments is in real jeopardy, according to Anneliese Dickman, the research director of the Milwaukee Public Policy Forum and the author of today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The BizTimes Stock Index fell 2.09 points to close at 165.21 Thursday, but local stocks rallied with the broader market in early morning trading today. The largest local gainers this morning were Bucyrus International Inc. (up $3.80 to $101.00) and Rockwell Automation In c. (up $1.34 to $71.46). The largest local decliners this morning were MGIC Investment Corp. (down 77 cents to $22.44) and Koss Corp. (down 49 cents to $17.51). The BizTimes Stock Index was created by Small Business Times and is monitored by North Shore Bank. The index, which measures the stock values of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, is updated daily and can be viewed at www.biztimes.com.

Doyle Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle today signed the "cable competition bill," which opens the door for AT&T Inc. and other entities to bypass having to negotiate contracts with local communities when they seek to provide video content that will compete with cable television.

Instead, the bill grants statewide licenses to video content providers.

Assembly bill 207 law streamlines the cable franchise process by creating a statewide video service franchise process through the Department of Financial Institutions. The statewide franchise will replace the current process where individual municipalities grant cable franchises in Wisconsin. Existing municipal cable franchises will be phased out.

Doyle said he preserved protections for cable customers through several vetoes.

"By opening the door to cable competition in Wisconsin, we should see expanded services to consumers and more investments in communications technologies and infrastructure in the state," Doyle said. "And while we are opening the door to competition, people can also be assured that Wisconsin's strong consumer protection laws will continue to cover them when it comes to issues like billing errors and service interruptions."

Doyle said he vetoed language from the bill that limited consumer protections and prohibited state agencies from drafting administrative rules regarding the new franchise application and revocation process.
Under the new law, video service providers will still pay a fee to municipalities set at no more than 5 percent of the company's gross receipts and public, educational and government (PEG) channels will continue to broadcast, Doyle said.

The new law clears the way for AT&T to launch its U-Verse video programming statewide.

The bill, which presumably ends a public relations flap between AT&T and cable providers such as Time Warner Cable, had plenty of critics, who said municipalities will lose control of local programming. Critics also said providers such as AT&T will be able to pick and chose the areas they serve, and they will be inclined to ignore rural areas or impoverished neighborhoods.

Mark Miller (D-Monona) said, "I would have preferred a veto of the entire bill, but I am pleased Gov. Doyle vetoed the worst parts of the bill, particularly the 'in perpetuity' language that would have granted a video franchise forever. The governor's vetoes improve consumer protection and provide for more industry accountability. I remain very concerned about the continued viability of local public access programming. However, the vetoes provide a window of opportunity to address these issues in the next legislative session."

Scott VanderSanden, president of AT&T, released the following statement: “Gov. Jim Doyle's signing of AB-207 launches a new era of video choice in Wisconsin, bringing the important benefits of competition to consumers and workers. Real video competition provides consumers with real choices, better prices, improved service and new products - as demonstrated by competition for other telecom services. In addition to creating a new, state process for video franchising, the final bill improves consumer protections, formalizes revenue sharing arrangements with local governments, retains municipal control over rights-of-way and preserves PEG channels. The bill, first introduced by 43 co-sponsors, received strong bipartisan support along the way, with the combined Assembly and Senate voting, 91-39, and the two utilities committees voting, 16-1, in favor. Numerous community groups, businesses organizations and labor unions supported the bill, including the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The people of Wisconsin have shown solid support for the bill because they support competition and the benefits it will bring to residents, workers and businesses."

For ongoing coverage, visit www.wispolitics.com, a media partner of Small Business Times.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker announced today the closing of the sale of the first parcel of county-owned land in the former Park East Freeway corridor to RSC Development.

The parcel is located between Jefferson, Milwaukee, Lyon and Ogden streets on the west end of the corridor, which is located on north end of downtown Milwaukee.

The 2.1-acre site sold for $2,725.000.

Chicago-based RSC plans to build a Hyatt Place Hotel, Hyatt Summerfield Suites, retail opportunities and 100 luxury apartments and five town homes at the site, which is being marketed as Park East Square.

Richard Curto, president of RSC Development, said, "This is a great opportunity for us, and we are excited in continuing down this road with Milwaukee County and look forward to working with them on block 2 and other projects in Milwaukee County."

"This is a great step toward reclaiming the Park East Freeway corridor for growth and opportunity. We look forward to working with Rich Curto and RSC Development on this area," Walker said. "This development will add $65 million to the property tax base of Milwaukee County and will provide a significant number of jobs for area residents."

Thomas Nardelli, who is Walker's chief of staff, told SBT that the county has three more parcels in the Park East under contract and hopes to negotiate those sales soon.