The Tampa-St. Petersburg area has one fewer publicly traded company. Culligan completed its purchase of AquaVenture Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: WAAS) in Tampa on Monday. Culligan, a privately held Chicago company with water filtration and treatment products, paid $27.10 share for each share of AquaVenture stock. The deal was valued at $1.1 billion when it was announced in December. AquaVenture had water-as-a-service solutions and two operating segments. Culligan retained AquaVenture's Quench, a provider of bottle-free, filtered drinking water systems and services. Culligan divested another operating segment, Seven Seas Water, to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. Seven Seas provides desalination, wastewater treatment and water reuse solutions to governmental, industrial, property developer and hospitality customers.
The city of St. Petersburg will resume curbside recycling on Tuesday. The city suspended the service on March 23 due to a mechanical issue at the vendor's recycling facility, but the suspension will be lifted on March 31, the city announced on Twitter.
Great news! Suspension of citywide recycling collection service due to the mechanical issue at the vendor's recycling facility has ENDED. Regularly scheduled recycling collection service will resume on Tuesday, March 31. 👉Find your collection day at https://t.co/XXS4sS7nhQ pic.twitter.com/ZmMqvBLIti
— St. Petersburg, FL (@StPeteFL) March 30, 2020
Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) said majority of the workers in its stores will go on furlough beginning this week. The COVID-19 outbreak continues to take a heavy toll on the company's business, it said in a news release Monday. All of Macy's stores have been closed since March 18, with no date to reopen yet determined, and "while the digital business remains open, we have lost the majority of our sales due to the store closures," the company said. Macy’s said it will move to the absolute minimum workforce needed to maintain basic operations in its stores, with fewer fewer furloughs in its digital business, supporting distribution centers and call centers. At least through May, furloughed workers who are enrolled in health benefits will continue to receive coverage with the company covering 100 percent of the premium. Locally, Macy's has stores in Tyrone Square in St. Petersburg, Westfield Countryside in Clearwater, Westshore Plaza in Tampa, Westfield Citrus Park and Westfield Brandon. It also has a call center in Clearwater.
Rep. Charlie Crist released a statement Monday, following reports that companies that had received federal assistance through the CARES Act, like United Airlines, were planning to layoff or furlough employees anyway. The CARES Act, which would provide $50 billion to the airline industry and trillions more to employers and employees throughout the country, requires that bailed-out companies not involuntarily furlough employees through Sept. 30, 2020. “The American people expect that companies accepting taxpayer assistance are not putting those same Americans out of work,” Rep. Crist said. “The loans, grants, and appropriations included in the CARES Act are specifically intended to help employers make payroll, keep their businesses afloat, and keep their employees working. Companies and organizations availing themselves of this assistance should follow Congressional intent. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I take seriously our oversight responsibility and would welcome any bailed-out executive to testify about why they would accept taxpayer dollars and then put Americans out of work.”
Publix Super Markets Inc. said it will offer rent relief to businesses operating in shopping centers that it owns that have closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Publix said it would waive rent for two months, as well as waive payments for common area maintenance fees and taxes, regardless of the tenant’s access to other relief or assistance.“As a company that started as a small business 90 years ago, Publix wants to help businesses renting from us survive the economic impact of these unexpected closures,” Maria Brous, director of communications for Publix, said in a news release. While the majority of the company's 1,239 supermarkets are leased, Publix owns both the building and land at 351 locations, the company said in its most recent annual report.
There are now four deaths in Pinellas County due to Covid-19 coronavirus, according to an 11 a.m. Saturday update from the Florida Department of Health. That's up from one death reported earlier this week. There are a total of 94 cases in Pinellas, with 33 hospitalizations, the health department reported. Statewide, there are 3,763 confirmed cases and 54 deaths.
Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJF) is issuing $500 million in senior notes, with proceeds of the offering to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. Moody's Investors Service has assigned an investment-grade Baa1 rating to the notes, saying the rating reflects the strength and stability of the company. Financial flexibility is important since the coronavirus pandemic is causing profound economic, societal, operational and other shocks, Moody's said. "The economic and market impact will lead to some deterioration in Raymond James's profitability and debt service metrics over the near term, but Raymond James's diversified revenue streams, flexible cost structure, and low level of debt will allow the firm to quickly recover its pre-tax margin, leverage and coverage," Moody's said. The notes will have an annual interest rate of 4.65 percent and will mature on April 1, 2030, St. Petersburg-based Raymond James said in a news release. The offering is expected to close March 31.
Rep. Charlie Crist will host a virtual town hall Monday Mar. 30 at 6:45pm to share information related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Crist, who will be joined by Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Nikki Fried, will connect with constituents via phone to share information and answer questions. Fried will provide an update on her department's work, keeping agriculture moving in the state and making sure Florida students and families are fed during the pandemic. This event will be live-streamed at Rep. Charlie Crist's website.
An order by the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners Thursday closed all playgrounds and public exercise/fitness zones.
Philadelphia investment firm The Arden Group has bought the Bay Tec Center near Carillon Office Park. Arden Group, a Philadelphia-based investment firm, paid nearly $13.9 million in a deal that closed March 10, according to a deed filed in Pinellas County. Bay Tec Center is a 124,327 square foot, multi-tenant flex industrial park in the Gateway/Mid-Pinellas industrial submarket, according to the seller, Avistone, a commercial real estate developer in Laguna Niguel, California. Built in the early 1980s, the property consists of eight light industrial buildings on 11.7 acres of land. The Arden Group’s portfolio also includes The Westshore Grand in Tampa. No one at Arden Group could be reached for comment. Avistone did not return a request for comment.
Small and mid-size cities and counties will not get any direct aid under the $2.2 trillion relief bill approved by the U.S. Senate. That includes the city of St. Petersburg, said Mayor Rick Kriseman. "“I’m on the front lines trying to make difficult decisions and these resources are not going to get through to me and cities like [St. Petersburg]," Kriseman told Politico. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has written a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging the House to lower the population cut-off when the House takes up the measure, likely on Friday.
“I’m the fifth-largest city in Florida and I don’t qualify,” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman told POLITICO. “I’m on the front lines trying to make difficult decisions and these resources are not going to get through to (St. Pete)” https://t.co/oUSWugsrMu
— Rick Kriseman (@Kriseman) March 26, 2020
The Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group unanimously approved a Safer at Home order, designed to control the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus. The order, approved Thursday afternoon, will take effect at 10 p.m. Friday. The final measure has two key changes to one discussed on Wednesday — it was changed from a directive to an order, which law enforcement officials said would make it easier to enforce, and the word “curfew” was removed, so the order is in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hillsborough residents are asked to stay home unless they need to go out for essentials. The Hillsborough County measure came a day after Pinellas County issued its own Safer at Home order.
A Safer At Home order has been issued for @HillsboroughFL starting 10pm tomorrow (3/27). Under this order, residents should only leave home for necessary activities (going to the grocery store, doctor, exercise, etc) or to provide essential services. Info: https://t.co/tlECFAw4cu pic.twitter.com/kKXVpshtTZ
— City of Tampa (@CityofTampa) March 26, 2020
