Real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) expanded its valuation and advisory platform with the addition of a 10-person team from Beshears & Associates, a boutique valuation firm in Tampa. The new team will focus on a wide variety of property types, primarily in Florida and the southeast, a news release said. The team is led by David Beshears, who joins as executive director. Other team members are: Michael Green, Chris Larkin and John Sabatini, all senior directors; Rachel Weideman and Robert Tyson, both directors; Jordan Menke and Catherine Butler, who are associate directors; Jack Tait, an associate; and Rita Martino, administrative assistant.
Bridge, a Tampa technology company with an ecommerce beverage alcohol store, received $917,000 from Florida Funders, a venture capital fund and crowd-funding platform. The Florida Funders Impact Fund provided $500,000 in capital, and the rest came from the organization's accredited investor network, a news release said. Tom Wallace, managing partners of Florida Funders, said Bridge is the first company the fund has seen that brings critical consumer data to wholesalers, suppliers and retailers to offer them insights needed to better manage their products, inventory, and sales force. Just a few months after launch, Bridge, formerly known as Proof Network Ventures, is generating monthly recurring revenue, according to the news release.
Employees at companies that are members of Tampa Bay Tech will have an opportunity to serve as mentors to children in the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, through a new partnership with Think Big for Kids, a Tampa nonprofit founded by entrepreneur Tony DiBenedetto. The partnership, announced Nov. 8 at Tampa Bay Tech's poweredUP awards show, allows tech professionals to guide and enable kids to take part in educational, skills development and career planning, and to help them become employed after high school. The goal is to eliminate the cycle of poverty in the area. Think Big For Kids will also offer a matching program, up to $50,000, to all Tampa Bay Tech member companies who donate to their programs and initiatives. Tampa Bay Tech is one of the oldest and largest technology councils in the nation.
Barbara Karasek, CEO of Paradise Advertising, a full-service agency headquartered in downtown St. Petersburg, was honored as one of 30 executives to receive 2019 Cynopsis Digital "IT List" Award recognition. Karasek was honored for the development of Paradise Data Depot, an analytics platform launched in 2018. Other honorees of the Cynopsis Digital "IT List" include BET, Comedy Central, Digitas, Disney, Hulu, NASCAR, NBC, and Publicis, among others.
MarineMax expanded its financing facility to borrow up to $440 million from the previous limit of $400 million. The additional borrowing capacity reflects recent acquisitions and looks toward the future, Michael McLamb, chief financial officer, said in a news release. Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance is agent for the financing facility, which includes M&T Bank, Bank of the West and BB&T. MarineMax (NYSE: HZO), a Clearwater-based recreational boat and yacht retailer, said borrowings under the facility are secured primarily by inventory and the company's real estate is not pledged.
University of South Florida was the top winner of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities' 2019 Institutional Award for Global Learning, Research & Engagement. The award, presented during the APLU’s annual meeting in San Diego, distinguishes USF’s global leadership in international education, research and engagement, a news release said. The award focuses on four areas of excellence: inclusivity, internationalization of research and engagement, leadership and pervasiveness, and assessment.
BayCare Health System reported a 6.5 percent increase in operating revenue and a 0.4 percent increase in operating income through the first nine months of 2019, compared to the same period a year ago. The Clearwater-based nonprofit parent of 15 hospitals and other healthcare facilities reported total operating revenue of $3.272 billion and operating income of $252.2 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30. BayCare’s operating margin for the nine-month period was 7.7 percent, down 6.1 percent from a year earlier. Non-operating income, which includes investment income, jumped 178 percent to $500.65 million, and pushed the total surplus to $752.8 million for the nine-month period.
Olympus Property in Fort Worth, Texas has acquired Icon Harbour Island, a Class-AA luxury high rise in Tampa. Effective immediately, the asset will be renamed Olympus Harbour Island, a news release said. The purchase price was not disclosed. The transaction was brokered by Patrick Dufour of NKF Multifamily. Olympus also owns Canopy at Citrus Park in Tampa.
PAR Technology Corp. (NYSE:PAR) has a deal to buy AccSys LLC, a restaurant software company in Tampa. The company, better known as Restaurant Magic, developed Data Central, a suite of cloud backoffice applications to help restaurants achieve operational and financial goals. Par Technology, in New Hartford, New York, plans to pay $42 million for Restaurant Magic, financing the deal primarily through cash and equity, a news release said. "Our decision to become a part of PAR was based upon our belief that by combining our companies we will provide new and stronger opportunities to our clients and employees," said Drew Peloubet, CEO of Restaurant Magic, in the news release. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2019.
Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) completed its $75 million acquisition of Argus Holdings LLC and its subsidiary Argus Dental & Vision Inc., a Tampa-based benefits organization and national network dental and vision company. Aflac, a supplemental insurer based in Columbus, Georgia, also agreed to to pay an additional $21 million over three years, based on achieving performance targets, the company said in a regulatory filing. Argus will continue under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Dr. Nicholas Kavouklis, according to a news release. Tampa will serve as the home for the Aflac U.S. Network Dental and Vision platform. The deal is expected to provide opportunities for sales growth, improved account penetration and distribution productivity, Aflac said.
Audax Private Equity, in partnership with management, has sold AAMP Global to The Halifax Group. The purchase price was not disclosed in a news release announcing the deal. AAMP, headquartered in Clearwater, is a market leader in the automotive aftermarket consumer technology space. Under Audax ownership, AAMP completed nine add-on acquisitions and significantly increased revenue, the news release said. The Halifax Group is a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm that partners with managers and entrepreneurs to recapitalize and grow lower middle-market businesses with total enterprise values generally between $50 million and $300 million.
Two Tampa-St. Pete software firms, both focused on cybersecurity, are included in the new Deloitte 2019 Technology Fast 500. KnowBe4 in Clearwater ranked No. 55, with 2,337 percent revenue growth, while ReliaQuest in Tampa ranked No. 356 with 275 percent growth. Deloitte has been ranking the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America for 25 years. See the full report here.
