Merrill Lynch consolidation to close two offices downtown
The retirement-client service centers, part of Merrill Lynch's New Jersey-based retirement-asset management business, are being combined with larger service centers in other states to cut overhead costs, said Erik Hendrickson, a company spokesman in New York. There will be no change in service for clients, he said.
The cuts aren't related to Merrill Lynch's retail business, which has 12 offices in Washington state, Hendrickson said.
The cuts are effective April 30, according to the state Employment Security Department. Hendrickson said many of the jobs will be relocated.
L.L. Bean decides to pass on purchase of Eddie Bauer
PORTLAND, Maine — After sniffing around the Eddie Bauer brand for nearly a year, L.L. Bean has decided it doesn't want to buy the national clothing chain.
"We've decided that an acquisition of this size, and this one in particular, is not in L.L. Bean's best interests," President Chris McCormick said Friday in a memo to employees.
Freeport-based L.L. Bean had been eyeing the Redmond company since last spring, when its parent company, Spiegel, entered bankruptcy protection and started to consider selling off the Eddie Bauer brand, estimated to be worth as much as $200 million.
But in the end, McCormick's memo said, L.L. Bean decided that Spiegel's bankruptcy and reorganization process "is more complex and troublesome than we originally thought."
L.L. Bean spokesman Rich Donaldson said Spiegel's corporate structure, as well as Eddie Bauer licensing and marketing deals would take a considerable effort to untangle.
Donaldson said Eddie Bauer has licensing deals on everything from Ford Explorers to eyewear and merchandising deals with retailers such as Target.
McCormick noted in his memo that Eddie Bauer has changed hands several times in the past four decades and its customer base has been shrinking over the last few years. The stores, he said, are small and suffering from slack sales, offering a limited opportunity for L.L. Bean.
Seattle Biomedical Research will be moving to new offices
SEATTLE — Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI) said yesterday that construction is complete on its new five-story research building in South Lake Union, and it is preparing to move in next week.
The $52 million building, at 307 Westlake, will house SBRI labs and offices on the top two floors, with labs and offices for Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center on the two floors below. It will house 160 employees from SBRI, and 175 from Children's.
The ground floor will include Henry's cafe, operated by the owner of Fremont's Still Life Cafe, Busy Body Home Fitness, and a BioQuest Science Gallery for high-school students to learn about biology. The cafe is scheduled to open in May, and fund raising is continuing for the science gallery.
SBRI's research is focused on diseases of the developing world, such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Children's research includes studies of infectious diseases, immunology, rheumatology, cancer and genetics. The building is a joint venture among SBRI, Harbor Properties and Paul Allen's Vulcan.
Strong U.S., Asia demand gives boost to Nike earnings
BEAVERTON, Ore. — Nike said yesterday that solid performance in the United States and Asia will push earnings for its latest quarter well above Wall Street estimates.
The Beaverton company, the world's largest shoemaker, expects earnings for the third quarter, ended Feb. 29, of 71 to 74 cents a share, sharply above the average analyst estimate of 64 cents.
The strong euro and demand for the company's products in the United States and Asia drove revenue up more than 20 percent, the company said.
The company will release its results tomorrow.
Microsoft releases fix for e-mail program flaw
NEW YORK — Microsoft issued a fix for its e-mail program to correct a flaw that hackers could use to take over a personal computer.
A problem in the way Microsoft's Internet Explorer program displays Web pages means that a hacker can run any command on the machine by sending a message to users of its Outlook e-mail software, Microsoft said in a statement on its Web site.
E-mail-borne computer viruses such as Netsky, Mydoom and Beagle infected more than 1 million computers in January and February by persuading users to view attachments that took over their machines.
The latest flaw doesn't require a user to click on attachments, only to view a message, said Craig Schmugar, a virus researcher with Santa Clara, Calif.-based Network Associates, which makes McAfee anti-virus software.
Though notified of the flaw in July, Microsoft waited to release the fix until it could be included with an upgrade issued yesterday for its Office software, dubbed Service Pack 3, said Stephen Toulouse, a Microsoft Security Program manager.
"We wanted this patch to get the benefits of the added testing that goes into the Office service pack," Toulouse said.
NeoRx plans final trials for multiple-myeloma drug
SEATTLE — NeoRx, a Seattle biotech company, said yesterday it is planning the enrollment of patients in a final-stage clinical trial for its multiple-myeloma drug late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of this year.
Previously, the company said the trial would start enrolling patients in the first quarter of this year.
The company said yesterday it has prioritized 40 clinical sites based on readiness, experience and projected speed of patient enrollment, with high-ranked sites starting earliest. The trial is designed to enroll 240 patients.
NeoRx President and Chief Operating Officer Karen Auditore-Hargreaves said the company plans to have all sites enrolling patients by the end of the year. She said NeoRx is on track to file a new drug application to the Food and Drug Administration in mid-2007.
ZymoGenetics tells of result of osteoarthritis drug test
SEATTLE — ZymoGenetics, a Seattle biotech company, said yesterday that one of its experimental protein drugs was able to reduce the cartilage damage of osteoarthritis in animal testing.
The company reported the findings about the molecule, called FGF18, at the annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society in San Francisco.
About 21 million Americans, mostly over 45, are affected by some degree of osteoarthritis, according to the Arthritis Foundation.
Nation / World
Walt Disney's daughter says Eisner should step down
LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney's sole surviving child broke her silence yesterday on the furor surrounding the empire her father founded, saying Michael Eisner should quit soon as CEO.
Diane Disney Miller told the Los Angeles Times, "New leadership is necessary. I think Michael Eisner did some great things for the company, but there also are some not-so-great things."
Major shareholders want Eisner to step down after nearly two decades. Last week, he received an unprecedented 43 percent vote of no confidence in his unopposed re-election to the board. He was stripped of his chairman title but is still chief executive.
Miller, 70, said an abrupt removal could cause the stock price to plunge, making the entertainment conglomerate vulnerable to Comcast's recent unsolicited $49 billion takeover bid.
"The whole Comcast bid just scares me to death," Miller said, explaining why she is speaking out. "If this company ever loses its independence, it will never be what it had been. This should not be a subsidiary of a cable company."
Eastman Kodak suit claims Sony violated 10 patents
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Eastman Kodak has filed suit against Sony alleging that the Japanese electronics maker infringed on its patents on digital-camera technologies.
The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, claims Sony violated 10 patents issued by Kodak from 1987 to 2003. The patents involved digital and video technologies, including image compression and digital storage.
Kodak seeks unspecified damages and an injunction against further infringement. The suit was filed against Tokyo-based Sony, Sony of America and Sony Electronics Inc.
"Kodak took this action to ensure our ability to continue to innovate in digital markets, to protect the intellectual property that results from these efforts and to support the companies that choose to license Kodak patents," Kodak spokesman Gerard Meuchner said.
Last year, digital cameras outsold traditional film cameras for the first time in the United States, according to IDC, a market-research firm in Framingham, Mass. Sony ranked first in sales with a 22 percent market share.
Compiled from Seattle Times business staff, Dow-Jones Newswires, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.