Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word company. 43 news.

Software provider SPSS Inc. disclosed in a Monday regulatory filing that its chairman and co-founder is claiming ownership of the Chicago company's name, and has offered to sell the trademark to SPSS for $20 million.

Sepracor's chairman plans to retire no later than May 13 after working at the pharmaceutical company for 23 years.

Tracinda said it will take a 35% stake in Delta Petroleum, making a $684 million investment in the energy company. The deal shows how many smaller energy companies could face difficulties financing their capital plans in coming years.

Transmeridian Exploration agreed to be acquired by its chief executive's Trans Meridian International in a deal that values the energy company at $350 million.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Horizon Bancorp said Monday that it increased its provision for loan and lease losses expense by $1.4 million in December, citing credit quality deterioration in its wholesale mortgage and indirect auto loan portfolios. The commercial bank-holding company expects its fourth-quarter provision expense to total $1.77 million, compared to the third-quarter provision of $550,000. However, Horizon still sees 2007 full-year earnings exceeding those of 2006.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Quest Software Inc. has filed its quarterly reports for the periods ended March 31, June 30 and Sept. 30, 2007 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said Monday. As a result, the company is now current with all its SEC periodic reporting obligations.

Your company has CRM software installed in the office and runs a profitable call center. It also has a huge sales team and other remote personnel who need to frequently update the database to keep the...

SCHARWOUDE, Netherlands - If you've ever blistered your bare feet on a hot road you know that asphalt absorbs the sun's energy.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Consolidated Mercantile Inc. has completed the sale of Polyair Inter Pack Inc. to Glencoe Skydome Holdings, an affiliate of Glencoe Capital, in a private deal for $6.2 million. The sale has been under consideration as a part of the company's continuing evaluation of potential strategies to maximize shareholder value, according to Consolidated Mercantile.

Hi-Tech Pharmacal, a manufacturer of generic drugs, said Monday it has acquired an Alabama-based maker of pre-natal vitamins and cough and cold formulations, for $5 million in cash.

Iris Hagilboa is appealing the court ruling that voided the tender it won to build an IKEA outlet in Rishon Letzion. The company, which is the arm through which the Bronfman-Fisher group won the tender, says the Tel Aviv court had based its ruling, that the equal footing of all contenders for the tender had been impaired by of a single meeting an Iris Hagilboa officer held with the Rishon Letzion municipality before the tender was issued. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks drifted slightly lower at the open Monday, the final session of 2007, amid sharply lower volume. Early action saw shares of Delta Petroleum Corp. jump as much as 24% to $19.30 a share after Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. announced it was taking a 35% stake in the company at $19 a share. But the news failed to spur gains elsewhere in the group. The Amex Oil Index was off 0.2% at 1,574 points, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index was down 1% at 303, and the Amex Natural Gas Index was essentially unchanged at 580 points.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Technology stocks began the last trading day of the year in the red Monday on what was expected to be a relatively light session ahead of the the New Year's Day holiday. Among bellwether tech stocks, Google Inc. shares fell $4.67 to $697.81 amid a report that the company is in discussions with several newspaper publishers to sell advertising space online. Declines also came from Apple Inc. , Microsoft Corp. , Dell Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. . The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 11 points to 2,663.

In an hour-long chat on rediff.com, one of India's most respected CEOs talks about leadership, the vision he has for the company, the impact of the rupee, et cetera.

The Ahmedabad-based company is now a part of the publicity department of ISRO's Mission-to-Moon project.

Added Value, WPP's brand-development business, has acquired Cheskin, an innovation consulting firm. The renamed Cheskin Added Value brings a strong presence in the tech sector, design strategy expertise and a solid understanding of the U.S. Hispanic market to its parent company.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- M/I Homes Inc. Monday said it has sold land located primarily in Florida to various buyers for $82 million and that it is exiting the West Palm Beach housing market. The home builder said as a result of the lot sales, it will book pretax land impairment charges of about $80 million in the fourth quarter, and expects to see a $50 million cash tax refund in the second quarter of 2008. M/I Homes said it is "likely" that further impairment charges will be recorded in the fourth quarter. The company said the land sold represented 3,700 lots; at the end of the third quarter, it owned 16,767 lots. "Today's announcement supports and advances our strategic objectives of strengthening our balance sheet, reducing our debt, reducing operating costs, and focusing on markets where we believe we have the best opportunity for acceptable and consistent returns," said Chief Executive Robert Schottenstein in a statement.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- IDM Pharma Inc. said Monday that Sanofi-Aventis has decided to stop participating in the development of investigational melanoma therapy Uvidem. As a result, IDM Pharma, an Irvine, Calif.-based biotechnology company, said it expects to restructure, cut its workforce and review the assets and costs associated with products under development. The board is expected to approve the final restructuring plan during the first quarter of 2008. Shares of IDM Pharma closed Friday at 94 cents.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp will pay $684 million to acquire a 35 percent stake in Delta Petroleum Corp , the independent oil and gas company said on Monday.

(AP) -- Emerald Casino Inc. has ended years of legal battles to keep control of its long-dormant state gaming license, an attorney for the company says. "There are probably three or four additional litigation options that are still available to Emerald," said attorney Robert Clifford. "The short ...