Business digest

Quest Software Inc. has acquired Wingra Technologies for an undisclosed amount of cash, marking the second time in five years the Madison company has been purchased by a significantly larger West Coast software company.

Quest, of Irvine, Calif., employs about 2,250 and recorded revenue of $304.2 million in 2003. Wingra has a staff of 21, and its 2004 revenue topped $4 million, up from $3.5 million a year earlier.

Wingra president and chief executive Jan Eddy said she believes the Quest deal will be a boon for the firm, which specializes in developing large-scale email management software.

Rayovac plans to change name to Spectrum Brands

Rayovac Corp. will change its name to Spectrum Brands, if shareholders agree at the annual meeting in April.

The new name follows Rayovac's $1.2 billion purchase of United Industries Corp., a St.

Louis company that makes pet care supplies, lawn products and insect repellents. Part of United Industries had been called Spectrum Brands.

Dave Jones, chairman and chief executive officer of Rayovac, said the corporation's new name will reflect its wider range of products.

Jones had said a year ago, shortly after Rayovac bought Remington Products Co., that the corporation expected to change its name. Spectrum will be based in Atlanta, but Madison will remain North American headquarters for Rayovac, Remington and Varta brands and the global technology center.

Alliant sole owner of Mexican resort

Alliant Energy Corp. is now the sole owner of Laguna del Mar, a resort community under development in northern Mexico whose construction has been plagued by storms, disputes and other problems.

The Madison utility holding corporation said it has "successfully completed the transfer of ownership" but would not disclose the terms.

Alliant had loaned the project $65.6 million; that investment, with interest, was valued at $82 million as of Dec. 31, 2004. Even after gaining ownership from the developers, there's been "no material change" in Alliant's financial commitment, the company said.

Fiskars Brands buys North Carolina company

Fiskars Brands has acquired Gingher, a Greensboro, N.C., company that makes scissors and shears. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Fiskars Corp., founded in 1649, has its headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, and its shares are traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Fiskars Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary, is based in Madison and makes gardening tools as well as scissors and other tools for schools, offices and crafts.

Gingher, established in 1947, is a family-run business that makes scissors and cutting instruments for crafts and industrial applications.

Fiskars Brands has 150 employees in Madison and 280 in Sauk City, where many of the gardening implements are made.

The scissors are made in Wausau.

Fiskars' parent corporation has about 3,500 employees worldwide.

Gingher has 24 employees in Greensboro.

Laser Source gets new owner

A decade ago, Mike Buckalew started a business in his basement supplying Hewlett-Packard laser printer parts and service.

Buckalew now has sold Laser Source, 2881 Commerce Park Drive, Fitchburg, to Jesse Hughes, former sales director and now chief executive. The company plans to add at least three employees to its 18-member work force over the next year. Annual sales are nearly $3 million.

PIC Wisconsin going into Kansas

Physicians Insurance Co. of Wisconsin (PIC Wisconsin) has received approval from the Kansas Department of Insurance to write hospital professional liability insurance in the state. PIC Wisconsin was approached last fall by Kansas Health Service Corp., a subsidiary of the Kansas Hospital Association, which was looking for an insurance carrier with experience in the hospital market. PIC Wisconsin writes medical professional liability insurance, covering physicians, dentists, hospitals and healthcare networks.

Renaissance Learning sells online unit

Wisconsin Rapids-based educational products company Renaissance Learning Inc. sold its Generation21 Learning Systems unit to subsidiary president John Stearns. Renaissance Learning will record about a $600,000 gain on the sale, including a one-time tax benefit of $1 million.

After unsuccessfully shopping the subsidiary around, Renaissance Learning, which has operations in Madison, determined selling Generation21, based in Golden, Colo., to Stearns was the "best option available." The company said the divestiture will allow it to better focus on its core K-12 education business.

Madison IT company makes acquisition

Madison-based information technology firm Innovative Communication Concepts acquired Stone & Najem Consulting Inc., a local IT consulting firm, increasing the size of its staff from 17 to 20. ICC chairman and chief executive Cynthia Heberling said her company is still in "acquisition mode," and she expects to add five to 10 more employees within the next year. Including business brought by Stone & Najem, Heberling said she expects revenue to top $10 million this year.

Deerfield business to add jobs

A Deerfield medical device manufacturer will expand employment as two companies merge to exploit the rising demand for automated external defibrillators.

Thirty-five or more jobs will be added to 150 at Burdick, a manufacturer of electrocardiographs, stress test systems and cardiac monitors, when its parent company, Quinton Cardiology Systems, based in Bothell, Wash., merges with Cardiac Science, a producer of defibrillators based in Irvine, Calif.

The two companies will combine to form Cardiac Science Corp. John Hinson, president and chief executive of Quinton, said the Deerfield plant will absorb the production of a Cardiac Science operation in Minnetonka Minn., that will soon close.

Viasys buys Oxford Instruments

In the largest acquisition in the company's history, Viasys Healthcare has acquired Oxford Instruments Medical, a British medical instruments company, for $46 million.

Viasys Healthcare is a global medical technology company based in Conshohocken, Pa. Its NeuroCare unit includes Nicolet Biomedical in Fitchburg.

The NeuroCare unit markets neurological, neurodiagnostic monitoring, vascular monitoring and hearing screening products.

Viasys Healthcare has more than 1,800 employees, including more than 200 in Fitchburg. Oxford Instruments Medical has about 1,500 employees.

Madison security firm to be purchased

American Security of St. Paul, Minn., which has more than 1,400 employees and provides security for banks and other businesses, is buying Martin Security of Madison. Martin Security has 130 employees and will continue to operate under its name. Founders Jim and Joyce Martin recently announced their retirement after 42 years in the security industry.

Dry ice company opens center in Madison

An Illinois dry ice company has opened a Madison distribution center to help fulfill a UW-Madison contract. Continental Carbonics of Decatur, Ill., opened the distribution center at 2843 Progress Road.

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