New Horizons for D's Stars

20111010-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 10/7/2011 5:51 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 27, No. 42 OCTOBER 10 – 16, 2011 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2011 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Page 3 Bing, banks, business New horizons and $1 billion of clout The bid Beer buzz: Nonprofit for D’s stars biergarten Huge deals possible for Verlander, Stafford draws a from Brazil crowd, raises BY BILL SHEA funds CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS PITCHMEN Justin Verlander is on the cusp Current paid endorsement deals $725M deal for Hayes Lemmerz of national superstardom. for Justin Verlander and Matthew Stafford, as listed by their agents: Matthew Stafford is a few paces CRAIN’S behind but on the same path. Verlander comes from unexpected source MICHIGAN BUSINESS The successes of their teams and Ⅲ Phiten: Japanese maker of BY DUSTIN WALSH M&A experts are targeting Brazil their personal accomplishments titanium jewelry for athletes CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS as an emerging market for invest- on the field this season have raised Ⅲ Reebok of Canton, Mass. ment deals — not the other way Grand Rapids plants the profiles of both athletes, and Ⅲ Rawlings of St. Louis When a Brazilian maker of around. their agents told Crain’s that en- seeds to Ⅲ 2k Sports: New York City- wheels and chassis announced a “Admittedly, Iochpe has been dorsement deals and corporate re- based video game developer deal last week to purchase the under the radar screen from an further quests for them are at an all-time Ⅲ PLB Sports: Pittsburgh-based Northville Township- M&A standpoint, un- high. downtown maker of athlete-endorsed foods based supplier Hayes til now,” said Cliff The attention from marketers, Ⅲ Tuff Toe: Orange, Calif.-based Lemmerz International Roesler, managing media and fans soon could in- Iochpe has growth, Page 11 maker of cleat toe protectors Inc., it took merger director of the Birm- crease further. “ Ⅲ Waldron GMC of Davison and acquisition ex- been under the ingham-based M&A Verlander, the ace pitcher for perts by surprise. advisory firm Angle Crain’s Lists the Detroit Tigers, is expected to be Stafford The North Ameri- radar. Advisors LLC. “Despite the American League’s Cy Young Ⅲ Nike of Beaverton, Ore. can automotive in- Brazil taking a cen- Award winner — the question now ” Ⅲ Power Balance: Lake Forest, dustry’s growth po- Cliff Roesler, ter-stage position in Michigan’s largest is whether the ballot will be a Calif.-based maker of wristbands tential has Chinese, the burgeoning unanimous vote Angle Advisors LLC manufacturers, Page 22 Ⅲ Blue Cross French, German and South American by sportswrit- Blue Shield of Italian companies, among others, markets, we still see the over- ers — and is a Michigan in hunting for stateside investments. whelming direction of investment Largest group health serious con- Detroit But Brazilian buyer Iochpe-Max- to be flowing into Brazil, not out tender for ion SA’s plan to pay $725 million, from Brazil.” providers, Page 33 the AL Most Valuable including $23 million in debt, for But Brazil will be the world’s Player award. the world’s largest wheel maker Stafford has led the De- was an unexpected play. Most See Brazil, Page 39 This Just In See Stars, Page 40 Detroit-area wages edge up There’s good news for De- troit in the latest data from Realcomp asks Supreme Pay Scale Index, an international salary tracking firm. Wages in the metro area have suffered in recent years, growing slowly in 2007 and Court to hear listing case 2008 before dropping in 2009. By the third quarter of 2011, BY DANIEL DUGGAN the high court to take the case, al- wages had grown 0.5 percent, CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS though the court so far as not re- meaning Detroit-area pay is sponded. back at mid-2007 levels, ac- When Realcomp II Ltd. set up its “I know the chances are slim, cording to the firm. policy in 2001 on how it handles but we’ve gone so far with this Though manufacturing real estate listings from nontradi- case, we have to try to take this fi- earnings haven’t grown national real estate companies, the nal step,” she said. “It’s a matter of tionally, Detroit has experi- multiple listing service expected seeing this through to the end.” enced some rebound, thanks some controversy. At issue is how a multiple list- in part to the automotive But the organization’s leaders ing service should handle the new bailout and corporate re- had no idea that after 10 years — breeds of real estate listings. structuring by Chrysler Group and $2 million in legal fees — the Under a traditional brokerage LLC and General Motors Co. fight still would be going on. contract, called an “exclusive See the data: www.payscale And after losing a fight with the right to sell,” a real estate agent is .com/payscale-index. Federal Trade Commission and los- the exclusive agent for selling a — Nancy Kaffer ing in the U.S. Court of Appeals in home. When that broker sells the April, Realcomp CEO Karen Kage home, he or she keeps a portion of Michigan Briefs: Weekly wants to continue the fight before feature debuts, Page 2 the U.S. Supreme Court, petitioning See MLS, Page 41 ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS | ILLUSTRATION BY JEFF JOHNSTON/CDB NEWSPAPER 20111010-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 10/7/2011 5:15 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS October 10, 2011 MICHIGAN BRIEFS WHAT HAPPENED TO ‘THIS JUST IN’? New Amway service center Starting this week, we replace includes technology that talks East-west rapport: From pitching insults to pitching for … Olympics? the bulk of our traditional weekly late-breaking news feature Amway North America will launch When Thom Connors stepped off a bus in Grand Connors and others say the two sides are well be- with a roundup of Michigan a $9.9 million Midwest regional ser- Rapids as part of a delegation aiming to forge yond introductions. The visit was an outcome of dis- business news. vice center in Ada that features stronger ties among executives cussions by officials at the Detroit and Grand Rapids The reason: We’re already some of the latest technology in or- from the Detroit area and West chambers during the Detroit chamber’s Mackinac breaking 10 stories a day on av- der fulfillment. Among the fea- Michigan, his visit was far from a Policy Conference on Mackinac Island in early June. erage at crainsdetroit.com. In tures: A system that tells employ- courtesy call. As the nearly 35 visitors from Detroit mixed with fact, items in Week on the Web, ees wearing headsets the number of The regional vice president for West Michigan executives, the group came up with on Page 42, come directly from items in orders and allows them to SMG in Detroit and general manag- ideas that suggested little semblance of turf wars of our website. “Late breaking confirm orders by voice and track er of Cobo Center has worked close- years past. David Frey, chairman of the Frey Founda- news” on Friday is posted im- inventory with fingertip scanners ly with Richard MacKeigan, the tion in Grand Rapids and co-chairman of community mediately on our site, making it and mini-terminals on their wrists. SMG regional general manager organization Grand Action, floated the idea that De- a bit stale for Monday print The 214,000-square-foot center, who oversees management of Van troit should try to become the host city of the 2020 readers. opening midmonth at the head- Andel Arena, DeVos Performance Hall Summer Olympics, primarily as a way for the state At the same time, Crain’s has quarters of Ada-based Amway Corp., Connors and DeVos Place in Grand Rapids. to rally around Motown. ventured outside its traditional is expected to service about half of Connors sees the future of Detroit and Grand When Detroit civic leader and retired auto dealer Southeast Michigan footprint to Amway North America’s cus- Rapids being intimately linked with SMG’s Tarik Daoud informed the group that such a propos- create a monthly Crain’s Michi- tomers, company spokesperson statewide strategy: Attract associations and large al was found to be too expensive, Grand Rapids de- gan Business section (this week Clare Wade said. Amway moved corporations that alternate between the east and veloper Sam Cummings said he thought West Michi- starting on Page 11) and a free its distribution center in Ada to a west sides for their annual gatherings to select Cobo gan could help fund the proposal. weekly e-newsletter by the same renovated building at its head- and DeVos Place. And after hearing that the U.S. Olympic Committee name. quarters. Although the Sept. 30 bus visit, sponsored by the already has decided not to bid on the 2020 summer The interests of many busi- The company would not disclose Detroit Regional Chamber and Grand Rapids Area Cham- games, Frey flatly stated, “Then let’s try for 2024.” nesses crisscross the state. employment at individual loca- ber of Commerce, was tagged “East Meeting West,” — Matthew Gryczan These three features, including tions but said it employs 4,500 full- the weekly roundup, will help time people in the U.S. Amway par- connect the dots. Bob Allen, edi- ent Alticor Inc. posted revenue of nent efforts to turn the conversa- officials have been upset that the .com/crainsmichiganbusiness. tor of all three Crain’s Michigan about $9.2 billion last year in sales, tion about government consolida- coalition has been pushing the Sign up for Crain’s Michigan Business reports, can be reached distribution and packaging of con- tion into reality has decided to merger without hearing what they Business e-newsletter at crains at [email protected].

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