Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • September 21, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com TOP STORY Bronin wins Hartford Democratic primary; Segarra's path unclear Luke Bronin, who has worked at high levels within state and federal gov- ernment but never held elected office, bested Hartford mayoral incumbent Pedro Segarra in the city's Democratic primary last week. Bronin, who won the endorsement of the city's Democrats, received 54 percent of the 9,600 total votes cast by registered Democrats, while Segarra received 46 percent. On the "Mornings With Ray Dunaway" radio show last week following the election, Bronin complemented Segarra, who he had spent most of this year criticizing. "I think Pedro Segarra is a good man with a good heart who cares about the city a lot, and I think he played an important role in stabilizing the city at a difficult time," Bronin said. In a statement, Segarra thanked supporters, said he was disappointed in the results, and cast some uncertainty on his previous pledge to campaign as an inde- pendent mayoral candidate for the November election, should he lose the primary. The statement said Segarra "had not yet made a decision as to the direc- tion of his campaign." Bronin was general counsel for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy from 2013 through the end of 2014. He joined Hartford law firm Hinckley Allen as a partner in January. Previously, he was deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the U.S. Treasury Department. REAL ESTATE Hartford's tallest tower sold for $113.3M Five months after hitting the market, downtown Hartford's 38-story CityPlace I office tower has sold for $113.3 million. The seller, Chicago-based Equity Commonwealth, whose principal investor is realty mogul Sam Zell, did not identify the buyer in its announcement, but listing broker Christopher Ostop of Jones Lang Lasalle Inc. said the buyer is Paradigm Properties of Boston. CityPlace I is Paradigm's first Connecticut realty holding, according to Para- digm's online portfolio listings. "They're institutional-quality owners of high-end real estate throughout mul- tiple markets,'' Ostop said. Paradigm's other commercial holdings are spread among eastern Massachu- setts, Michigan, Ohio and Greater Philadelphia. Commonwealth, which paid $99 million for the property in 2012, when the company was called Commonwealth REIT, said the tower was 98.7 percent leased at the end of June. Last August, CityPlace I's shorter, 18-story twin next door, CityPlace II, sold at auction to New York investors for $19.6 million. TECHNOLOGY SS&C pays $122M for Va. financial software provider Windsor's SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. said it has paid $122 million to The Carlyle Group to acquire a Virginia-based software maker. Primatics Financial makes EVOLV, a cloud-based software platform used by fi- nancial institutions for accounting, regulatory reporting, stress testing and other pur- poses related to their lending portfolios. The company has 384 employees and 2014 revenue of $51 million. EVOLV, which will be integrated into SS&C's own software offerings, has been "widely adopted" by North American banks, SS&C Chairman Bill Stone said in a statement. It's the latest in a string of acquisitions for SS&C, which completed its $2.6 billion purchase of Advent Software in July. LABOR New England employee compensation costs rising New England employers spent 6.5 percent more per hour to compensate workers in June compared to a year prior, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said last week. Average hourly compensation in the six-state region totaled $37.07, up from $34.80 in June 2014, BLS said. Wages and salaries comprised $25.98 of that figure, up from $24.49, while benefits totaled $11.08 per hour, up from $10.31. The largest benefit is health insurance, which at $2.97 per hour, made up 8 percent of total compensation this June. That was up 7.8 percent from $2.73. Across the country, the average total hourly compensation was $31.39 per hour. GOVERNMENT, POLITICS & LAW Malloy calls for 80% carbon emissions reduction At an international event last week, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a declara- tion to commit Connecticut to reducing its carbon emissions 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050. The declaration made at the first-ever U.S.-China Leaders' Summit in Los An- geles was signed by President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as U.S. state and local leaders and their Chinese counterparts. Malloy touted Connecticut's premature achievement of its 2020 goal to re- duce carbon emissions 10 percent below 1990 levels, as well as programming like the Connecticut Green Bank and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. HOSPITALITY & TOURISM CT casinos' slot win fell in August Both Connecticut casinos reported year-over-year declines in their slot-ma- chine wins for August. The steepest drop was at Foxwoods, which reported a slot win of $42.5 million, down nearly 10 percent from $47 million in Aug. 2014. The amount wagered on slots at Foxwoods, called "the handle," fell nearly 6 percent, to $531.8 million. Slot win is the portion of the handle the casino keeps after customer payouts. It typically amounts to approximately 8 percent of the handle. Mohegan Sun's August slot win totaled $52 million, down nearly 8 percent from $56.2 million a year prior. Mohegan's handle fell to $638.6 million from $674.3 million last August. The two casinos combined will contribute $25.2 million in slot taxes to the state's general fund for the month. LEGAL & COURTS Shipman & Goodwin opens New Haven office Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodman, which has the bulk of its 165 attor- neys in the Capital City, said it has opened a New Haven office to focus on life sciences and other sectors. The office is located in the 19-story One Century Tower. It's Shipman & Goodwin's fourth office in the state. The firm also has a pres- ence in Stamford, Greenwich and Lakeville. Shipman & Goodman opened a Washington, D.C. office in 2010 to focus on insurance litigation. The firm's website lists three partners in the new office, including Matthew Randelli, J. Dormer Stephen, and Joseph P. Williams. 'Payday' lender's civil-rights suit tossed An Oklahoma federal judge has dismissed a civil-rights-violation lawsuit from a tribe and its tribal chief against Connecticut bank regulators, citing jurisdiction issues. The Connecticut Department of Banking confirmed last week that the suit filed in March by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and its tribal Chairman John R. Shot- ton was dismissed. Court records show the dismissal occurred on Aug. 28. Heather Payne, spokesperson for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, emailed a state- ment in response. "We respectfully disagree with the court's ruling, and are disappointed in their decision to allow unelected bureaucrats from hundreds of miles away the ability to interfere with Oklahoma minority-owned businesses, denying due pro- cess to a duly elected tribal leader. We are currently investigating every avail- able legal option and will continue to fight for Chairman Shotton's civil rights as an individual and elected tribal official … " The suit stems from the tribe's unsuccessful attempts to convince Connecti- cut bank regulators to ply state residents online with "payday'' loans. The regu- lators insist the tribe's payday loans bear interest rates that are usurious under state law and cannot be permitted. Their civil rights suit is separate from a pending appeal in Connecticut state court, seeking to overturn the state Banking Department's initial Jan. 6 order banning tribe-owned Great Plains Lending LLC and Clear Creek Lending from using the Internet to issue ultra-high-interest loans to needy borrowers. BY THE NUMBERS 6.9% Connecticut's uninsured rate in 2014, down from 9.4 percent in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. $128 The approximate price per square foot Paradigm Properties of Boston paid recently for Hartford's tallest building, CityPlace I. $11 billion The amount of foreign export financing General Electric would need if it wins the power- production contracts it is pursuing around the world. 29% The portion of Connecticut companies that said in a recent CBIA survey that they're considering shifting a significant piece of their production to another state within five years. 897 The margin of victory (in votes) for Luke Bronin over incumbent Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra in last week's Democratic primary. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ Hartford's tallest tower sold for $113.3M ■ GE moving 500 U.S. jobs to Europe ■ Judge dismisses Hartford condo owners' iQuilt appeal ■ Bankrupt CT nutrition firm settles sponsorship scuffle ■ UIL reaches settlement for $3B merger approval STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com. HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe WEEK IN REVIEW Hartford Democrats have chosen Luke Bronin as their mayoral candidate. P H O T O | H B J F I L E

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