| Brooke unit buys 60 insurance agency locations from Chicago firm
Brooke Franchise Corp. today said it its buying 60 insurance agency locations associated with J and P Holdings Inc. of Chicago. Brooke Franchise, a subsidiary of Overland Park-based Brooke Corp., said the acquisition is expected to close Friday. No financial terms were disclosed. In a news release, Brooke Franchise said the agencies sell auto insurance under the trade names of Lone Star Auto, Insurance Xpress, Car Insurance Store, Hallberg Insurance Agency and Hallberg Xpress in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois and Texas. The acquired agencies will be converted into Brooke franchises or merged into existing Brooke franchise locations. The company said the deal boosts its franchise locations to about 900. "This acquisition is a good geographical fit with our existing franchise locations that specialize in auto insurance sales and provides opportunity for current Brooke franchisees to grow through acquisition," said Kyle Garst, Brooke Franchise's chairman and chief executive officer.
EA SPORTS Expands Its Portfolio with EA SPORTS GameShow
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., BUSINESS WIRE -- Are you a sports trivia nut? Think you know more sports facts than anyone else? Get ready to prove it! Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced EA SPORTS(TM) GameShow, a new online sports trivia game. Developed at EA Tiburon, best known for the Madden NFL franchise, EA SPORTS GameShow will give players the opportunity to compete against sports fans from around the nation with a live game show host. EA SPORTS GameShow is a free downloadable PC game, with new programming updated on the daily basis, broadcasting will begin this fall. Peter Moore, president of the EA SPORTS Label commented, "EA SPORTS GameShow is an exciting addition to the EA SPORTS portfolio and the perfect complement to our core simulation sports product lineup. As we create new experiences on new platforms that target larger and more diverse audiences, EA SPORTS GameShow is a massively multiplayer game with broad appeal and high accessibility.
BEAR EARNS BITE
Bear Stearns' breathtaking drop in earnings yesterday was a stark reminder of the risks associated with being a traditional and narrowly focused investment bank. Reporting earnings of $171 million for its third quarter, Bear saw a 61 percent drop in net income from the prior quarter, missing the consensus of analyst estimates by 35 percent. The primary culprit was the utter collapse of the firm's mortgage- and asset-backed bond franchise - long one of its key revenue engines - and the reason behind an 88 percent decline in bond sales and trading revenues. While many Wall Street brokers have been hurt in the bond collapse, Bear is said to have up to 30 percent of its revenue pegged to mortgage-backed underwriting and trading, according to Sanford C. Bernstein's Brad Hintz.
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