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O’Brien completes lease transaction in Franklin
Bret O’Brien of Greater Boston Commercial Properties in Marlborough recently represented the owner of 10 Liberty Way in Franklin in a 55,023-square-foot lease transaction. O’Brien previously leased Taylor Exhibition Services Inc. 37,536 square feet at 10 Liberty Way in 2009, and the 17,487-square-foot balance of the building to iCandy Favors LLC at the same time. The new deal with Taylor was an extension of the original lease that expired Nov. 30 as well as an expansion into the entire 55,023-square-foot building. “In order to accommodate this growth at the critical time of the anchor tenant’s lease expiration, (we) negotiated an early termination of the iCandy’s lease, which had five years remaining,” said O’Brien. Based in Ontario, Canada, Taylor Exhibition Services provides trade show exhibitions. The property is in the Franklin Industrial Park.
MutualOne grant helps area’s elder homeowners
The MutualOne Charitable Foundation recently awarded a $5,000 grant to Homeowner Options for Massachusetts Elders (H.O.M.E.). The organization’s mission is to counsel elder homeowners who are dealing with insufficient income to cope with basic living and housing costs. The grant will be used to assist needy elders, especially single women, who are facing displacement threats, property foreclosure, severe credit card debt, expensive in-home care and extensive home repairs. The foundation is a continuation of the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation following the 2012 merger of Framingham Co-operative Bank and Natick Federal Savings Bank.
uTest names Malone its chief financial officer
uTest, a Framingham-based provider of in-the-wild software and app testing solutions, recently hired Chris Malone of Westford as its new chief financial officer. In his new role, Malone will oversee all of uTest’s financial and administrative operations. A veteran of the IT services industry, he previously served as the vice president of finance for NTT Data (previously Keane), the sixth largest global IT service provider. At NTT Data, Malone held leadership roles that included oversight of the financial management of the company’s American and Canadian commercial operations. He is a certified public accountant and holds M.B.A. and B.S. degrees from Babson College in Wellesley.
DealerRater nets investment from Great Hill
DealerRater, a Waltham-based car dealer review website, recently received an equity investment from Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm focused on growth companies. Great Hill Partners invested out of its $1.1 billion fourth fund. DealerRater will use the financing to continue its global expansion, accelerate product innovation and invest in additional sales and marketing resources. The company will continue to evaluate strategic acquisition opportunities, with additional equity capital available from Great Hill Partners, DealerRater stated in a press release. Further financial terms of this deal were not disclosed.
Bit9 hosts largest conference in company history
Bit9, a Waltham-based provider of endpoint and server security based on real-time visibility and protection, recently announced that its 2013 User Xchange, a conference for the company’s customers in North America held in Boston, was the largest in the company’s history. Attendance rose four-fold compared to 2012, with customers coming from 25 states and Canadian provinces. Attendees included many Fortune 500 companies, ranging from top-5 Internet services and financial data services companies to top-10 petroleum and aerospace companies. The exact attendance number was not disclosed.
BG Medicine names Hall its chief financial officer
BG Medicine Inc., a Waltham-based developer of the BGM Galectin-3 Test, recently announced that its board of directors has appointed Stephen P. Hall of Pittsboro, N.C., as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. Hall was most recently vice president finance – treasurer, principal financial and chief accounting officer at Stemline Therapeutics, a publicly traded clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, where he helped execute financings in excess of $100 million. He is a certified public accountant. Hall will replace Charles Abdalian, who has served as BG Medicine’s CFO since October 2012.