From businesswire news

Merrill J. Forgotson, President of Cornerstone Bancorp, Inc., announced today that NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. had received the required final regulatory approvals from both the Connecticut Banking Department and the FDIC to acquire Cornerstone Bancorp. Shareholders of Cornerstone Bancorp in August approved the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of April 12, 2005, which provides for the merger of Cornerstone Bancorp, Inc. into NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. and the simultaneous merger of Cornerstone Bank into NewAlliance Bank. The cash-and-stock transaction, valued at approximately $48.7 million, is expected to be consummated at the beginning of 2006.

In Connecticut, Cornerstone Bancorp, through its subsidiary Cornerstone Bank, operates from three full-service locations in Stamford, one full-service location in Greenwich, Norwalk and Westport. The Bancorp also operates one business development office in Norwalk and four limited service mobile branches. The Bancorp’s common stock is traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol CBN.

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding expectations for earnings, credit quality, and other financial and business matters. When used in this report, the words "anticipate," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company or its management are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to, competitive pressures on loan and deposit product pricing; other actions of competitors; changes in economic conditions; technological changes; the extent and timing of actions of the Federal Reserve Board, including changes in monetary policies and interest rates; customer deposit disintermediation; changes in customers’ acceptance of the Bank’s products and services; and the extent and timing of legislative and regulatory actions and reforms. The forward-looking statements contained in this report speak only as of the date on which such statements are made.

PaidContent breaks the news that interactive media and marketing publisher and event producer, iMedia Communications, which publishes iMedia Connection, is being acquired by DMG World Media - which in January bought out Ad:Tech. DMG CEO Mike Cooke confirmed the news in an email to paidContent. No details were yet available regarding price. DMG operates more than 300 trade shows in various business and consumer vertical markets. iMedia was founded in 2001 and is a closely held corporation based in Dana Point, California. DMG is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Daily Mail and General Trust, based in the U.K.

Source: MarketingVox

From businesswire.com

Receivable Management Services (RMS), a leading global accounts receivable management company, today announced that Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI) has acquired a controlling interest in the company from PNC Equity.

"RMS is a leader in global accounts receivable management and has the leading market position in the business to business service segment," said Bob Khanna, a partner with CVCI. "We are excited to move ahead with management on growing the base business while leveraging our international expertise to extend the global platform for RMS."

From Prnewswire.com

Trillium Group, a Rochester,N.Y.-based private equity firm, today announced a company milestone — its first co-investment with the New England-based venture capital firm North Atlantic Capital.  Together, the two firms are investing nearly $5 million in Election Services Corporation.

Based in Garden City, Long Island, New York, Election Services is a leading global election software and services company that provides external and independent election management and polling services to the private sector.

North Atlantic Capital invested in Election Services Corporation in December 2004 and brought the investment opportunity to Trillium in the spring of 2005.  Trillium has invested more than $1.5 million in the company.

From Finanzen.net

Webster Insurance, a subsidiary of Webster Financial Corporation , announced today that it is the co-recipient of an American Bankers Insurance Association (ABIA) award for leadership, integration and innovation in the bank-insurance industry. The ABIA has selected Webster Insurance as one of two models for its 2005 Case Studies of Leading Banks in Insurance. This study profiles Webster’s commercial insurance growth and productivity, integration of banking and insurance products, leadership in the field and innovative practices.

From Team4news

If you’re asked to evacuate your home, do you know what important things to take with you?

Action 4 News spoke to an insurance agent Wednesday night, who offered some good tips for evacuees in the event Hurricane Rita hits the Texas Coast.

"That’s a Texas-size storm," said Jaime Resendez, an Allstate Insurance agent in San Benito. "(It’s) a classic Texas-size storm."

Resendez said that he’s been keeping a close eye on Rita’s path.

But he’s also telling his clients what to do in case they have to evacuate their homes, as was the case for thousands in the New Orleans area, trying to flee from Hurricane Katrina.

"Basically, what we’re telling our customers is to make sure you prepare yourself," he said. "Make sure if you have to evacuate that you go ahead and take your financial documents, your insurance documents, bank documents.

Take your checkbooks with you. Make sure you take cash and your debit cards."

Resendez said that people should keep all of those documents in a water-proof file or container.

Another important tip is to take a quick inventory of the items in your home that can be replaced by your insurance company.

"Let me tell you what’s really important," he said. "What would really be good is for you to take pictures of your contents. Because when a disaster happens, it’s hard to remember what you had."

Resendez said that taking pictures or using a video camera is good way to record all of things in your home that you can’t take with you.

It will also save you a lot of time later in case you have to come up with a list of items you’ve lost.

But remember to take those items with your insurance can’t replace, such family heirlooms, pictures and keepsakes.