EVERSOURCE WORKING ITS WAY OUT OF WIND FARM DEVELOPMENT

Eversource has announced plans to sell its 50 percent stake in offshore wind lease areas totaling 175,000 square miles off the coast of Massachusetts for $625 million to its wind partner, Danish energy giant Orsted.

Last May, Eversource CEO Joe Nolan announced the company was looking to cash in on its offshore wind holdings to pay off company debt and focus on connecting upcoming wind projects to the onshore electric grid.

Eversource said it will use the cash proceeds from the sale to pay down debt it acquired in developing the partnership with Orsted. It recently told investors that it plans to write off about $220 million to $280 million from its offshore wind assets when it completes the sale of its stake.

The company also is looking to sell its 50 percent ownership stake in the South Fork wind project, which is under construction 35 miles east of Montauk Point on Long Island and is scheduled to begin operating this fall. It has interests in two other projects: Sunrise Wind, also located off Montauk, and Revolution Wind, located 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast.

BAYSIDE RENTALS, OWNER FINED FOR ‘UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE’ PRACTICES

A civil penalty of $5,000 has been levied against Robert Wichland of Center Harbor and the company he owns, Bayside Rentals LLC of Meredith, after resolving allegations of “unfair and deceptive practices” linked to a company escrow account. The attorney general’s office announced that the consent decree was approved June 1 in Belknap County Superior Court. It resolved allegations of practices associated with improper withdrawals from Bayside Rentals’ escrow account.

Over a year ago, Wichland reached a settlement with the NH Real Estate Commission over allegations that he unlawfully transferred escrow funds without the right to do so.

As part of the agreement, the commission revoked, and Wichland relinquished, his real estate broker’s license, and he agreed to pay an $8,000 fine to the commission. Wichland signed the agreement on Aug. 20, 2021.

In addition, Wichland was sued last fall by his former partner, Walker G. Harman Sr. of Dallas, Texas, who alleged he embezzled money for years.

RUGER REJECTS SHAREHOLDER DEMAND FOR STUDY OF GUN ADVERTISING

The majority of Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. shareholders have rejected a call for the gun manufacturer to commission a study of its advertising and marketing practices, a year after they voted in favor of a similar study to assess Ruger gun sales in the context of “human rights” violations.

Ruger, one of the two biggest U.S. gun-makers, has major manufacturing sites in Newport as well as in North Carolina and Arizona.

Last year, shareholders voted in favor of the company funding the human rights study. Ruger’s board of directors had advised a “no” vote, and with the vote nonbinding on the board of directors, the company did not proceed with the study, reaffirming that decision in this year’s investor proxy.

After the marketing study vote was held at this year’s annual meeting in June, Ruger CEO Chris Killoy described the proposal as coming from “anti-gun activists” and said the company is working to better communicate its policies to the public through a new section of its website.

More than 8 million votes were cast by shareholders rejecting the marketing study proposal from the Chicago-based hospital nonprofit CommonSpirit Health, versus nearly three million in favor.

NEW CEO AND REGION’S LARGEST PLANET FITNESS FRANCHISEE

Planet Fitness franchise group CDM Fitness Holdings, one of the largest developers and operators of fitness clubs under the Planet Fitness brand, has announced the appointment of Bruce Edwards as CEO.

CDM, headquartered in Foxborough, Mass., has 59 clubs across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, making it the largest operator of Planet Fitness clubs in the New England market. CDM is an SBJ Capital portfolio company.

Edwards has over 30 years of executive and operational experience, including as chief operating officer of CrossFit.

Brian Kablik, CDM’s founder who has served as CEO since 2007, will continue as a member of the board.