The total consideration from the recorded deeds indicated a collective price of just under $17 million for the six purchased properties. Lorrie Hecker, Director of Communication – Marketing & Refining for Hess Corporation told NewEnglandBusiness.com, “for competitive reasons” full financial terms of the transaction could not be disclosed.

The eleven sites, all of which include convenience stores, were quickly rebranded Hess. The company plans to hold grand openings in the spring to welcome customers and introduce the firm’s product line.

Hess is one of the leading independent gasoline-convenience retailers on the East Coast with 1,370 stations and convenience stores in 14 states including more than 100 sites in Massachusetts.

According to Hess company spokeswoman Lorrie Hecker, “The Hess team is excited about the opportunity to serve additional customers and expand our market presence on the Cape. Christy’s is one of the premier gasoline retailers on Cape Cod, and they share Hess’ commitment to providing customers with exceptional service and value. We see this as a strong fit with the Hess brand promise, and we are delighted to add these Christy’s sites to the Hess retail portfolio.”

All indications are that Christy’s Markets will continue to independently pursue gasoline-convenience stores projects intiated in 2008 which are located in Dennis and Chatham.

Quarterly figures reveal the deceleration in the number of sales was evenly spread out among each quarter. The quarterly data also shows in both in 2007 and 2008, first quarter activity once again fell below Quarter II sales volume. This is significant in that, except for 2006, at no time since 1997 has the number of sales in Quarter II been lower than the prior Quarter I total.

Excluding the Outer Cape sub region (Provincetown, Truro and Wellefleet) which achieved a small gain, the remaining three Cape Cod sub regions posted moderate decreases in the number of commercial property transactions. The greatest fall off, however, was in the Upper Cape sub region which experienced a sharp 49% decrease in year over year transaction volume, nearly double the countywide percentage decline.

The Mid Cape sub region once again posted the highest number of transactions (63) for the nine month period. According to the data, the Mid Cape sub region has held the top ranking in each consecutive three quarter period since 1997, until being closely edged out by the Upper Cape sub region in 2007 with 72 qualified sales.

Joseph P. Egan is a MA Certified General Real Estate Appraiser with over 25 years of professional valuation experience. Through a specialization in commercial real estate and closely-held businesses, since 1991 he has completed over 600 appraisal, brokerage and consulting assignments concerning all types of commercial real estate assets and going concerns located on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Plymouth County, MA. Clients served generally include attorneys, banks, corporations, developers, investors, and owners of closely-held and family businesses. Prior to relocating to Cape Cod, Joe worked in the New York Metro Area and throughout CT with leading regional and national appraisal firms such as Cushman & Wakefield. Please contact Joe here.

What can you tell us about the International Inn?

The 141 unit hotel actually had 175 units back in the 70’s and 80’s.  It was bought in 1985 by Arthur Rittel who re-constructed the building over and over combining rooms into suites and then even larger and more dramatic suites. Many of the rooms have huge flat screen TV’s, columned bathrooms, Victorian furniture and 15 inch crown moldings.

These rooms combined with the power marketing of the Cuddle and Bubble theme produced the highest grossing hotel in the Hyannis area for many years. At the time of the sale, however, other hotels in the area had taken market share. The decline was a sign of the complete obsolescence and failure of print media advertising which the operation relied upon. 

You have brokered the sales of numerous lodging properties on Cape Cod since the 1990’s. Why is this hotel sale significant?

The sale of the International Inn was a major event for Hyannis and Cape Cod. While the press makes comparisons to the Great Depression and predictions of a 1929 style crash, there are people who are still endeavoring to do business and carving out a path.

At $41,135 per key, the sale price ranks up there based on historical price levels. What are your thoughts on that?

The income at the time of the sale did not justify the price. But the owners are very experienced and the elements of success are clearly there. That is what the real story of this sale was,  the positive venture in a time when the press is playing Chicken Little.

The 3.17 acre property is exempt from the Cape Cod Commission which means that it is not obstructed from having a new building of up to four stories with a parking garage under.  There are only two small territories on the Cape which have been granted this immunity. So far it has led to the construction of several commercial / residential buildings and a new Hampton Inn.

So there are intrinsic options with the property itself but the reason for the purchase was to rejuvenate a uniquely themed operation which had lost it’s dominant position.

What are some of the additional transactions details?

The buyers own a Hampton Inn and a Super Eight in Stamford, CT as well as three hotels in India. There are several partners in the venture and they have stated that they consider the theme distinctive and plan to keep it.

The sale was financed by $3.0 Million from The Community Bank, arranged personally by Eric Bancroft along with $1.9 Million from Matt Collins through an SBA Lender, Granite State Development. The property was valued in 2004 at $10.4 Million.

Webb Research, located in E. Falmouth, Mass., is the world’s leading manufacturer of autonomous underwater gliding vehicles, as well as autonomous profiling drifters and floats. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Webb Research adds autonomous underwater vehicle systems to Teledyne Marine’s portfolio of marine electronic subsystems, including acoustic modems, acoustic and inertial navigation systems, acoustic Doppler current profilers and subsea electrical and optical interconnect solutions. Webb Research’s gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that use changes in buoyancy in conjunction with wings and tail steering to convert vertical motion to horizontal, and thereby propel the system on a programmed route with very low power consumption. Applications of gliders range from oceanographic research programs to military persistent surveillance systems and mobile nodes for subsea communication networks.

In fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 Webb Research had sales of $12.2 million. After the closing, the acquired business will operate under the name Teledyne Webb Research.

Teledyne Technologies is a Thousand Oaks, California based provider of sophisticated electronic subsystems, instrumentation and communication products, engineered systems, aerospace engines, and energy and power generation systems. Teledyne Technologies’ operations are primarily located in the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

POCASSET, MA - Hydroid, Inc. a manufacturer of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), announced today the company’s acquisition by Kongsberg Maritime. The sale was announced in December 2007 pending U.S. Government approvals.

Kongsberg Gruppen is headquartered in Kongsberg, Norway and is a technology group with over 4,400 employees in 25 countries. The company has two divisions, Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, and Kongsberg Maritime of which Hydroid will join. Kongsberg Gruppen reported revenues of approximately $1.6 billion in 2007 and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and traded under the ticker
KOG.

“The acquisition of Hydroid is within Kongsberg Maritime strategy to expand in the rapidly growing market for AUV-based operations through a broader portfolio of products, wider presence in the market and focused R&D efforts,” stated Rolf Arne Klepaker, Kongsberg Maritime Subsea Executive Vice President.

Hydroid was established in 2001 to manufacture, support and further develop the REMUS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology, originally developed, and licensed from, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Located in Pocasset, Massachusetts, Hydroid offers a range of REMUS vehicles, including systems rated for 6,000 meter operations, and has delivered over 150 systems in the past seven years.

All the HUGIN vehicles and the REMUS vehicles can be customized for many applications which include: hydrographic surveys, mine counter measure operations, harbor security operations, environmental monitoring, debris field mapping, marine geological survey, inspection of underwater engineering structures and pipelines, search and salvage operations, fishery operations, and scientific sampling and
mapping.

In a separate press release issued by Axia Advisors, the Burlington MA based firm announced its advisory role in connection with the $80 million sale to Kongsberg Maritime. 

Chris von Alt, President and CEO of Hydroid, LLC, stated, “As a Kongsberg company, Hydroid will continue to improve the products and services we offer, so they will be of greater value to our customers. This strategic fit is very important to our shareholders, and we are grateful to Axia Advisors for their contributions to this remarkably successful outcome.”