Bascom Group buys Waipahu Apartments

The 406-unit Oasis at Waipahu Apartments development has been sold to The Bascom Group LLC, based in California, for $73.5 million.

The company said the sale is the largest multifamily transaction in Hawaii since 2007.

The 18.25-acre site comprises a unit mix of 86 percent two-bedroom units and 14 percent three-bedroom units averaging 891 square feet.

The complex is on Waipahu Street near Fort Weaver Road and will be managed by Entrada Partners, according to a statement.

CFL rebate temporarily worth extra 40 cents

The state’s main energy efficiency program has boosted the instant rebate for compact fluorescent light bulbs to $1.40 from $1 for a limited time to encourage residents to replace their old incandescent bulbs.

A household can save as much as $100 a year by swapping the old bulbs with CFLs, said Ray Staring, Hawaii Energy Program manager. CFLs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last nearly 10 times longer, he said.

Hawaii Energy administers the energy conservation and efficiency program for Honolulu, Hawaii and Maui counties. The program is funded mainly through a fee paid by electric utility customers.

In addition to the CFL rebate, Hawaii Energy is funding a Blue Planet Foundation program that allows residents on Maui and Hawaii island to trade their incandescent bulbs for CFLs.

Bond market sees a stronger economy

WASHINGTON » The bond market is betting on a stronger economy.

Prices for U.S. Treasury debt plunged for the fifth straight trading session Wednesday, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year note spiked to its highest level since October.

Money poured out of bonds and into stocks after rosy words on Tuesday from the Federal Reserve gave traders confidence that the economic recovery is strengthening. Major stock market averages are at or near four-year highs.

Treasury yields — and interest rates that take their cues from Treasury yields, including mortgage rates — remain near all-time lows.

So while mortgage rates may creep up, they should remain historically low.

Investors push to know Buffett’s successor

OMAHA, Neb. » A group of Berkshire Hathaway investors from the AFL-CIO wants to require the company to reveal Warren Buffett’s successor.

The labor union’s AFL-CIO Reserve Fund submitted a proposal that Berkshire shareholders will vote on at the annual meeting in May.

The union wants to require the Omaha-based company to disclose a written succession plan that includes the criteria for the next chief executive and the identities of promising internal candidates.

The proposal would address something many Berkshire shareholders have worried about for years because so much of the company’s success is attributed to the 81-year-old Buffett.

Reynolds American to cut 10% of jobs

RICHMOND, Va. » Reynolds American Inc., the second-biggest U.S. tobacco company, said Wednesday that it will eliminate about 10 percent of its workforce, or about 540 jobs, by the end of 2014 to cut costs.

The move will reduce spending by $70 million a year for the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based maker of Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit brand cigarettes.

Reynolds, which also sells Kodiak and Grizzly smokeless tobacco products, said most departures will be voluntary.

The company expects to take about $110 million in severance and other charges in the first quarter, and it expects to save about $25 million from the cuts this year. It thinks that will rise to $70 million annually by 2015.

ON THE MOVE

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced Joyce R. Nakamura as vice president of its Leeward office. She has been in real estate for more than 40 years and was previously a Realtor at Properties Unlimited.

Ulupono Initiative has appointed the following: 

» Amy Hennessey as director of communications. She has 15 years’ experience in communications strategy in Hawaii, including serving as director of foundation communications for Hawaii Pacific Health and vice president at McNeil Wilson Communications.

» Greg Gaug as senior associate and will support investment efforts within the organization. He was previously head of strategy and financial planning at StubHub as well as investment banking analyst at SG Cowen & Co.