Central Pacific consolidating Waikiki sites

Central Pacific Bank will be consolidating its two existing Wai­kiki branches and opening a new location next to the Wai­kiki Trade Center.

The state’s fourth-largest bank said Monday that the current Wai­kiki branches at the Wai­kiki Hyatt and the Wai­kiki Shopping Plaza will remain open until Friday. The new branch at 333 Seaside Ave. will open Monday. Hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

"The convenient location of our new branch, along with the addition of services and Saturday banking hours, will greatly benefit our new and existing customers," said Lance Mizu­moto, president and chief banking officer of Central Pacific. "The branch’s close proximity to our international banking team means we’re also better able to serve our international clientele."

Central Pacific, which had $4.7 billion in assets as of June 30, will have 36 branches following the consolidation.

Investors fret Yahoo’s future, stock dips

SAN FRANCISCO » Yahoo may be losing some appeal on Wall Street now that U.S. investors can buy directly into Alibaba.

Yahoo’s stock fell Monday as investors grappled with uncertainty about CEO Marissa Mayer’s efforts to turn around the struggling Silicon Valley company. The sell-off came even though Yahoo reaped more than $9 billion last week from selling some of its stake in Alibaba, as the Chinese e-commerce company held a record-setting initial public offering of stock.

Yahoo has promised to return at least half of the after-tax proceeds to shareholders — likely through stock buybacks.

But some investors aren’t waiting, now that they’re able to buy Alibaba shares directly, according to Brian Wieser, an Internet stocks analyst at Pivotal Research.

Merck to buy Sigma-Aldrich for $17B

FRANKFURT, Germany » German drug company Merck says it has agreed to buy St. Louis-based chemical firm Sigma-Aldrich Corp. for $17 billion in a deal Merck says will strengthen its business in chemicals and laboratory equipment.

Darmstadt-based Merck KGaA said Monday it is paying $140 per share in cash for all of Sigma-Aldrich’s shares — a premium of 37 percent over Friday’s closing price of $102.37.

Sigma-Aldrich has more than 9,000 employees in 40 countries and supplies chemicals and laboratory equipment to government and commercial facilities. It said its board of directors has unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close next year, subject to regulators’ approval.

U.S. existing home sales fell in August

WASHINGTON » Fewer Americans bought homes in August, as investors retreated from real estate and first-time buyers remained scarce.

Sales of existing homes fell 1.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. That snaps a four-month streak of gains. August sales are down from a July rate of 5.14 million, a figure that was revised slightly downward.

Much of the decline came from the exodus of investors, who had been buying properties in the aftermath of the housing bust and recession. Investors accounted for just 12 percent of August purchases, compared with 17 percent a year earlier.

Overall, the pace of home sales has dropped 5.3 percent year-over-year.

The August figures show that real estate recovery has depended largely on investors and all-cash sales, instead of families looking to purchase a house.

21 death claims against GM accepted

DETROIT » The death toll from crashes involving General Motors small cars with faulty ignition switches is at least 21.

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who was hired by the company to compensate victims, said Monday in an Internet posting that he received 143 death claims as of Friday, and 21 of those have been deemed eligible for payments.

A spokeswoman said the rest of the claims are under review, and not all will be eligible. The death toll rose from a week ago, when Feinberg had determined 19 claims would get payments.

The website also said that Feinberg received 532 injury claims as of Friday. Of those, 16 are eligible for compensation thus far. The others are still being reviewed.

ON THE MOVE

Highgate Hotels has named Paul McElroy vice president of construction. He has 13 years of hotel project management experience, including as vice president of development at Trinity Investments. McElroy also served as vice president of design and construction for Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has announced the following physicians: 

» Dr. Marcus Iwane, an internist, has joined the Nana­ike­ola Clinic in Wai­anae. He completed his internal medicine residency through the University of Hawaii.

» Dr. Patrick Kenny has joined the gastroenterology department at Mapuna­puna Medical Office. Kenny, an Army veteran, completed his internal medicine residency at Tripler Army Medical Center.

» Dr. Christopher Lum has joined the Hono­lulu Medical Center as a specialist in ophthalmology. He completed his residency at Irvine Medical Center at the University of California.

» Dr. S.R. Newman, ear, nose and throat specialist, has joined the Wai­luku Medical Office on Maui. He did his otolaryngology residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

» Dr. Aimee Yeap, a pediatrician, will practice at Nana­ike­ola Clinic and Kapo­lei Clinic. She completed her residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif.

SHIP AHOY!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures:

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