Pringles gets new owner

NEW YORK >> Diamond Foods Inc. took its biggest bite yet of the snack business with a $1.5 billion deal yesterday to buy the Pringles brand from Procter & Gamble Co. The deal is the biggest in a stack of acquisitions for Diamond and will more than triple the size of the maker of Emerald nuts and Pop Secret popcorn. Adding Pringles will make it a distant second in the snack business to PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay, which controls nearly half of the market.

500 sign up for Holomua condos

Nearly 500 prospective buyers signed up over the weekend to purchase 176 units in the planned moderate-price condominium tower Holo­mua in Makiki.

The response was dramatically different from an original sales launch in June 2009, and is another signal that the local housing market is rebounding.

Holomua sales had been stuck at about 44 units since 2009.

Local developer Peter Savio recently became co-developer and broker for Holo­mua to help restart the stalled proj­ect, where prices range from $239,900 to $467,700. The developers said some people waited 14 hours in line before the sales office opened over the weekend.

Nearly 2,000 people passed through the doors, and the proj­ect signed up more than 300 backup buyers to the initial 176, proj­ect officials said.

The sales should allow construction to begin in July.

Group buys Big Isle Sheraton resort

HILO >> The Sheraton Keau­hou Bay Resort and Spa, which survived foreclosure two years ago, has been sold for an undisclosed price.

West Hawaii Today reported yesterday that the 22-acre, 521-room Big Island resort was sold last week to Kona Surf Partners, a New York-based equity group that formed a Hawaii partnership in February.

County tax records value the resort at $39.3 million. Features include two tennis courts, a wedding chapel and a 14,000-square-foot fantasy pool.

Transfer of ownership is scheduled to take place in June. Union officials say they expect a smooth transition for the resort’s 125 unionized employees.

The property will be managed by Pyramid Kona Management.

Hawaiian Air best in on-time flights

Hawaiian Airlines was the nation’s top-ranked carrier for on-time performance and fewest flight cancellations in February, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Hawaiian had an industry-best 91.8 percent of its flights arrive as scheduled in February, 17.3 percentage points better than the national average.

Hawaiian topped all carriers with a cancellation rate of 0.1 percent, or six cancellations out of 5,052 flights.

The DOT report covers 16 airlines, including seven carriers providing service to Hawaii.

On the Move

Xerox Hawaii has appointed Sandra Oya­kawa to marketing representative. She will be responsible for providing existing and new clients with solutions to effectively manage their documents so they can focus on their core business. Oya­kawa was previously a sales associate for True Religion Brand Jeans and a store manager for Iridescent Boutique.

Crestline Hotels and Resorts has announced the appointment of Gary J. Strehl as general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott Jacksonville Butler Boulevard, Fla. He joined the Crestline Hotels in May 2005 and was previously director of operations for the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. Strehl also has more than 30 years of hospitality management experience, including being a founding member of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement, which was established 20 years ago.

POPITS has opened a flagship store at Waikiki Beach Walk. The 1,000-square-foot retail space features sandals and accessories with detachable charms as well as customizable leather goods like wallets and handbags with coordinating sunglasses and jewelry.