Utah's Top 15 Monetary, Financial and/or Business News Nuggets from the Second Half of June 2024 that You Might have Missed

{AUTHOR'S NOTE: Clearly, not every news announcement deserves to be the top story of the day. Nevertheless, many news items are significant and should be acknowledged as such. And in this writeup, you'll find info about 15 Utah-based firms and nine separate executives or celebrities. This being the case, welcome to this writeup on Utah's Top 15 Monetary, Financial and Business News Nuggets from the Second Half of June 2024.}

Enclosed below (in no particular order), are Utah's 15 Top Financial and Business News Nuggets from the second Half of June 2024 that may not have hit your radar.

For example:

• Bruce Bastian — one of the OG's of the Utah tech scene — died on 16 June 2024. He was 76-years-old. As noted in numerous media outlets, including the Daily Herald of Provo, Utah, Bastian is known as one of the Co-Founders of WordPerfect Corporation, the leading personal computer software company for over 15 years. According to Wikipedia, Bastian was Chairman of WordPerfect until 1994, shortly before the firm was acquired by Novell for $1.4 billion.
• Draper, Utah-based Pluralsight has hired Chris Herbert as its Chief Content Officer. According to the company news release, during his career, Herbert has been General Manager of CNN Digital and SVP Growth Products, Emerging Platforms for The Weather Company, among other positions/firms.
• Salt Lake City, Utah-based Ken Garff Automotive Group (the third largest private dealership group in the United States), has sold Northwest Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram “CDJR” to Victoria, Texas-based Keating Auto Group. According to the news release about the transaction, "Northwest CDJR (has been) owned by Ken Garff Automotive Group since 2007 (and) is located in the high-volume Northwest Houston auto retail market with a uniquely large market area for the franchises." Financial details about the sale were not disclosed.
• Utah-based Smith Entertainment Group has hired Chris Armstrong to be President of Operations for the Utah Hockey Club, as well as an Alternate Governor for the Salt Lake City-based National Hockey League franchise. According to SEG's news release, Armstrong was most recently as the Executive Vice President for Talent, Innovation, and Strategic Development for Wasserman (one of the leading talent representation firms in the world). {QUESTION: Does anyone know where SEG is actually located, office-wise? If so, please drop me a note. Thx.}
• Salt Lake City-based Legato Security has received an undisclosed amount of "capital investment" from Level Structured Capital (an affiliate of Level Equity) and SageLink Capital. According to the news release, Legato is "... a premier Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP)."
• Lehi, Utah-based PCF Insurance Services has acquired four new insurance businesses: Ignitist, based in Pennsylvania, The Brady Agency, based in North Carolina, Roseberry Insurance Agency, based in Mississippi, and The Sinnott Agency, based in Iowa. According to the company news release, PCF is a top 20 U.S. insurance brokerage with operations in 40 states.

• After more than three years of trying, Fort Worth, Texas-based General Motors Financial Company finally said, "No thanks" to both the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Here's the skinny.

For readers not aware of this, the Utah has the most favorable Industrial Loan Corporation laws of any state in the country,

As noted in its news release in the latter half of June 2024, GM Financial began in late 2020 the process of becoming a Utah-registered and domiciled ILC by applying with both the UDFI and FDIC to do so.

That application process was rewarded on 14 June 2024 when the UDFI approved GM Financial's application.

In fact, in the release, GM Financial noted that "The UDFI regulates roughly 87 percent of the nation’s industrial bank assets and has supervised these banks for over 35 years."

However, one week after receiving UDFI approval, GM Financial " ... announced the withdrawal of GM Financial Bank’s Interagency Charter and Federal Deposit Insurance Application from further processing by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation."

Interestingly, GM Financial gave no reason for its decision to withdraw from the ILC approval process.

• Entrata, the Lehi-based property management software solutions provider, has acquired Colleen AI. According to the company news release, "... Entrata is introducing ELI+, an elevated suite of AI products to power end-to-end workflows (that will work seamlessly with the Entrata OS)." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed by either party.
• Park City, Utah-based Kent Outdoors has hired Randy Hales as its new CEO. According to the Kent news release, Hales joins Kent Outdoors from Next Level Apparel where he was also CEO.
• Cottonwood Heights, Utah-based Post Malone is embarking on his 21-stop, F-1 Trillion Tour, starting this fall. The megastar's stadium-, festival-, and amphitheater-based tour kicks off on 12 July 2024 at the FESTIVAL D'ÉTÉ DE QUÉBEC in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. According to tour promoter/producer, Live Nation, Post Malone's tour includes a Utah stop on 08 September 2024 at Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah.
• The Herriman, Utah-based Utah Royals FC of the National Women's Soccer League has appointed assistant Jimmy Coenraets as its Interim Head Coach after announcing it has relieved Head Coach Amy Rodriguez of her duties, while also releasing Goalkeeper coach Maryse Bard-Martel from her position. According the Royals news release, the "reorganization" also includes the transition of team president Michelle Hyncik to a new position, with "... Real Salt Lake President John Kimball, who will oversee business operations for the Royals while the organization spearheads the search for a new URFC president."

{NOTE: As of 30 June 2024, the Royals sit in last place in the NWSL (14th out of 14 teams) with a record of 02-02-11. Clearly, not good at all, regardless of the fact that this is an expansion season or that the Royals are an expansion team.} 

• Salt Lake City-based WGU Labs has invested an undisclosed amount in New York City-based Diavergent. According to the news release, WGU Labs is "... the research, development, and investment arm of Western Governors University." Additionally, Daivergent is described as "... virtual platform that provides job coaching to the 70 million Americans with disabilities and neurodivergent conditions. "
• Orem, Utah-based Greenix Pest Control has acquired four branches of Insight Pest Solutions located in Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. According to the acquisition news release, Greenix is the 14th largest pest control business in the United States. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
• Lehi, Utah-based ClientSuccess has acquired Baton, "a modern customer onboarding and implementation platform." Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by either party.

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