Briefcase

Bonanzino elected chairman of Northwest

Anthony Bonanzino has been elected chairman of Northwest Bancorporation, the holding company for Inland Northwest Bank.

Bonanzino succeeds William Shelby, who will retire from the board in 2013. Shelby has been chairman since 1995 and a board member since the bank was founded in 1989.

Bonanzino is the chief executive officer of the Institute for Systems Medicine, and is the former CEO of Hollister Stier Laboratories. He has been on the board since 2008 and was elected vice chairman last year.

The board also waived the corporation’s age eligibility requirement in order to make member Harlan Douglass eligible for re-election by shareholders at their next annual meeting. The bylaws say board members cannot seek re-election if they will turn 75 within their next three-year term.

Douglass has been a director since 1989.

Bert Caldwell

Advantage IQ buys Seattle company

Advantage IQ, a subsidiary of Avista that helps client companies manage their energy bills, will buy a similar company in Seattle.

Building Knowledge Networks works with building managers on energy efficiency. Last year, the company had about $1 million in revenues.

Company co-founders Jay Marshall and Mike Willson will take jobs with Advantage IQ after the sale closes.

Becky Kramer

J. Crew shareholders reject settlement

NEW YORK – Shareholders who sued clothing chain J. Crew Group Inc. over its $3 billion takeover by two private equity firms have rejected the company’s $10 million settlement proposal.

In a letter filed to Delaware Chancery Court, the dissenting shareholders’ lawyer said Monday that J. Crew sought to “undermine the benefits” for shareholders of the settlement, which included $10 million for the plaintiffs, due after the buyout closes.

The settlement also extended the deadline for competing offers by a month to Feb. 15, and it reduced to $20 million the fee that J. Crew would pay the firms for canceling the deal if a better offer came along.

TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP offered $43.50 per share for J. Crew in late November. The stock closed at $43.43 Tuesday.

Lawyer Stuart M. Grant told Chancery Court Judge Leo E. Strine that J. Crew officials did not create any incentives for potential bidders. Grant said the company’s “rush” to set Jan. 21 as the cut-off for shareholders eligible to vote on the buyout and for release of proxy information prior to the Feb. 15 deadline showed the company wasn’t committed to seeking other offers.

Associated Press