New York-based Tower Group Inc. (TWGP) has completed the acquisition of Illinois-based specialty insurer, Specialty Underwriters' Alliance Inc. (SUAI). The deal, which was previously announced during Jun 2009, cost $107 million for Tower. All the conditions contingent to the closing of the deal have been met.   The acquisition will enable Specialty Underwriters to better leverage and expand its independent general agent distribution network. The deal will allow Tower to create a separate underwriting and operational infrastructure dedicated to specialty business to take advantage of the growth opportunities in this area. The acquisition also gives Tower a Midwest regional office to support continued geographical expansion. By utilizing Specialty's underwriting staff to offer products to wholesale and retail agents in the Midwest, Tower would also expand its brokerage insurance business in a region where it did not have an operating presence. By fully leveraging the operating platform and ...

Sharps Compliance Corp. announced record revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Revenues jumped 26%, to $4.3 million, from the same quarter last year. Sharps also reported record customer billings of $4.7 million for the quarter, a 30% increase over the same period the year before.

The increase in billings came partly from contracts and patent renewals with pharmaceutical manufacturers, which are expected to continue contributing to billings and revenue growth in fiscal 2009. In addition, customer billings to retail markets increased 23% as a result of strong flu-season demand for the Sharps Disposal By Mail Systems®. There were also higher billings to the professional, commercial, and agricultural markets. The only billing declines were in the healthcare and hospitality markets.

Gross profit was $1.8 million, up 29% over the prior year period. Gross margin was 43.3% in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, a 100 basis point increase compared

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