Merger collapse puts Partners in tight spot

Partners HealthCare will have to tread carefully on any future expansion, or risk a takedown attempt by Attorney General Maura Healey, a hospital expert predicted yesterday.

"If Partners keeps on attacking and capturing more land, the AG may say, you know these folks are out of control and they're far too big to allow competition to survive in Massachusetts," said Boston University professor Alan Sager. "If they continue down that road, they may well risk the AG suing to break them up into two parts."

Partners' options are limited after Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders rejected the deal allowing Partners to merge with South Shore, Lawrence Memorial and Melrose-Wakefield hospitals.

It can forge ahead with the merger anyway, engaging in a bare-knuckles legal brawl with an eager new AG. But that could take one to two years in the courts, not including any appeals, said Tasneem Chipty, an antitrust economics expert at Analysis Group.

"If you had two small organizations trying to merge, there would be no issue at all," said Chipty. "You only see close scrutiny, which could become litigious, in situations where one or both parties are quite big. Obviously, Partners is big."

Partners and Healey could also go back to the drawing board on an agreement more palatable to the court than the one former Attorney General Martha Coakley negotiated, but that would also likely be a multiyear process.

Partners could also abandon the deal altogether, or drop individual hospitals from the merger.

Partners CEO Gary Gottlieb is scheduled to step down July 1. It's reasonable to assume Partners would wait to make sure its new CEO is on board with whatever next step it chooses. Partners had no comment yesterday.

Still unknown is what Healey's takedown of the Partners deal could mean for other hospitals, including Boston Medical Center and Tufts Medical Center, which are in talks to merge.

Healey said yesterday she'll be watching the potential deal closely.

"If an agreement between Boston Medical Center and Tufts Medical Center is proposed, our office fully expects to review the transaction," said Christopher Loh, spokesman for Healey. "We remain committed to tackling the challenge of controlling health-care costs while also promoting quality and access."

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Super Bowl commercials look to steal the show

Enough with all the hype and controversy. It's time to get the Super Bowl started so we can finally see ... the ads.

Budweiser's back with its puppy — this time being saved by the iconic Clydesdales. So too are GoDaddy and Carl's Jr. and their titillating twists.

Newcastle, Pizza Hut, Doritos, McDonald's and Snickers will share time with a host of new pitches that aim for the heart. Alas, even Kim Kardashian and Pete Rose take comedic turns for T-Mobile and Skechers, respectively.

"Comedy has always been a staple of Super Bowl ads, but we've seen a rise in more emotional ads, like the Budweiser puppy," said Eric Fulwiler, account director at the Boston ad agency Mullen.

Budweiser's puppy commercials have proven so popular that GoDaddy spoofed them, but this week pulled its ad after animal advocates argued that it promoted puppy mills. GoDaddy promises a new one that will make you laugh.

Bruce Mittma, of the Needham ad agency Mittcom says the backlash was probably precisely what GoDaddy anticipated.

"Obviously, it was never intended to be run; it was only intended to create a lot of pre-Super Bowl chatter, and at that, it succeeded," Mittman said. "More and more companies are fighting for visibility before Super Bowl commercials even air. It's a contest for visibility and water cooler conversation. And GoDaddy got both."

There also will be 15 new Super Bowl advertisers this year, the most since 2000, before the economy slumped. Advertising experts say the rookie interest in Super Bowl ads is a positive sign that companies are feeling more secure.

Skittles has had a major presence at NFL games thanks to Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch's professed love of the candy. The brand became an official NFL sponsor this season, and decided to advertise during the big game for the first time — even before they knew the Seahawks would be playing, said Matt Montei, senior marketing director for confections at Skittles maker Wrigley. The ad focuses on how Skittles settles differences.

Wix.com, which hosts customizable websites and went public in 2013, goes for laughs in its 30-second spot featuring retired football players starting amusing fictional businesses. Brett Favre, for instance, launches a processed meat venture called "Favre and Carve."

"One of the interesting trends is most brands are trying to create a broader digital experience," Fulwiler said. "It's not just about what you do on TV for those 30 seconds. It's about the buzz you get on social media."

On a serious note, an anti-domestic violence commercial will have a high-profile spot during the game after a year of scandals in the NFL.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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Shake Shack shares more than double in stock market debut

NEW YORK — Wall Street went wild for burgers Friday.

Shares of Shake Shack, a burger chain that started as a New York City hot dog cart, more than doubled in their first day of trading.

The company raised $105 million in its initial public offering Thursday, selling 5 million shares at $21 per share. It had initially forecast that its shares would fetch $14 to $16 per share from investors, and raised that prediction to $17 to $19 per share on Wednesday as demand grew.

Shake Shack is known for its burgers, milkshakes and crinkle-cut fries. Its journey from a hot dog cart in Manhattan's Madison Square Park to Wall Street started in 2001. Three years later, Union Square Hospitality Group, a company owned by restaurateur Danny Meyer, opened a kiosk in the same park. Restaurants throughout New York City followed, and in 2010, it ventured out of its hometown for the first time with a Miami restaurant.

It now has 63 locations, mostly on the East Coast, with plans for more.

Shares of Shake Shack Inc. rose $24.90, or 118 percent, to close at $45.90 Friday.

Here's what you need to know about the burger joint's sizzling debut:

WHY DID THE STOCK POP?

Shake Shack feeds into investors' growing appetite for restaurants that are quick but also serve food consumers think is healthier or fresher than what a fast-food chain offers.

Americans' tastes have been changing. They are trading fast-food joints, such as McDonald's, for ones that tout their fresh ingredients, such as burrito chain Chipotle. Shake Shack's IPO comes on the same week McDonald's Corp. announced it is replacing CEO Don Thompson with its chief brand officer, Steve Easterbrook. The world's largest burger chain has been struggling with falling sales as it faces completion from smaller rivals, such as Shake Shack and Five Guys.

Shake Shack cooks its burgers to order and promotes its use of natural ingredients, including hormone- and antibiotic-free beef. Long lines are common, and guests are given vibrating pagers that signal when an order is ready.

Investors view these types of restaurants, known as "fast-casual" chains, as a fast-growing sector. Many tend to be regional chains that plan to expand around the country.

Another likely reason for the huge demand: Shake Shack's New York roots.

"There isn't anyone on Wall Street who hasn't tried their burgers and shakes," said Kathleen Smith, principal at Renaissance Capital, an exchange-traded fund manager that focuses on IPOs. "It's a local favorite."

IN GOOD COMPANY

Other restaurant chains that went public over the past year also had huge first-day gains. Burger chain The Habit Restaurants Inc. soared 120 percent in its November debut. Chicken chain El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. jumped 60 percent in July and Mediterranean-style restaurant chain Zoe's Kitchen Inc. popped 65 percent in its April debut.

SMALL CHAIN, BIG FOLLOWING

Shake Shack's locations are mostly along the East Coast, but its brand has grown beyond that, thanks to social media, TV appearances and some well-known fans. President Barack Obama has dropped by a Shake Shack near the White House. "Saturday Night Live," ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and other TV shows have featured the burgers. And Shake Shack's fans on social media have swelled. It has 148,000 followers on photo- and video-sharing app Instagram, about 2,000 more than Chipotle.

CEO Randy Garutti said being based in New York helped turn Shake Shack into a global brand. There are now Shake Shacks in London, Istanbul and Moscow.

WHAT'S NEXT

The company wants to use money from the IPO to open more stores. The plan is to eventually have about 450 locations, according to the company's filling with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ten locations will open this year, Garutti said, including its first in Austin, Texas. Others are coming to Orlando, Florida and Baltimore, he said.

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Germany's Merkel says she doesn't see another Greek debt cut

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has underlined the refusal of Greece's European creditors to consider forgiving part of the debt-ridden country's rescue loans, though she stressed in an interview published Saturday that Berlin's aim is to keep Greece in the eurozone.

Greece's new government insists it will honor pre-election promises to seek a cut on the country's rescue debt and scrap painful budget measures that were demanded in exchange for the loans.

Merkel said in an interview with the daily Berliner Morgenpost that Europe will continue showing solidarity with Greece and other nations hit by Europe's debt crisis "if these countries undertake their own reform and saving efforts," and fended off a question about the new Greek government's moves to reverse reforms and rehire suspended workers.

"We — Germany and the other European partners — will now wait and see what concept the new Greek government comes to us with," she was quoted as saying. She was clear, however, about prospects of a debt cut.

Athens already was forgiven billions of euros by private creditors, Merkel said. "I don't see a further debt haircut."

As for demands that have surfaced in Greece for Germany to pay more compensation for Nazi crimes during World War II, Merkel said that "this question doesn't arise."

Merkel said she wants Greece to be successful and acknowledged that "many people there have hard times behind them."

"The aim of our policies was and is for Greece to remain a part of the euro community permanently," she said.

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Cool Southie condo tops retail space

This stylish South Boston condo isn't what you'd expect to see above a retail store, with its paneled wainscoting, sloped skylighted ceilings and private decks with panoramic city views.

The two-bedroom unit at 634 East Broadway, on the market for $629,900, is one of five condos above a former hardware store, but unlike the other condos Unit 1 has three levels and a private entrance.

The first level is the entry­way to the condo, with a marble foyer, hallway and a coat closet, and the living spaces have a reverse layout, with the living/dining/kitchen spaces on the top floor.

The unit was converted in 2005 with maple floors with cherrywood inlay, paneled wainscoting and high-end window and door moldings.

A maple staircase lined with white-paneled wainscoting leads up two flights to the main living area. The living room has paneled wainscoting and features 12-foot sloped ceilings with recessed lighting as well as speakers­ with built-in surround sound. In one corner sits a gas fireplace with a carved wood mantel and black granite hearth with a chandelier overhead. Glass doors lead out to a 200-square-foot private wooden deck with panoramic city views.

The adjacent dining/kitchen area has three skylights. The dining area also has paneled wainscoting and a chandelier and fronts on a three-part bay window. The kitchen features 22 walnut-stained cabinets and black granite counters. The General Electric refrigerator, dishwasher and gas stove are also black.

Off the living spaces is a storage closet and there's a hallway with a second closet holding a stacked GE washer/dryer and the unit's gas-fired heating and central air-conditioning system.

At the end of the hall is a half bathroom with beadboard wainscoting, a black marble floor and a pedestal sink.

Down the stairs, the second level has a step-up open-style den/home office space with maple floors and cherry­wood inlay, paneled wainscoting and crown molding. It is flanked on either side by two bedroom suites.

The rear-facing master suite features a decent-sized bedroom with recessed lighting and an overhead fan/light as well as a good-sized closet with built-in shelving. A pair of glass doors lead out to a 250-square-foot private rear deck with views of the city. The en-suite master bathroom has a marble-tile floor and ceramic tile surround for a whirlpool tub. There's a brown granite-topped wood vanity and a separate one-piece Fiberglas shower.

The second bedroom is front-facing with a three-part bay window, recessed lighting and an overhead fan/light. The en-suite bathroom has marble tile floors and walls and a brown granite-topped wood vanity. There's also a one-piece Fiberglas shower.

The unit does not come with parking, with the best option being a South Boston residential parking permit.

Home Showcase

• Address: 
624 East Broadway, Unit 1, South Boston
• Bedrooms: Two
• Bathrooms: Two full, one half
• List price: $629,900
• Square feet: 1,438
• Price per square foot: $438
• Annual taxes: $6,380
• Location: About a half mile to main South Boston retail district along West Broadway; a mile via T bus to Broadway Red Line station.
• Built In: 1899, renovated into condo 2005
• Broker: David Murdock of Campion & Co. at 617-236-0711

Pros:

• Paneled wainscoting, high-end door and window moldings
• Living room with 12-foot sloped ceilings and kitchen dining area with three skylights
• Two private decks with panoramic city views
• Both bedrooms have en-suite marble-tile bathrooms

Cons:

• Doesn't come with on-site parking space
• Bathrooms have one-piece Fiberglas showers

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The Ticker

FDA OKs Shire drug for binge-eating use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved Shire Plc's stimulant Vyvanse to treat binge-eating disorder, the first product to be approved for the condition. Shire's U.S. headquarters is based in Lexington.

Vyvanse, which is currently approved to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, generated sales of more than $1 billion in the first nine months of last year.

Dr. Flemming Ornskov, the company's chief executive officer, said in an interview that Shire's goal is to generate overall sales of $10 billion by 2020. Of that, he expects $200 million to $300 million to come from Vyvanse for binge-eating.

Casino license draws 5 applicants

The competition for Massachusetts' final casino license, reserved for the state's southeast region, is slowly coming into focus, as state regulators announced yesterday that Mass Gaming & Entertainment had met the application deadline.

The company, an affiliate of Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming, joins New York-based KG Urban Enterprises, as potential rivals for the license.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission said yesterday that it also is evaluating application extension requests from Somerset On The Move, Crossroads Massachusetts and the Seafan Trust. All five groups will be invited to address the commission at its next meeting Feb. 5.

Applicants were to submit by yesterday detailed financial information about key players and investors in their projects as well as a $400,000 non-refundable fee to defray costs of the commission's background investigation.

But only three of the five possible applicants — Mass Gaming & Entertainment, KG Urban Enterprises and Crossroads Massachusetts — have paid the required fee, the commission said. Applicants must pass the background check before they can continue to the next phase of the process, which focuses on the project proposal itself.

New Connector chief takes over Mon.

Gov. Charlie Baker's pick to head the state's health care marketplace and website is stepping into the job a few weeks earlier than planned.

Baker tapped Louis Gutierrez last week to serve as executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, which oversees the state's health insurance marketplace and website. Gutierrez, a principal at the Massachusetts-based IT consulting firm Exeter Group, was scheduled to take over the post near the end of February, but now plans to start Monday.

Interim Executive Director Maydad Cohen is expected to stay on at the connector to help manage the project through the end of the open enrollment period.

Brandeis president to step down

Brandeis University President Frederick Lawrence will step down at the end of the current school year and take a job at Yale. Lawrence made the announcement yesterday in a letter to the university community in Waltham that he looked forward to returning to full-time teaching and scholarship as a senior research scholar at Yale Law School in New Haven, Conn.

Lawrence has served as the eighth president of Brandeis since January 2011.

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LaCrosse makes play for upscale

Although the 2015 Buick LaCrosse AWD Premium 1 tips its hat to its forefathers with a thick, toothy grille and hood-mounted air vents, to steal from the
oft-quoted line: this isn't your grandfather's Buick.

Buick is making a play in the upscale full-sized car class. The simple high-waisted body cocoons you in a quiet, elegant, leather-rich interior that is trimmed in wood paneling and microsuede-draped roof pillars. At night a gentle, single blue LED marks the sweeping curve of the dash that frames the three ghostly digital gauges. Our tester was equipped with the Driver Confidence Package No. 2, which added a power moonroof with second row skylight.

The thick heated and ventilated leather seats, part of the Ultra Luxury Package, are both comfortable and handsome, particularly in the burgundy color of the tester. GM's use of the high-waist body gives the cars a powerful curb appeal and sets them apart from other manufacturers. However, I find the smaller windows as a result of the design reduce some sight lines.

With the Driver Confidence Package, the LaCrosse is a well-armed machine for all driving conditions. Lane departure, blind-spot monitors, cross- traffic alerts, in-town auto braking and adaptive cruise control all help keep you and your LaCrosse in the best motoring posture.

This full-sized cruiser is powered by a 304-horsepower 3.6-liter V­6 that turns the 19-inch wheels through a six-speed automatic. I would have loved more gears like many of its classmates to make the shifts silky smooth. The ride itself is all American. Front and rear MacPherson struts absorb bumps and on the highway the hefty Buick really holds the road and refuses to quiver when a truck swoops by. The all-wheel-drive system gives you a feeling of complete command.

Around town the LaCrosse is nimble enough to joust in the supermarket parking lot and tucks into parking spaces quite deftly. The backup camera projects on the 8-inch LCD screen and overlays a grid showing how close you are, and audible tones remind you you've gone far enough.

In addition to the huge list of safety features, the OnStar-based hotspot lets you stay connected. Bluetooth wireless for the phone and music players rounds out the connectivity and the Bose surround-sound stereo is concert quality.

The LaCrosse MSRP is $40,500, and with three different upgrade packages our tester quotes out at $49,475. Gas mileage is rated at 17 in the city and 26 on the highway and my mostly local driving netted about 22 on average.

So Buick has a player in the large car market and this was an easy and relaxing car to drive. If you are shopping the Toyota Avalon, Chrysler 300, Hyundai Genesis, Ford Taurus and even its stablemate the Chevy Impala, the excellent ride and rich feature options are good reasons to consider the Buick.

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Boston agrees to keep Uber ride data locked up

Boston has agreed to keep secret detailed data from every Uber ride in the city, according to a contract between the city and the company.

The agreement, obtained by the Herald through a public records request, appears to comply with a specific exemption in Massachusetts state law, which says data that is voluntarily provided to governments does not fall under public records law.

"The data constitutes Uber's trade secrets or commercial or financial information voluntarily provided to the city for use in developing governmental policy and upon a promise of confidentiality," said Bonnie McGilpin, a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh. She said the city is in the process of analyzing the data.

That means details of the "tens of thousands of Uber rides on the streets of Boston every day," according to the report, will not be made public. The agreement also requires the city to inform Uber when the data is requested by a third party.

Taylor Bennett, a spokesman for Uber, said the data contains information that could be useful to Uber's competitors.

"It's a foundation of the business and how we operate and sharing it will expose competitive disadvantages," Bennett said. "That's the formula we use to improve, and when we reveal that, that's data that competition can use."

Uber announced several weeks ago that it would be sharing trip data. The city said it would be useful for making policy decisions on transportation, development and infrastructure.

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Barack Obama eyes gene therapy growth

President Obama's 
$215 million plan to expand research for cancer treatments to fit each individual's genetic makeup could mark a major shift in modern medicine, according to local geneticists.

"I think there may be a tipping point soon when people realize genomic medicine is valuable, and this may be part of it," said George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. "This seems to be part of a grass-roots groundswell that will lead to everyone wanting to have access to their genomic data."

The effort, which Obama called the "precision medicine initiative," would study the genes of about a million volunteers to figure out how to personalize treatments for patients instead of using the same approach for each condition.

"Doctors have always recognized that every patient is unique, and doctors have always tried to tailor their treatments as best they can to individuals," Obama said yesterday at the White House as he announced the initiative. "You can match a blood transfusion to a blood type. That was an important discovery. What if matching a cancer cure to our genetic code was just as easy, just as standard?"

The initiative will be in the budget Obama sends to Congress on Monday.

The president said the effort would provide the National Cancer Institute funds to identify genetic factors that cause cancer to help develop sophisticated new treatments. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration would also receive money to evaluate next-generation genetic tests.

Dr. Robert Green, a medical geneticist and physician-scientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said the effort is "something that the field has yearned for for many years."

"It'll be a wonderful accelerator of progress," he said.

He added that while there is some skepticism about whether the field is solid enough now to invest in, "this is exactly what is needed to take us to the point where we can start proving the worth of genomic medicine."

Local biotech executives, including from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Foundation Medicine, were at the White House event.

"Discovering and developing precision medicine requires time and teamwork," Vertex said in a statement. "This new initiative is an important first step in that process."

Church, who founded Harvard's Personal Genome Project — a database of information from several thousand people — said the researchers should have "no shortage" of people willing to have their genomes sequenced.

"We have 10,000 or so," said Church. "It could easily scale if all the infrastructure is in there."

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NASA launches Earth-observing satellite

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — A NASA satellite lifted off early Saturday on a three-year mission to track the amount of water locked in soil, which may help residents in low-lying regions brace for floods or farmers prepare for drought conditions.

A Delta 2 rocket carrying the Soil Moisture Active Passive — or SMAP — satellite launched shortly before sunrise from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's central coast.

As the rocket zoomed skyward, it gave off an orange glow.

About an hour later, the satellite successfully separated from the rocket and began unfurling its solar panels to start generating power.

NASA launch manager Tim Dunn said there were zero launch problems with the rocket, calling Delta 2 a "workhorse."

Once the satellite reaches the desired orbit 430 miles high, engineers will spend two weeks checking out the two instruments, which will measure moisture in the soil every several days to produce high-resolution global maps.

Scientists hope data collected by the satellite, the latest to join NASA's Earth-orbiting fleet, will improve flood forecasts and drought monitoring.

Currently, drought maps and flash flood guidance issued by the federal government are based on computer modeling. SMAP will take real-time measurements that can be incorporated into forecasts, said Dara Entekhabi, mission science team leader from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The rocket was supposed to fly earlier this week, but high winds and technical problems kept it grounded.

JPL manages the $916 million mission, which is designed to last at least three years.

Besides the satellite, the rocket also carried three research nanosatellites for JPL, Montana State University and California Polytechnic State University. More than 100 university students took part in designing and building the tiny satellites known as CubeSats.

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