If you are tired of quickie how-to-succeed-in-business books, Chris Lowney has authored one that is not so ordinary it relies on the teachings of a 16th century priest to coach modern executives about leadership.

And on Aug. 31, the former Jesuit seminarian-turned-investment-banker will tell the Westport Rotary Club all about it at its 12:15 p.m. meeting where he will be guest speaker. The meeting is open to the public.

Called “Heroic Leadership: Examples from a 450-year-old Company that Changed the World” (Loyola Press, $24.95),  Lowney’s book details how the Jesuits evolved from a 10-man “company” founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1540 to become the world’s largest religious order with 21,000 professionals.

Lowney, who left a seven-year stint as a Jesuit seminarian to become a managing director at J.P. Morgan, explores how the Jesuits have successfully grappled with challenges that test great companies—forging seamless multinational teams, motivating performance, being open to change and staying adaptable.

The company founded by Westports Martha Stewart, continuing to reshape itself while she prepares to serve a prison sentence, is moving into the ғnatural living market.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. said today it was acquiring two new publications, Body & Soul magazine and Dr. Weil’s Self Healing newsletter for $6 million in cash.

Body & Soul was published by New Age Publishing, Inc., and the newsletter was published by Thorne Communications, Inc. Janesse Bruce, the CEO of both, will continue to run the Body & Soul brand for MSO, the company said.

Body & Soul, founded in 1974 as the New Age Journal, covers healthy eating, exercise, natural medicine and mental health, among other topics. The magazine, which changed its name in 2001, is published eight times a year and has a circulation of 200,000.

Westport’s Triple Point Technology, Inc., a provider of commodity and energy trading solutions, has completed a buyback of Cinergy’s minority ownership stake, it was announced today.

Cinergy, a licensee and major user of the company’s “XL” technology platform for energy supply and trading, made the investment in December 2000 to provide financial strength and R&D capital to Triple Point as it embarked on a five-year expansion plan.

Since receiving the funding, Triple Point has invested heavily in technological and product advancement, has revamped and modernized its product line, and now offers the market’s only fully-integrated next-generation multi-asset class commodity solutions, the company said.

Cinergy will remain a client and licensee of Triple Point.

The company founded by Westport’s Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO)—posted a wider loss than Wall Street expected in the second quarter today and warned of bigger-than-expected losses in the third quarter.

The company has seen its profits and revenues decrease since its founder and former chairman got entangled in what eventually resulted in her sentencing last month on obstruction of justice chargers.

In a move to focus on the company’s strongest assets, the New York-based company also announced that it will eliminate its direct commerce business by the end of the year.

But the company said it will continue with its direct-to-consumer floral business, marthaflowers, as well as its content Web site, www.marthastewart.com.

Westport resident, Frank M. Lupo, AIA, has been named senior associate at Fox & Fowle Architects. The New York firm is best known for its innovative skyscraper designs for Conde Nast and Reuters building in Times Square. 

Lupo has more than 20 years of design experience with an extensive portfolio of award- winning corporate, health care, science, technology and education projects.

His current projects include two mixed-use residential towers in midtown Manhattan. 

Prior to joining Fox & Fowle,. Lupo served as design director at Perkins & Will, an associate at Skidmore Owings and Merrill, and was a partner at New York Architects.

GE Commercial Finance Global Media & Communications announced today that it has arranged a $220 million senior debt facility for Westport-based Cygnus Business Media, a leading, diversified business-to-business media company. The facility closed July 13.

Cygnus Business Media has a portfolio of more than 200 media products reaching five million business professionals annually within 15 major markets.

The company has four divisions—Cygnus Publishing, Cygnus Expositions, Cygnus Interactive, and Cygnus Custom Marketing—with offerings including leading business publications, tradeshows, conferences, Web sites, online products, and custom marketing capabilities.

GE Commercial Finance committed to and underwrote two thirds of the facility with Union Bank of California underwriting the remainder, according to an announcement.

“Cygnus has delivered exceptional performance during a very challenging period for business-to-business media companies,” said Paul Mackler, president and chief executive officer, Cygnus Business Media.

A Westport nursing home and six other similar facilities around the state have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plan to lay off employees Saturday as they reorganize.

In addition to Westport, the homes in Danbury, Darien, Milford, Newington, Stamford, and Wethersfield are owned by Hackensack N.J.-based Care Realty.

The company hopes to reorganize the homes’ finances and emerge stronger, according to company spokeswoman Ann Collette.

The Westport facility, Westport Health Care Center, is at 1 Burr Road and formerly was known as Mediplex of Westport. It has 120 beds.

Westport’s Playtex Products Inc. is losing its CEO. Michael Gallagher plans to retire by the end of the year or when a successor is named, the personal care products company said today.

The company, with its corporate headquarters in the Nyala Farms office complex just off I-95, has been struggling to compete against larger companies like Procter & Gamble Co.

Playtex said it will look for a successor to Gallagher, 58, outside the company.

Gallagher’s contract was due to expire at the end of this month, according to the company’s annual proxy report.

Westport’s Martha Stewart, the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., has sold 75,000 shares and plans to sell an additional 425,000 shares to pay for expenses tied to her obstruction of justice trial.

The sale is liquidating less than 2 percent of her ownership position in Martha Stewart Living, said a spokeswoman for Stewart, Brooke Morganstein.

The transactions would bring proceeds of $4.67 million based on Thursday’s closing price of $9.33 a share.

Stewart, 62, faces up to 16 months in prison for hindering investigations into why she sold ImClone Systems Inc. shares a day before federal regulators rejected the company’s colon cancer drug.

Westport’s Cygnus Business Media, one of the nation’s leading business-to-business media companies, announced today that Ken Fisher has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO).

Fisher will report directly to the company’s president and CEO Paul Mackler and be based at its Westport headquarters at 830 Post Road East.

He fills the vacancy created by Carl Fazio who will assist in the transition, then assume his new responsibilities as CFO and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of The Daily Racing Form.

“Ken’s broad B2B media experience, strong financial and systems expertise and business savvy are important assets that he brings to Cygnus,” said Mackler.