News on CNC here:
Conseco May Name Ex-GE Capital Head Wendt
Chairman (Update1)
By Dan Lonkevich
Carmel, Indiana, June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Conseco Inc., whose shares have
plunged 65 percent this year, could hire former General Electric Capital Corp.
Chairman and Chief Executive Gary C. Wendt as its new chairman and chief
executive before the end of the week, according to people familiar with the
matter.
Conseco hopes to reach an agreement with GE Capital that would remove
restrictions placed on Wendt when he left his position as chairman and CEO
in December 1998. GE Capital would release Wendt from restrictions that
prevent him from working for a rival in exchange for an equity stake in
Conseco.
Colin Devine, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, said hiring Wendt could
help turn around Conseco's insurance operations, which have posted lower
than expected earnings for the past two quarters.
``Would hiring someone of Wendt's stature be positive? Absolutely,'' said
Devine. ``Investors should temper their exuberance by factoring in'' what
Conseco will have to pay to hire Wendt and how much it will need to raise to
recapitalize its insurance operations, he said. Devine said Conseco needs at
least $2 billion in fresh capital.
Wendt couldn't be reached for comment. James Rosensteele, a Conseco
spokesman, said the company had no comment on its CEO search. John
Oliver, a GE Capital spokesman, declined to comment.
GE Capital
Wendt helped turn GE Capital into the world's biggest non- bank finance
company, spending 12 years at the helm of the unit before resigning in
December 1998. During Wendt's tenure, GE Capital went from $24 billion in
assets to more than $300 billion and became General Electric's biggest
division.
Stamford, Connecticut-based GE Capital now has assets of more than $345
billion with 28 businesses that range from financing locomotives and jet-aircraft
to credit cards to insurance. It accounted for $55.75 billion of General
Electric's $111.63 billion in sales last year.
Wendt most recently set up Global Opportunity Advisors LLC, a $2 billion fund
to invest in Japanese companies, an expertise honed his last years at GE
Capital. Earlier this month the Financial Times reported that Wendt had
scrapped the fund. |
