GBFE Disney Could Buy Golden Books, Parts of Livent, CEO Eisner Says<P>New York, Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. could buy
Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc., the No. 1 U.S. children's
publisher, and parts of troubled theater company Livent Inc.,
Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner said.<P>The world's No. 2 entertainment company has ''had talks''
with Golden Books and it's possible it could make a bid to buy
the publisher of children's titles such as ''Pat the Bunny'' and
''The Poky Little Puppy,'' said Eisner, who didn't elaborate on
the nature of the discussions or likelihood of an agreement.<P>Disney isn't interested in acquiring Livent as a whole,
Eisner said last night while attending a New York event to unveil
Go Network, the company's Internet venture with Infoseek Corp.
Still, it's ''possible'' Disney could acquire some of Livent's
assets, Eisner said without elaborating.<P>Toronto-based Livent produced Broadway shows such as
''Ragtime'' and ''Show Boat.'' It owns theaters in Canada, New
York and Chicago.<P>Livent has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for
about two months as it tries to recover from accounting
irregularities that the company blames on co-founders Garth
Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb.<P>Drabinsky and Gottlieb were indicted today by a U.S. federal
grand jury and charged separately with securities-law violations
in cases alleging they mounted an eight-year scheme to inflate
the company's financial condition.<P>Former Disney president Michael Ovitz owns about 12 percent
of Livent.<P>In August, New York-based Golden Books said it had hired
investment bank Allen & Co. to explore options, including a
possible sale.<P>Livent and Golden Books weren't immediately available to
comment.<P>Disney, based in Burbank, California, fell 1 1/8 to 36 7/ |
