GBFE. i am liking it.
Disney Could Buy Golden Books, Parts of Livent
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.
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.
Golden Books currently has a licensing agreement with Disney to produce books based on Disney characters and story lines.
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.
Toronto-based Livent produced Broadway shows such as ''Ragtime'' and ''Show Boat.'' It owns theaters in Toronto, Vancouver, New York and Chicago.
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.
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 results.
Former Walt Disney Co. President Michael Ovitz owns about 12 percent of Livent.
In August, New York-based Golden Books said it had hired investment bank Allen & Co. to explore options, including a possible sale.
Golden Books today said it had no comment. Livent wasn't immediately available to comment.
Disney, based in Burbank, California, fell 2 to 36. Golden Books rose 7/16 to 3/4.
16:51:02 01/13/1999
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