herb....looks like you're pretty lonely here! i like CPC, and i'm adding to my position today. this is a great long term hold, imho.
rhonda
Central Parking Agrees to Divestitures in Acquisition
Washington, March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Central Parking Corp., the nation's largest parking company, agreed to sell lots and garages in 18 cities to settle a U.S. Justice Department suit challenging its proposed $585 million purchase of Allright Holdings Inc.
''We consider this combination to be a significant step forward for Central Parking,'' said company Chairman Monroe J. Carell Jr. ''We have developed a comprehensive plan for combining the two companies.''
The Nashville, Tennessee-based company agreed to the divestitures in a consent decree that settles the Justice Department's complaint. Without the divestitures, the combination of the nation's two largest parking companies would have hurt competition, the Justice Department said.
''Central was aware that its acquisition raised competitive concerns and agreed to fix the problem,'' said Joel Klein, the Justice Department's antitrust chief. ''The agreed-upon divestitures will ensure that consumers who drive into central business districts will not suffer as a result of this merger.''
The government's complaint said that because the companies owned parking lots and garages in many of the same cities, ''the merged entity would have a dominant market share'' in local markets. The government's suit said Central and Houston-based Allright are two of only four national parking companies.
The Justice Department's complaint quoted an unidentified Allright manager as writing, ''the market is split between Allright and Central with both having ownership in many high profile properties.''
A Million Spaces
The divestitures by Central Parking include about 18,000 parking spaces out of more than 1 million in 2,400 garages and lots operated by the company. Allright has 2,300 parking facilities with nearly 600,000 spaces. In the 1997 fiscal year, the two companies had combined revenue of more than $400 million.
Among the cities where the companies will sell parking garages and lots are New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Cleveland, San Francisco, Baltimore, San Antonio, Kansas City, and Miami.
Allright is controlled by Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund II LP, which is led by William Mack, and AEW Partners LP, which is managed by AEW Capital Management LP.
Trading was halted in shares of Central Parking after the Justice Department's lawsuit was placed in the public record at the U.S. District Court without the proposed consent decree and details of the lawsuit were reported by Bloomberg News.
Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said the attorney in the case filed the complaint and the proposed consent decree simultaneously. She could not explain why both documents were not placed in the public record. Officials of the clerk's office at the U.S. District Court were not available for comment.
Shares had fallen 2 15/16 to 31 3/4 when trading was halted. After trading resumed, the stock recovered and closed at 34 1/16, down 5/8 for the day.
18:36:03 03/16/1999
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