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To: Findit who wrote (14297)	10/1/2003 9:36:29 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

74,000 Verizon managers offered buyout> Verizon Communications Inc. has offered a voluntary severance package to all of its 74,000 non-union management employees, part of a bid to slash costs as competitors and rival technologies nibble away at the company's core telephone business. The buyout package, offered to managers two weeks ago and confirmed Tuesday, comes less than a month after Verizon averted a strike by its 78,000 union employees by agreeing to a five-year contract that does not include many cost-saving changes sought by the company. Verizon had mentioned employee buyouts as a cost-cutting measure last week, when the company warned investors that it would not meet profit forecasts for the remainder of 2003. Spokeswoman Sharon Cohen-Hagar said Verizon expects "several thousand" managers to accept the package, which includes two weeks of pay for each year of employment up to 35 weeks, plus a bonus ranging from $15,000 to $30,000. A typical manager may earn $75,000 a year in salary. The managers will have until Nov. 14 to decide whether they want to accept the severance deal. Those who accept will end their employment on Nov. 21. A separate buyout offer will be made to at least 12,000 retirement-eligible union technicians and call-center operators. The new accord preserved long-standing protections against layoffs and non-consensual transfers to different cities or regions, which Verizon had been determined to eliminate.

To: Findit who wrote (14297)	10/1/2003 9:37:45 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Respond to of 48461

How to run a company the right way>>(Wrigley) Wrigley shuffles top ranks with an eye on deals CEO able to focus on firm's direction By Delroy Alexander Tribune staff reporter October 1, 2003 A year after the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. lost out in its audacious bid to buy chocolate-maker Hershey Foods Corp., the Chicago chewing-gum giant said Tuesday that it was shuffling its top ranks to, in part, help the company pursue new deals. President and Chief Executive Bill Wrigley Jr.--the 39-year-old, third-generation leader of the company--will add the title of chairman of the board. Ronald Waters, the company's financial chief, will add the new role of chief operating officer, taking on many of Bill Wrigley Jr.'s operational chores. While Wrigley will have some top executives reporting directly to him, the arrangement will free him from some day-to-day responsibilities, allowing him more time to concentrate on possible acquisitions and the gummaker's long-term strategic direction. "The moves will give him a chance to focus on some bigger strategic issues and get out in the field a little bit more," said Christopher Perille, a spokesman for the company, speaking about Wrigley's elevation to chairman. "The whole change is something they've been talking about over the last year or so." Although a new deal does not appear to be in the offing, Peter Hempstead, the company's international chief, will assume a worldwide strategy and new business development role that includes focusing on mergers and acquisitions. Perille added that along with creating the role for Waters, the most significant switch was Hempstead's fresh emphasis. "I think that having gone through that process [of trying to buy Hershey] that it was important to have an individual leading the charge," said the gummaker's spokesman. "Not just on acquisitions but for integration, it's a key role and it seemed appropriate." Wall Street analysts viewed Tuesday's moves as another sign the company wants to make a deal but has not yet found the right target. "The company has posted good results since the Hershey deal fell through, so it's not like they have to do something quickly," said John McMillin, an analyst with Prudential Securities Inc. "The changes clearly free up some time for Bill to at least look at opportunities." In September 2002, the typically debt-averse, conservative Wrigley Co. surprised Wall Street with a $12.5 billion offer for a controlling stake in the Hershey Trust Co. Wrigley, the world's largest maker of gum, was not expected to bid. It came in among the higher offers--signaling a more aggressive approach to doing deals by Bill Wrigley Jr., who took over running the company in 1999. After the failure to win control of Hershey, which ultimately abandoned its sale, Wrigley said it was scouting acquisitions, looking for "brands woven into the fabric of everyday life around the world with significant value-creating aspects." Sales and profits have soared since Wrigley's appointment, aided in part by a weak dollar in many of the key countries in which the company operates. For the first six months of 2003, net sales rose 12 percent, to $1.46 billion, while first-half net earnings rose 14 percent, to $222.9 million. The management shuffle also expands the role of Gary McCullough, the head of the Americas, to include all geographic business units worldwide.