Compiled from reports by the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News Service,
Reuters and Washington Post staff writers
Thursday, December 24, 1998; Page D01
General Motors plans to raise about $1.5 billion in a public stock offering as
part of the spinoff of its big auto parts subsidiary, Delphi Automotive
Systems. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Delphi, the
world's largest auto parts supplier, said it expected a price of $14 to $18 for
each of the 100 million shares to be initially sold, probably between January
and March.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Federal Trade Commission officials assured
him they would conduct a "serious investigation" of Barnes and Noble's
proposed $600 million purchase of Ingram Book Group, the country's largest
book distributor. Wyden, who serves on the Senate Commerce Committee,
said the agency is devoting considerable resources to the investigation. Rival
booksellers, including Amazon.com, have strongly objected to the proposed
deal, arguing that it would lead to higher prices.
International Business Machines and Microsoft have been named in federal
lawsuits charging them with selling products that are not year 2000 compliant.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs said the two lawsuits, which seek class action status,
allege the companies knew or should have known certain of their products
would mistake the last two digits in the year 2000 for 1900. IBM and
Microsoft representatives weren't immediately available for comment. The
suits, filed in federal district court in Chicago, seek damages as well as notice
and correction of the defect without charge.
Chase Manhattan Bank and J.P. Morgan & Co. were named as defendants in a
lawsuit accusing banks with Paris branches of banding with the Nazis to steal
millions of dollars in Jewish assets during World War II. The suit does not
seek specific damages, and a plaintiffs' attorney said he hoped the banks would
settle the claims out of court. In a statement, Chase called the filing
unnecessary; J.P. Morgan said bank officials "understand the seriousness of
this issue, and we'll certainly look into these allegations with care."
Kenny Rogers Roasters Restaurants, which is operating under bankruptcy
protection, has received a $1 million cash bid from the Nathan's Famous hot
dog chain. Nathan's said the purchase, which still must be approved by
creditors and the bankruptcy court, is contingent on a minimum of 30 of
Kenny Rogers' 38 franchisees agreeing to the terms. There is still another
offer on the table: In November, Franchise Management International, owner
of the Juicy Lucy's hamburger restaurants, made a $1 million offer with
different conditions from the Nathan's plan.
The New York Stock Exchange, in tune with the globalization of financial
markets, will begin trading ordinary shares of foreign companies in addition
to American depositary receipts by mid-2000, NYSE Chairman Richard
Grasso said. An ADR is a receipt for a security that physically remains in a
foreign country, usually in the custody of a bank there. Each ADR represents
a number of ordinary shares.
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint against Florida-based
Crown Communications alleging it billed customers nationwide for phone
entertainment services they did not order. The company often had charges for
entertainment services such as psychic hot lines appear on the phone bill as a
charge for a long-distance or collect call, the FTC said. Crown, headquartered
in Florida, referred inquiries about the case to New York attorney Joel
Dichter, who could not be reached for comment.
Kimberly-Clark plans to increase its overseas health-care business with the
acquisition of Ballard Medical Products, a maker of internal feeding devices,
stomach pumps and other products, for $764 million in stock.
Kimberly-Clark, the giant maker of Kleenex and Huggies diapers, had sales of
$12.55 billion last year.
Biogen, a leading biotechnology company, said chief executive James Tobin
had unexpectedly resigned for personal reasons unrelated to company
operations or results. James Vincent, who will remain chairman while also
assuming Tobin's posts of president and chief executive, gave that assurance
during a conference call to Wall Street analysts about the surprise resignation.
Investor jitters drove Biogen's closing share price down $7.06, to $79.81, in
exceptionally heavy trading of almost 18 million shares on the Nasdaq.
Zapata, which scrapped plans to turn itself into an Internet company two
months ago, said it is ready to try again. The maker of fish oil and sausage
casings said it was reactivating its online plan in light of the recent dramatic
run-up in Internet stock prices. The company, originally an oil drilling
business founded in 1953 by former President George Bush, said a subsidiary,
Zap, will develop an Internet brand name and a network of sites.
Ford said its assembly plant in Wixom, Mich., will be closed for more than
two weeks to retool for the new Lincoln luxury sedan, which the automaker
hopes will draw younger buyers to the Lincoln brand. Ford said last week that
its assembly plant in Wayne, Mich., would be closed Dec. 21 to Jan. 19 to
retool for the Escort's replacement, the Ford Focus. Production of the new
small car is scheduled to begin next fall.
Rohn Industries, an Illinois manufacturer of cellular phone equipment, said it
agreed to acquire PiRod Holdings of Indiana, a closely held
telecommunications equipment maker, for $30 million plus $50 million in
assumed debt.
INTERNATIONAL
Canadian officials are deciding whether to appeal a ruling that effectively
discourages shipments of Canadian pre-drilled stud lumber into the United
States. Court of International Trade Judge Judith M. Barzilay ruled last week
that the Customs Service correctly classified the studs as falling under a
U.S.-Canada trade agreement. The studs are therefore subject to quotas and
tariffs. "We were very disappointed with the ruling," Canadian Embassy
spokeswoman Pam Chappell said.
RECALLS
Kmart agreed to recall 132,000 electric Christmas tree angels because of a fire
hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. Consumers were
advised to immediately stop using the ornaments and return them to Kmart for
a refund.
Infiniti, the luxury car division of Japan's Nissan, said it recalling 1991 and
1992 Q45 automobiles, because of the possibility that short circuits will occur
in stereo amplifiers, causing speakers to catch fire. The recall covers 28,970
vehicles in the United States and 609 in Canada. The company is
recommending that owners avoid using the stereo until the speaker is fixed.
There have been about a dozen fires related to the problem, with two causing
significant damage to the vehicle, but no injuries have been reported, Nissan
said. Infiniti said it will begin contacting owners in January to schedule
repairs.
EARNINGS
Micron Technology, battered by falling prices for its computer memory chips,
posted a $46 million loss for its fiscal first quarter, compared with a profit of
$6.5 million a year earlier. The results for the most recent quarter worked out
to a loss of 19 cents a diluted share, which was better than analysts' prediction
of a loss of 28 cents a share, according to First Call. |
