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Mattel Inc.
Chairman and Chief Executive Robert A. Eckert pulled in $3.6 million in salary, bonus and other compensation in 2004, according to the company’s annual proxy statement filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Eckert’s salary of $1.3 million was unchanged from 2003, but his annual bonus increased to $984,344 from $633,998. Other compensation fell to $1.4 million from nearly $11 million in 2003, when Mattel forgave $6.7 million in principal and interest from a loan it made to Eckert and gave him $4.1 million in reimbursements related to relocation expenses.
Eckert didn’t exercise any options in 2004. He was granted 375,000 options last year at a price of $16.96 per share and now owns 3.6 million shares of common stock in the El Segundo-based toy manufacturer. In addition, Eckert holds 514,101 vested deferrable restricted stock units.
– Computer Sciences Corp.
said one of its companies, DVC LLC, has been awarded a two-year $19.6 million contract by the Defense Department to develop plasma-derived protections against chemical warfare agents. Frederick, Md.-based DVC has been developing products to protect against biological threats since 1997. DVC won the contract along with Annapolis, Md.-based Baxter International Inc. The two companies will work together on the project. Computer Sciences is based in El Segundo.
– Maguire Properties Inc.
, an L.A.-based real estate investment trust, completed its $185 million acquisition of the San Diego Tech Center, a 38-acre office campus in San Diego County. The purchase was funded through cash on hand and a $133 million 10-year loan provided by Credit Suisse First Boston.
– Macerich Co.
, a Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust, paid $71.1 million to add Ridgmar Mall in Fort Worth, Texas, to its portfolio. The purchase was a joint venture with an affiliate of Chicago-based Walton Street Capital LLC. The 1.3 million-square-foot regional mall is anchored by Dillard’s, Foley’s, JC Penney, Neiman Marcus and Sears stores. Macerich said this is the second joint venture it has entered into with a Walton Street company.
– DirecTV Group Inc.
said its subsidiary, DirecTV Holdings LLC, completed a $2.5 billion senior secured credit facility. The size of the facility was increased when DirecTV elected not to proceed with an anticipated $500 million unsecured notes offering. The new facility consists of a $500 million six-year revolving credit facility, a $500 million six-year term A loan and a $1.5 billion eight-year term B loan.
DirecTV also said two of its subsidiaries, DirecTV Holdings LLC and DirecTV Financing Co., Inc., will redeem $490 million of 8 3/8-percent senior notes due 2013, representing 35 percent of the $1.4 billion aggregate principal amount outstanding. The redemption date will be May 19.
– Hilton Hotels Corp.
bought out the lease on the land under its Hilton Waikoloa Village in Hawaii for $115 million. Beverly Hills-based Hilton purchased the 62 acres from Lanpar/HTL Associates. The lease would have expired in 2061. The 1,241-room hotel opened in 1988 and was built at a cost of approximately $400 million.
– Lions Gate Entertainment
is spinning off its Canadian distribution to a newly formed company that will be run by two of its former executives, the Santa Monica-based entertainment company said in a press release. Toronto-based Maple Pictures Corp. will be managed by Brad Pelman and Laurie May, who have worked in Lion Gate’s Canadian office since 1999 and 1997, respectively. Pelman and May, together with two Canadian private equity partners, are significant shareholders of the new company.
Lions Gate will be a minority partner in Maple Pictures and will work with the new firm to distribute Lions Gate’s motion picture, television and home video product in Canada. Maple Pictures purchased a majority of Lions Gate’s interest in Christal Distribution, a number of production entities and other key Lions Gate distribution assets in Canada.
