Headlines: Univision, Homes, Queen Mary

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Investors Miss Deadline to Bid on Univision

What if billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio held an auction and nobody came? On Tuesday, two groups of investors that had been expected to bid for Perenchio’s Spanish-language media company Univision Communications Inc. missed the afternoon submission deadline, though both had worked into the night to solidify their offers, the Los Angeles Times reports. One group, which includes Mexican media conglomerate Grupo Televisa, was restructuring its proposal after a key partner , private equity firm Carlyle Group , unexpectedly withdrew, sources close to the matter confirmed. The other group, which includes billionaire Haim Saban, was trying to agree on a price late Tuesday. Wall Street analysts predicted that the surprise no-shows indicated that if and when bids are made, they will probably be less than Perenchio had hoped for when he put Univision up for sale in February. Sources close to the auction cautioned that Tuesday’s developments did not mean that it was over. In fact, both teams are expected to submit their offers as early as today. Such delays are not uncommon when there are so many investors involved.





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Home Sales Slowdown Could Settle In for a Stay


Reflecting the mushrooming crop of “for sale” signs popping up in the region, Southern California home sales in May fell to their lowest level for that month in seven years while prices flattened, the Los Angeles Times reports. The region’s median home price of $485,000 in May was virtually the same as in March and April and only 6.4% above the level a year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based research firm. That was the smallest year-over-year price gain since July 2000, coming during a month that normally is one of the busiest for home sales. The data portray a region in which the housing slowdown has become more pronounced. But a widely watched report suggested that there was no reason to panic , at least for now. The UCLA Anderson Forecast said in its latest quarterly outlook to be released today that home prices probably would not fall much from current levels. The UCLA forecast said the cooling housing market was more likely to lead to slower growth for California’s economy, but not a recession.





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QM Operation May Go To Auction


After more than a year in bankruptcy court, the company that leases the historic Queen Mary is expected to be put on the auction block by the year’s end, according to a status report filed Tuesday by the company’s bankruptcy trustee, Long Beach Press Telegram reports. Queen’s Seaport Development Inc., in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since March 2005, failed to find an acceptable buyer prior to the court’s appointment of trustee Howard Ehrenberg two months ago. But Ehrenberg said Tuesday he is confident that, through an “auction-style sale,” he will find “at least one, and probably several qualified bidders who will pay an amount sufficient to pay all the debts of the estate in full.” Still, Ehrenberg warned, bidding to operate the Queen Mary won’t bear much resemblance to a Sotheby’s art auction. There will be no paddles, no fast-talking auctioneers. And the winner, which will take over operations of the city-owned ship and development rights to the land surrounding it, will inherit at least $42 million in debt.





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Limits Backed on Cell-Phone Use by Drivers


Despite arguments that it might be unenforceable, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday backed state legislation that would allow drivers to use only hands-free cell phones, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. “People are busy talking on the phone or using their PDAs in cars,” Councilman Dennis Zine said. “We need to look at anything that will have them concentrate on their driving.” The measure, SB 1613, introduced by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, is the fifth attempt to ban motorists’ use of hand-held phones while driving. Modeled after a New York City law, the legislation would fine drivers using hand-held cell phones from $20 to as much as $50 beginning in July 2008.





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Homeowners Beginning To Feel Squeezed


The dream of homeownership may be slowly evaporating for some residents who find themselves locked into hybrid, adjustable-rate mortgages, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports. As more ARMs adjust upward and housing prices begin to dip, many Americans can’t refinance and are finding themselves facing monthly payments that are too high. If they can’t meet those payments, foreclosure – the legal process by which the lender repossesses the house because the owner has defaulted on payments – is often the only way out. In the last several years, millions of Americans took equity out of their houses and refinanced when interest rates were at historical lows and housing prices were at record highs. Many chose to refinance into hybrid ARMs that lenders were aggressively pushing. ARMs, which featured a low introductory interest rate that resets upward after a set period of time, were easier to qualify for than traditional fixed-rate loans. ARMs are now starting to fall by the wayside as the difference in interest rates narrows. The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate loan in May was 6.60percent compared to 5.63 percent on a one-year ARM, according to Freddie Mac.





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Valley Group Lauds City National, Toyota


City National Bank and Toyota Motor Corp. were recognized Tuesday with the 2006 Eddy Award by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. for their “exceptional” influence on the regional economy, the Los Angeles Dail News reports. Based in Beverly Hills, City National is the largest bank with headquarters in Los Angeles County. A subsidiary of the publicly traded City National Corp., the bank manages and administers more than $40 billion in trusts and assets. Another company that made a profitable gamble here was Toyota, which broke into the United States auto market via Los Angeles County in 1957. “It was the smartest business decision we ever made” Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America, told LAEDC board members this winter. “The reason is Southern California is the capital of car culture in the United States.” During the two years after Toyota arrived in Torrance, Nissan and Honda established U.S. manufacturing plants here, too. Nissan is in the process of moving operations to Tennessee, but Press told the LAEDC that Toyota is here to stay.





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