Boeing Flies High at Show
Boeing Co. landed nearly $5.2 billion worth of orders during last week’s Farnsborough International ’98 show in England, the top event of the year in the aerospace industry.
Among the firm commitments was an order for 17 jets of various models by Los Angeles-based International Lease Finance Corp. with a list price of around $900 million. ILFC, which buys aircraft and leases them to carriers, also ordered $1.8 billion worth of jets from Boeing arch-rival Airbus Industrie.
In fact, European consortium Airbus apparently came out ahead in the new-order competition at the show, signing orders for planes with a list value of $6.7 billion.
Murdoch Makes Soccer Play
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has launched a bid to increase his sports empire, agreeing to pay more than $1 billion for England’s most popular soccer team.
The deal, accepted by the board of Manchester United, a soccer team that is also a publicly held company, would give Murdoch’s News Corp. a highly profitable franchise and further his bid to own both the teams and the distribution apparatus for sports programming beamed around the world. Murdoch, who makes his home base in Los Angeles, is also studying plans to form a new European soccer league.
The deal could still be derailed, however, by the British Parliament. Some influential members have accused Murdoch of forming a sports monopoly in England, and have called for intense government scrutiny of the acquisition.
Overcrowded Bus Admission
Top officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have admitted for the first time that the agency is out of compliance with a federal court order to reduce the number of standing passengers on its bus fleet.
Bus riders have for weeks been staging a protest against the MTA, with passengers often refusing to pay for service until their demands for more buses are met. The admission from MTA that federal standards are not being met came during a closed-door meeting with representatives of the bus riders’ group last week.
In order to settle a 1996 civil rights lawsuit, the MTA board agreed to a requirement that there be no more than an average of 15 passengers without seats on its buses during peak hours. The agency’s non-compliance means it may now face an order to buy more buses making it difficult for the MTA to complete its subway extension to North Hollywood.
Spelling Sells Video Rights
In order to concentrate more on television production, Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. has sold the licensing and distribution rights to its home-video library.
Spelling held an auction for the rights, which were awarded last week to Artisan Entertainment for an undisclosed price. The seven-year deal covers about 3,000 titles, including such classics as “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “High Noon” and 49 John Wayne features. It also includes modern features like “Stephen King’s Thinner” and home-video releases of TV series such as “Twin Peaks.”
“The completion of this transaction will allow us to direct our management and capital resources to our television divisions, which are operating at their highest levels,” said Spelling President Peter Bachmann.
Amgen Starts Human Testing
Amgen Inc. has begun human testing on a promising new drug designed to battle osteoporosis.
Osteoprotegin, or OPG, is designed to regulate bone mass, thus helping fight the effects of a disease that breaks down bone tissue and makes bones brittle particularly among elderly women. If the drug is successful, analysts project that it could generate up to $1 billion a year for Thousand Oaks-based Amgen.
However, it will take some time for the company to complete all its trials on the drug likely as long as five years.
Gaming Deal Approved
Shareholders of Casino Magic Corp. have approved the gaming firm’s acquisition by Hollywood Park Inc., for a combination of cash and assumed debt with an aggregate value of about $340 million.
Marlin F. Torguson, chairman of Casino Magic, will become a member of the board of directors of Inglewood-based Hollywood Park following the deal, which awaits approval from regulators.
The combined company will have combined assets of about $800 million. Hollywood Park will pay $2.27 for each of Casino Magic’s 35.7 million outstanding shares.
Big Gift for City of Hope
The City of Hope National Medical Center has received its largest gift ever for capital improvements, a $10 million donation from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
The gift is intended to pay for a new clinical research hospital, which will feature six floors with three pavilions providing 150 beds. It will specialize in cancer treatment, and feature an interfaith Spiritual Center for patients, visitors and families. Groundbreaking is expected in 1999.
Los Angeles-based City of Hope was recently named a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute, the organization’s highest designation.
Reliance Buys Metal Processor
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. contributed to an ongoing consolidation in the metals industry by announcing a deal to acquire Lusk Metals for an undisclosed amount.
Lusk, which purchases aluminum plate and sheet metal and processes it to customer specifications, would be the fourth acquisition of the year for Los Angeles-based Reliance. Hayward-based Lusk had revenues of about $30 million in its fiscal year ended Feb. 28.
Reliance is one of several public companies in the metal-processing industry that are rapidly buying up smaller firms. It owns 61 processing and distribution facilities in 20 states.
Compiled by Dan Turner
