Arco Buys Oil Explorer
Atlantic Richfield Co. announced a $3.3 billion acquisition last week that will boost its daily oil and gas production and expand its presence in international oil exploration.
Arco has agreed to pay $29 per share, or about $2.47 billion in cash plus the assumption of around $800 million in debt, for Houston-based Union Texas Petroleum Holdings Inc. The company specializes in overseas oil exploration.
Arco officials said the deal will allow them to cut about $85 million in operating expenses from the two companies, because most of their operations are located near each other and they can consolidate personnel and equipment.
On the day the deal was announced, Arco’s stock price dropped $1.13 per share to close at $79.31, while Union Texas shares rose $8 to $28.50.
GM Gets Serious in Valley
General Motors Corp. announced a plan to place the owner of GM dealerships in the Midwest in charge of a block of 12 dealerships in the San Fernando Valley.
A new company called Rydell Automotive Group is being formed under the leadership of Wes Rydell, who owns dealerships with operations in six Midwestern states. General Motors is in the midst of consolidating dealerships in the Valley, buying up non-performing outlets and trying to convince other owners to merge into larger automotive superstores.
Rydell is expected to buy several dealerships in the Valley to create his new group, although no deals have yet been announced.
Easy Approval for Project
A Los Angeles City Council committee last week unanimously recommended spending $90 million in city money toward a huge redevelopment project in Hollywood planned by TrizecHahn Centers.
The proposal will come before the full City Council this week, but if the reaction of the committee is any indicator, it should pass easily. Council members Richard Alatorre, Rudy Svorinich and Michael Feuer approved the plan with no debate.
The proposal calls for the city to spend $60 million on a garage and $30 million on an auditorium to house the Academy Awards. The improvements would be part of a $385 million retail and office development near Mann’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard by TrizecHahn.
The city administrative officer and chief legislative analyst have not yet released their reports on the project.
Clinton Touts Sylmar Project
President Clinton last week showcased a Sylmar development as an example of the kind of energy-efficient housing project that he hopes to promote through a federal budget initiative.
Clinton visited the site of the future Village Green development, a 186-unit housing project that will incorporate recent advances in home energy-efficiency technology. Clinton hopes to form a partnership with home builders that would cut energy use in new homes by 50 percent over the next 10 years, a move that would help the U.S. meet international standards for greenhouse gas reductions.
The federal initiative includes setting aside about $100 million to study technologies like insulating coatings for windows and energy-efficient home appliances.
Titles Change for Sony Execs
Sony Pictures Entertainment has given new job titles to its top film executives, naming Sony executive Howard Stringer as its chairman and giving President John Calley the added title of chief executive.
Rather than representing a reshuffling, the move appears to formalize existing job duties. It also gives Stringer a more visible position as he determines how best to merge Sony’s motion picture and TV units with the firm’s push into digital technologies. Both Calley and Stringer will continue to report to Sony Corp. President Nobuyuki Idei.
The studio also named Co-President Robert Wynne, who has been running the movie unit’s day-to-day operations, as its chief operating officer.
Four Media Targeted
Pickets at Burbank-based Four Media Co. last week accused the post-production company of unfair labor practices.
The protesters are members of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild Local 776, who object to the substantial wage cuts many union members endured when Four Media acquired another post-production company called Compact Video in 1993. All 100 Compact Video employees were fired and urged to reapply for their jobs with Four Media, which offered fewer benefits and lower wages.
A compliance hearing will be held by the National Labor Relations Board in August to determine the amount of back wages owed Compact Video employees by Four Media, which was ordered to bargain for a fair contract with the union in 1996.
Times Sells Mosby
L.A.-based Times Mirror Co. unloaded another non-core asset last week by selling its Mosby Inc. health care publishing unit to Harcourt General Inc. for $415 million in cash.
Times Mirror has been selling off its non-newspaper assets ever since the arrival of Mark H. Willes as chairman and CEO three years ago. Last month, it sold its Matthew Bender & Co. legal publishing unit, plus its half-interest in legal citation service Shepard’s Co., to Reed Elsevier for $1.65 billion in cash.
Mosby’s publishes books and periodicals geared toward health care providers and has annual revenues of $225 million.
Seven Possible Victims Identified
Officials with Glendale Adventist Medical Center have identified seven patients who may have been killed by the so-called “Angel of Death.”
Efren Saldivar, a former respiratory worker at the Glendale hospital, told police he had killed 40 to 50 patients who were near death and suffering. He later retracted the confession on national television, but police continue to investigate. Saldivar has not been charged with any crime, though he and four colleagues were fired by Glendale Adventist.
Hospital officials said they have sent police files on seven deceased patients who died under suspicious circumstances. However, there is no hard evidence linking Saldivar to their deaths, officials said.
? Compiled by Dan Turner
