Think you’re a news junkie with your finger on the pulse of the L.A. business community? Try to answer the following questions about 1997’s hottest deals.
1) (True or False) The sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers just missed being the most expensive sale of a baseball franchise in major league history.
2) What company is the largest private-sector employer in Los Angeles County?
a-Boeing
b-Walt Disney
c-Northrop
d-Ralphs
3) How much is Staples Inc. forking over to be the top corporate sponsor of the new downtown sports arena?
a-$20 million
b-$50 million
c-$100 million
d-$200 million
4) (True or False) An L.A. real estate developer is driving the Hollywood Boulevard revival with plans to build a new retail and entertainment center.
5) Which billionaire repurchased Fox Plaza last November after selling his stake in it 10 years ago?
a-Marvin Davis
b-Rupert Murdoch
c-David Geffen
d-Eli Broad
For the answers, see page 9.
Answers:
1) (False) Murdoch’s winning bid is pegged somewhere between $311 million and $350 million. Even at the lower figure, the Dodger sale will go down in the books as the most expensive franchise sale in the history of Major League Baseball.
2) (A) With its $14 billion acquisition last year of McDonnell-Douglas Corp., Boeing Co. has about 30,000 employees in Los Angeles County.
3) (C) Over the next 20 years, Staples will pay $100 million, one-third of the sports arena’s $300 million price tag.
4) (False) Toronto-based TrizecHahn Corp. plans to build a $320 million, 620,000-square-foot retail and entertainment center flanking Mann’s Chinese Theater.
5) (A) Financier Marvin Davis bought back Fox Plaza for $253 million last year 10 years after selling his 50 percent stake to Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.