Review
December 13-26
Sports Buy: K2 Inc. agreed to acquire Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. for $114 million in stock and debt, topping an offer from the baseball equipment supplier’s biggest investor. Los Angeles-based K2 will pay $84 million in stock and assume $30 million in debt. Almost two-thirds of Rawlings sales are baseball related.
Muppet Deal: An investment group led by former UPN Network Dean Valentine plans to acquire a 49.9 percent stake in Jim Henson Co. from German owner EM.TV & Merchandising AG. The agreement in principal would appear to end a lengthy bidding process for the company best known as creator of the Muppets characters.
Sale Close: Univision Communications Inc. is likely to get Justice Department clearance to buy Hispanic Broadcasting Corp., according to several news reports, although antitrust regulators are still considering whether the combined company should divest some of its radio assets. This includes Los Angeles-based Univision’s 31 percent stake in Entravision Communications Corp. Univision already has about 80 percent of the Spanish-language TV audience while Hispanic Broadcasting is the biggest Spanish-language radio broadcaster.
Radio Sale: Three L.A. radio stations are being sold to Santa Monica-based Spanish-language broadcaster Entravision Communications Corp. KLYY-FM, KVYY-FM and KSYY-FM, all owned by Big City Radio Inc. If the deal is approved by regulators, the company would control six FM stations in the market.
Winnick Update: Criminal charges will not be filed against Global Crossing Ltd. Chairman Gary Winnick or any of the telecom company’s other executives, the Los Angeles Times reported. A source told the newspaper that the U.S. attorney’s office lacked enough evidence to show that Winnick or the other executives had misallocated costs or obstructed justice. Winnick still faces an ongoing inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as civil litigation by Global investors. Meanwhile, a U.S. bankruptcy judge approved Global’s recovery plan, which is based on the sale of a 61.5 percent stake to Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte for $250 million. The telecommunications company is expected to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March or April.
Forecast Cut: THQ Inc. and Activision Inc. cut their quarterly quarter earnings guidance in another sign that the video game industry is slowing down. Calabasas-based THQ now projects fourth quarter earnings per share will be in the 40 to 43 cents range, from the previous range of 95 cents to $1. Looking to 2003, the company expects a first-quarter loss of 15 cents. Santa Monica-based Activision maker expects to earn 60 cents a share for the period ending Dec. 31, compared with the 77 cents average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Dole Deal: Dole Food Co. agreed to be taken private by Chief Executive David Murdock in a deal valued at $2.5 billion. The billionaire is paying $33.50 a share for the 76 percent of the stock that he and his family don’t own. Murdock said that the unpredictability of earnings has hurt the Westlake Village-based company’s share price.
Job Report: L.A. County’s unemployment rate dipped to 6 percent in November, from a revised 6.2 percent in October, another indication that Southern California is holding its own despite jobless upturns in Northern California and the nation as a whole. Statewide, the unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent, down from a revised 6.5 percent the month before.
Preview
Dec. 30-Jan. 5
Happy 2003: It’s the usual lineup of parades-and-football for the first day of the New Year. The 114th annual Tournament of Roses Parade gets started on Wednesday at 8 a.m. with the theme “Children’s Dreams, Wishes and Imagination” and three grand marshals: Bill Cosby, Art Linkletter and Fred Rogers. Department stores, discount outlets and supermarkets will be open, but most everything else will be closed, as will the financial markets.
Sports Beat: The Rose Bowl will be missing a Big 10 opponent because of the peculiarities of the BCS selection process, so it’s Washington State and Oklahoma (actually not a bad matchup) at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday at 2 p.m. USC gets the prime-time stage on Thursday night (2nd) as the Trojans take on Iowa in the Orange Bowl. On the basketball front, both USC and UCLA are away this week. Here at home, the Lakers meet Phoenix on Sunday (5th), while the Clippers face Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve. The Kings are home against Chicago (30th), Philadelphia (2nd) and Dallas (4th).
Car Show: Convention business may be down but there’s always the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, which gets underway on Saturday (4th) at the convention center and will feature more than 1,000 new vehicles on display including a few of those concept cars that may or may not make it onto the assembly line. The show runs through Jan. 12. Information: 213-741-1151.
O Canada: A salute to “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels’ early days in Canada is part of a salute to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at the Museum of Television and Radio through Jan. 5th. Information: 310-786-1000.
Econ Data: The biggest news will come from the nation’s retailers as they begin releasing the final tallies to what’s expected to be one of the weakest holiday seasons in years (though don’t underestimate the increasing importance of after-Christmas sales). The official retail numbers come out later in the month. As for other indicators, consumer confidence for December is due out on Tuesday (31st), and Friday (3rd), December numbers for auto sales and factory orders are due out. Unemployment data, normally due out the first Friday of the month, will be released on the 10th.
