UNIT SOLD: Avery Dennison Corp. plans to sell its office and consumer products business to 3M Co. for $550 million in cash. The Pasadena company said that the unit, which makes labels, binders and filing materials, and is expected to report 2011 sales of about $765 million, complements 3M’s global line of Post-It notes, Scotch Tape and similar products. Avery plans to use proceeds from the sale to reduce debt, make additional pension contributions and repurchase shares.
CARRIAGE DEAL: Walt Disney Co. reached a 10-year agreement to have its cable channels and ABC network carried by Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable TV provider. The carriage agreement covers 70 channels and services, including major pay channels ESPN, Disney Channel and ABC Family. It also includes retransmission of ABC broadcast network programs through seven ABC TV stations, and enables Comcast subscribers to get wider access to shows on demand over the Internet on multiple devices.
PROJECT DOWNSIZED: Thomas Properties Group Inc. and NBC Universal Media LLC have killed a plan to build a nearly 1.5 million-square-foot office and postproduction complex in Universal City. Instead, NBC Universal will upgrade and convert a smaller facility on the Universal Studios lot. Thomas said in a regulatory filing that a larger project is no longer considered “economically viable at this time.” The MetroStudios project was planned to become a permanent home for NBC Universal’s news operations and productions. NBC Universal will pay Thomas a $9 million breakup fee.
MAGAZINE SOLD: Meredith Corp., a Des Moines, Iowa, media company, signed an agreement with Walt Disney Co.’s publishing arm to acquire the print and digital properties of FamilyFun magazine. The deal with Disney Publishing Worldwide includes the print magazine, which targets mothers with children ages 3 to 12 and focuses on family activities such as cooking and crafts. It has an audience of about 6 million.
HMO ACQUIRED: Humana Inc. completed acquisition of MD Care, a Medicare health maintenance organization based in Long Beach. The acquisition increases the Louisville, Ky., health insurer’s Medicare HMO membership by about 15,000 in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. MD Care offers alternatives to traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Humana said it intends to maintain MD Care’s operations in Long Beach and retain its 105 employees.
DODGERS BID: Former Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Joe Torre has resigned from his management position in Major League Baseball’s front office to join with billionaire developer Rick Caruso’s group to try to buy the team from Frank McCourt. The move by the 71-year-old Torre, who led the New York Yankees to four World Series wins and went on to manage the Dodgers from 2008 through 2010, raises the profile of a potential bid from Caruso’s group, one of several considering making an offer. Since February, Torre has been MLB’s executive vice president for baseball operations. If the Caruso group’s bid were successful, he likely would not return as manager but might oversee the team’s baseball operations.
FILMING ACTIVITY: On-location filming in Los Angeles dropped 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, but still managed a 4.4 percent increase for the year, according to FilmL.A. Inc. The annual increase was partially driven by commercial production, which rose 4.4 percent last year to a record 7,079 permitted production days, according to the L.A. Angeles non-profit, which processes permitting in the city and unincorporated Los Angeles County neighborhoods. Television filming, long a mainstay of local on-location shooting, dropped 11 percent in the fourth quarter and 2.7 percent for the year. Features plummeted 26 percent in the fourth quarter but posted an increase of 5.7 percent for the year.
