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November 17, 2004
Sen. Reid Will Negotiate on US Asbestos Fund
Talks to create a national fund to compensate asbestos victims will
continue, the new leader of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate said on
Tuesday, Reuters reported. “I will continue to negotiate,”
Sen. Harry Reid (D–Nev.) told reporters after his election by
other Democrats in the Senate. “I think it’s something we
need to do.” Reid’s predecessor as minority leader, Sen. Tom
Daschle of South Dakota, swapped proposals for an asbestos compensation
fund for months with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R–Tenn.).
Daschle lost his bid for re-election earlier this month.
Some trial lawyers have reaped huge fees from asbestos cases and have
been blamed by business interests for a flood of asbestos claims
crowding U.S. courts. “I’m a trial lawyer,” said Reid.
“But I recognize that we have problems in our country in a number
of areas dealing with trial lawyers, doctors, insurance
companies,” he said, the newswire reported.
Sears and Kmart Agree to Merge in $11 Billion Deal
Discount retailer Kmart Holding Corp. will buy department store
operator Sears, Roebuck & Co. in a $11 billion deal that creates the
third-largest U.S. retailer, the companies said today, Reuters reported.
The new company, Sears Holdings, will have about $55 billion in annual
revenue and nearly 3,500 retail stores. The companies, both of which
have been struggling, said in a joint statement the merger, expected to
be finalized by next March, was expected to generate significant cost
savings but could also trigger sales of nonstrategic real estate
assets.
AirTran Agrees to Buy ATA Chicago Gates for $90 Million
AirTran Holdings Inc., owner of a low-cost airline, agreed to buy the
rights to operate 14 gates at Chicago’s Midway Airport from ATA
Holdings Corp. for $90 million, Bloomberg News reported. The companies
expect to complete the transaction by Dec. 23, AirTran said in a
statement. AirTran said Oct. 26, when ATA filed for bankruptcy
protection, that it would acquire the Midway gates as well as takeoff
and landing slots at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington’s
Reagan airports for about $87.5 million.
Oglebay Norton Bankruptcy Judge Approves Reorganization Plan
A judge approved a plan by Oglebay Norton Co., a 150-year-old mining,
mineral-supply and shipping company, to exit bankruptcy, Bloomberg News
reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Joel Rosenthal approved the plan at a
hearing yesterday in Wilmington, Delaware. He rejected the plan in
October saying it lacked sufficient information on how the company would
pay asbestos claims.
Colombia’s Avianca Wins Approval of Plan to Exit
Bankruptcy
Avianca, the airline formally known as Aerovias Nacionales de
Colombia SA, won approval of a plan to exit bankruptcy that gives a 75
percent ownership stake to OceanAir Linhas Aereas, Bloomberg News
reported. OceanAir will invest $44.5 million in the company over the
next 22 months to purchase the equity from Valores Bavaria SA and the
Colombian Federation of Coffee Growers. The coffee federation will
assume $18.5 million in debt in exchange for a 25 percent stake.
Enron Inquiry Turns to Sales by Lay’s Wife
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether the wife of
Enron’s former chairman, Kenneth L. Lay, engaged in insider
trading in a sale of company stock shortly before it collapsed into
bankruptcy, people involved in the case said yesterday, Reuters
reported. The sale by Lay’s wife, Linda, involved 500,000 shares
of Enron stock and was done through a family foundation, according to
records and people involved in the case. The proceeds, totaling $1.2
million, did not go to the Lays, but were distributed to charitable
organizations, which had already received pledges of contributions from
the foundation.
Attendant Union Approves Strike over Contracts
The president of the nation’s largest flight attendants union
yesterday vowed that its members would go on a nationwide strike if US
Airways and United Airlines are allowed to nullify their labor contracts
in bankruptcy court, the Washington Post reported. Patricia
A. Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said the
group’s leaders voted at the union’s annual meeting in
Pittsburgh yesterday to authorize a strike if the two airlines do not
withdraw their motions to terminate their existing contracts and replace
them with less expensive ones.