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December 23, 2004
Dutch Food Retailer Ahold Sells Two U.S. Chains to Lone Star for
US$560M
Global food retailer Royal Ahold NV, Amsterdam, said yesterday it
will sell two of its U.S. grocery chains, BI-LO and Bruno’s, to
Dallas-based Lone Star Funds for US$560 million in cash, the Canadian
Press reported. Lone Star also will assume the chains’ debt, the
size of which Ahold did not disclose. The sale is part of a wider
asset-selling program at Ahold to cut debt and regain its financial
footing after an accounting scandal last year forced it to restate
earnings by US$1 billion for 2000–2002 and pushed it to the brink
of bankruptcy. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter and
includes an additional $100 million payment after 18 months. BI-LO,
based in Mauldin, S.C., and Bruno’s, based in Birmingham, Ala.,
operate 450 stores in the southeastern United States.
Web Site Contains Data on Company Execs
The California secretary of state is putting information about how
much corporate leaders make and whether officers of companies have been
convicted of fraud in an easy-to-use format on the web, according to the
Sacramento Bee. Internet users can search for the information on the
secretary of state’s web site, the office announced in a press
release Wednesday. For direct access, go to
href='http://www.ptsearch.ss.ca.gov/'>www.ptsearch.ss.ca.gov. The
site was created in response to a bill that Secretary of State Kevin
Shelley sponsored in 2002 in which publicly traded companies that do
business in California are required to file corporate disclosure
statements with Shelley’s office. Companies are also required to
state whether the company has filed for bankruptcy, the
corporation’s auditors and loans made to directors and top
officers.
NextWave Files Modifications to Reorganization Plan and Disclosure
Statement
NextWave Telecom Inc. today filed certain modifications to the Third
Joint Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement that was
previously submitted to the bankruptcy court on Dec. 6, 2004, according
to a PR Newswire report. The goal is to enhance the potential cash
distributions available under the plan, and the modifications also
reflect certain technical corrections and updates to the original
filing, as well as the inclusion of summary financial projections for
NextWave Wireless LLC, the reorganized entity that would emerge from
chapter 11 upon plan confirmation.
Infocorp Announces Successful Reorganization Completion
Infocorp Computer Solutions Ltd., Toronto, today announced the
successful completion of its reorganization proceedings pursuant to the
court approval received yesterday confirming the company's proposal to
creditors, according to Canada NewsWire. Infocorp filed a Notice of
Intent to File a Proposal in September 2004. The confirmed the
company’s continued operation, and the proposal provides that the
company’s shareholders retain their equity interest in the
company.
Putin Defends Yukos Purchase
President Vladimir Putin today strongly defended the purchase of
Yukos oil assets by a state-owned company, saying the state was
protecting its interests in moving to get control of the one of the
biggest production facilities in Russia, the Associated Press reported.
The state-owned Rosneft oil company bought BaikalFinansGroup, the
obscure company that purchased Yukos’ most important production
unit at auction Sunday. The deal has given the Kremlin control of the
most lucrative fields of what was the nation’s largest oil company
following a relentless 18-month crackdown, and set the stage for the
creation of a state energy giant under the umbrella of natural gas giant
Gazprom. Rosneft is expected to be folded into Gazprom imminently.
“Today, the state - using absolutely legal, market
mechanisms - is ensuring its interests. I consider this perfectly
normal,” Mr. Putin said at his annual press conference, reminding
them of how the oligarchs, or private businessmen, obtained properties
at bargain prices shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
By contrast, he said, the 100 percent state-owned Rosneft’s
purchase of the Yukos stake “was done in absolute conformity with
market means.”
Putin said that he had been “amazed” by the decision of a
Houston bankruptcy judge who issued an injunction last week at the
request of Yukos’ lawyers that banned the auction from being held.
He noted that the auction had been conducted in line with Russian
legislation and pursuant to the country’s international legal
obligations. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the founder of Yukos, has been in
jail for the last 14 months, and is on trial charged with fraud and tax
evasion. Russian authorities say Yukos owes $28 billion in taxes, and
have frozen its assets.
Carl Icahn Liquidates Stake in Tropical Sportswear
Financier Carl Icahn liquidated his stake in Tropical Sportswear
International Corp. (TSIC), according to an amended filing today with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a Dow Jones
Newswire report. On Dec. 16, Icahn’s High River L.P. sold 789,938
Tropical Sportswear common shares for 45 cents a share, the filing said.
Tropical Sportswear filed for voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
on Dec. 16 after agreeing to sell its main U.S. assets to Perry Ellis
International Inc. (PERY) for $85 million in cash. Tropical Sportswear
makes and markets casual and dress apparel, primarily pants, shorts and
jeans, for men under private labels and licensed brand names.