12th of April 1995 News
الأخبار كما ظهرت في الصفحة الأولى لصحيفة نيويورك تايمز في ١٢ أبريل ١٩٩٥
Journal; Tin Cans and String
Date: 13 April 1995
By Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Republicans could have a lot of fun with last Saturday's Democratic fund-raiser at Steven Spielberg's home, where Hollywood couples paid $50,000 each to dine with Bill and Hillary Clinton, listen to Robin Williams's shtick and chow down on populist vittles like fried chicken. What more perverse weekend to schedule such an event than the one in which the President ended his 100-day silence to re-emerge as the champion of the middle class? Awkward as this symbolism was, even more embarrassing is how little the Democrats have to show for their ostentatious synergy with the most powerful and imaginative minds in the pop-culture industry. Bill Clinton may draw campaign checks from the DreamWorks moguls, but it is the G.O.P. that cannily milks the machinery of the mass media to pound out its message.
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HEALTHSOURCE TO BUY CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
Date: 12 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Healthsource Inc. said it will buy closely held Central Massachusetts Health Care Inc. for about $62.5 million, in an effort to become the leading managed care company in New England. Healthsource is a provider of managed health care services. Central Massachusetts Health Care, an 84,000-member nonprofit health maintenance organization based in Worcester, Massachusetts.
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AMSOUTH TO SELL $6 BILLION IN MORTGAGE SERVICING
Date: 13 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
The AmSouth Bancorporation said yesterday that it would sell $6 billion of its mortgage servicing portfolio to GE Capital Mortgage Services Inc., a unit of the General Electric Corporation. AmSouth, based in Birmingham Ala., did not disclose the purchase price but said the company expected a pretax gain of $20 million to $25 million in the second quarter. In loan servicing, a bank collects fees to handle mortgage payments and paperwork on loans. Separately, the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai reported that GE Capital would buy the consumer credit card division of the Shin Kyoto Shinpan Company.
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UNITED AIRLINES PLANNING TO REPLACE AGING JETS
Date: 13 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
United Airlines said yesterday that it would replace 94 of its oldest aircraft with new planes during the next five years. Analysts said the Boeing Company was likely to be the big beneficiary of the move. Gerald Greenwald, chairman and chief executive of United's parent, the UAL Corporation, told analysts in New York yesterday that the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 was an example of the type of plane that might be replaced. United has not identified which planes will be replaced, but aircraft like the DC-10 could be replaced on some routes with the smaller Boeing 757. The Boeing jet uses less fuel and requires only a two-man crew, instead of the three-man crew needed to operate the DC-10. Shares of UAL rose $3.375, to $112.375, on the New York Stock Exchange, while shares of Boeing gained $2, to $55.875.
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INTERSTATE BAKERIES TO BUY RALSTON PURINA UNIT
Date: 13 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
The Interstate Bakeries Corporation said yesterday that it would pay $461 million in cash and stock to acquire the Continental Baking Company, $110 million less than originally announced. Interstate, based in Kansas City, Mo., will pay $220 million in cash, down from the $330 million projected earlier, and will issue 16.9 million common shares to the Ralston Purina Company, the owner of Continental Baking. Ralston Purina, the producer of dry pet food based in St. Louis, said the smaller cash portion reflected weaker operating results at Continental Baking, the country's largest bakery. The definitive agreement also calls for Ralston Purina to own no more than 15 percent of Interstate Bakeries after five years.
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POSSIBLE SALE OF WELLS FARGO NIKKO IS SEEN
Date: 13 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisers, the nation's largest institutional money manager, said yesterday that it was up for sale. "We're exploring an opportunity for sale," said Frederick Grauer, chief executive of the firm, which oversees $170 billion in assets. Wells Fargo Nikko is a joint venture of Wells Fargo & Company of San Francisco and the Nikko Securities Company. The firm was created five years ago when Nikko paid Wells Fargo $125 million for 50 percent ownership of Wells Fargo Investment Advisers, which had grown by specializing in portfolios designed to imitate the performance of leading stock indexes. Analysts said the firm could be worth about $625 million, or more than four times the company's revenue, which was more than $140 million last year.
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ARCADIAN BUYS REMAINING SHARE OF FERTILIZER UNIT
Date: 12 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Arcadian Partners L.P., a producer and distributor of nitrogen fertilizer, accepted an offer from its general partner, the Arcadian Corporation, to buy the 55 percent stake it doesn't own for $775 million in cash and stock. The agreement follows Arcadian Corp.'s announcement last week that it would raise its offer to $29 a unit, from $26, in cash and newly issued preferred stock for the preference units of Arcadian Partners it doesn't already own. Arcadian Partners shares rose 62.5 cents to close at $26.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. It will offer $14.50 in cash and 0.853 of a preferred share, valued at $14.50, for each Arcadian Partners unit. The preferred shares, which will pay an annual dividend of 9.5 percent, will convert to common stock after three years, unless Arcadian chooses to convert them earlier.
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SAFECO TO TAKE $43 MILLION CHARGE FROM DISASTERS
Date: 12 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Safeco Inc. said yesterday that bad weather in California and Texas, as well as an increase in estimated losses from the January 1994 earthquake in Southern California, would force it to take a $43 million charge in the first quarter. Safeco, the insurance company based in Seattle, increased its estimate of losses from the earthquake by $25 million, to $250 million. Storms in California and Texas during the quarter will account for the remaining $18 million of the charge, the company said. First-quarter results are expected to be released on April 24, Safeco said. Wall Street was expecting the company to post net income of $1.38 a share for the first quarter, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research. Safeco's stock closed down 62.5 cents, at $55, in Nasdaq trading.
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TWO MORE STATES INVESTIGATE PRUDENTIAL SALES TACTICS
Date: 12 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Connecticut and New Jersey regulators said yesterday that they were starting investigations into the sales tactics used by the Prudential Insurance Company of America, even as 21 Florida policyholders filed lawsuits against the company. Six states in all are now examining allegations that the nation's biggest life insurer engaged in "churning," or deceptively replacing policyholders' coverage at added cost. Prudential, which has 15,000 agents nationwide, said yesterday that it had fired 500 life-insurance agents in the last two years for deceptive sales tactics, including churning. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Acting Insurance Commissioner William Gilligan said yesterday their inquiry would focus on allegations the insurer misled customers by using the cash value of their existing policies to finance new coverage. New Jersey's Department of Insurance also said it had begun a broad investigation of Prudential's sales tactics that will include churning allegations. Twenty-one policyholders from west and central Florida also filed suits yesterday in state court accusing the insurer of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, Chris Hoyer, a lawyer representing the customers, said. The separate suits charge that more than a dozen Prudential agents in Florida misrepresented policy-replacement costs and other aspects of the coverage to obtain higher commissions.
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IN FIRST DAY OF TRADING, PMI SHARES RISE 10 PERCENT
Date: 12 April 1995
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
PMI Group Inc., a mortgage insurer that was sold by the Allstate Corporation in one of the biggest initial public offerings this year, rose more than 10 percent yesterday in its first day of trading. PMI sold 21.5 million shares at $34 each, raising about $687 million after expenses. All of the proceeds, which could be as high as $784 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment options, will go to Allstate, which is keeping a 36.8 percent stake in PMI. The stock closed up $3.50 at $37.50 on New York Stock Exchange volume of almost 8.3 million shares. Allstate is selling the unit to focus on its core businesses.
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