Disney to Sell Discover Magazine

The Walt Disney Company's publishing group has decided to sell Discover Magazine to focus on its family-friendly line of titles. Discover is a general interest science magazine targeted at adult readers. Disney acquired the magazine in 1991.

Discover makes most of its revenues from circulation. The magazine has a circulation of 850,000 and consistently sells over 100,000 newsstand copies per month.

Disney has two other magazines with higher circulation. The company also has plans to introduce a new magazine, Wondertime, aimed at parents with children under six.

Neiman Marcus for Sale

Upscale department store chain Neiman Marcus has hired Goldman Sachs to help it seek out potential buyers and explore strategic options. According to Neiman Marcus executives, Goldman has been in talks with potential buyers and a decision could be made within the next few months.

Analysts speculate that Neiman Marcus will likely be purchased by a financial buyer such as a hedge fund or private equity firm. The company is expected to sell for around $4 billion.

Neiman Marcus owns 35 department stores that operate under its own name, as well as Bergdorf Goodman and the Horchow mail order business. The company's stock price has tripled over the last two years.

Qwest Raises Offer for MCI

Qwest Communications has raised its offer to acquire MCI Inc. to $8.6 billion. MCI rejected Qwest's earlier bid of $24.60 per share, or nearly $8 billion, in favor of a lower offer from Verizon Communications, which values the company at about $6.75 billion.

Texas Pacific Deal Blocked

Oregon State regulators have blocked Texas Pacific Group's proposed $2.35 billion purchase of Portland General Electric, stated that the transaction was not in the public interest. Lee Beyer, the chairman of the Oregon Public Utility Commission said, "the potential harms or risks to PGE customers from the deal outweigh the potential benefits."

Portland General Electric is owned by Enron, which is in bankruptcy. If Texas Pacific chooses not to appeal the regulatory decision, then Enron creditors would decide whether to entertain other offers or to put into effect a stock distribution plan approved by Enron's federal bankruptcy proceedings that would make PGE into an independent investor-owned utility. The City of Portland has made a takeover offer, with the intent to turn PGE into a municipal utility.

Deutsche Boerse Returns Funds to Investors

After abandoning its bid to acquire the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse AG has announced plans to return cash to its investors. Deutsche Boerse, which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, dropped its offer for the London exchange in response to pressure from shareholders. "We recognize that a significant portion of our shareholder base is focused on return of capital in the short term," Deutsche Boerse stated. The company plans to work with its shareholders to create a significant distribution of funds.

Deal Approvals

A US national security oversight committee has granted clearance for China's Lenovo Group to acquire the personal computer operations of International Business Machines. The deal had raised concerns from US lawmakers about potential security risks, but is now cleared to proceed. Lenovo is China's biggest PC maker and the $1.25 billion IBM divestiture will make it the third largest PC producer in the world. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2005.

Shareholders of Grey Global Group have approved the proposed acquisition of the company by WPP Group for about $1.7 billion. Grey Global is a privately held marketing and advertising agency based in New York that operates in almost 90 countries. Edward Meyer, the chief executive of Grey Global, will get an estimated $473 million for his controlling stake in the company, and will remain in his position through the end of 2006. WPP Group in an advertising agency based in the United Kingdom.

The Federal Communications Commission has granted approval for Verizon Wireless to acquire airwave licenses owned by NextWave Telecom in a proposed $3 billion deal. Under the terms of the deal, Verizon will acquire Next Wave's licenses in New York, Philadelphia, and 21 other cities. NextWave filed for bankruptcy in 1998 after it was unable to pay the FCC for the licenses it had won in auctions. Verizon will use the licenses to increase telephone and Internet traffic across its network.

Copyright NVST, Inc. Mar 21, 2005
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