| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 14, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| BUSINESSWEEK INVESTOR -- INSIDE WALL STREET
Pursuing Chris-Craft Considering the depressed stock price, huge cash hoard, and valuable assets of Chris-Craft Industries(CCN), why hasn't anybody tried to make a run for the company? The stock closed at 45 on June 1, off from its 52-week high of 55. Investor Mario Gabelli, who recently raised his stake in Chris-Craft from 18% to 21.9%, thinks that part of the reason for this is that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Herbert Siegel, who controls the company's voting stock, is in no mood to sell. But Gabelli and some other stakeholders believe that a deal could be in the offing involving Chris-Craft's important assets, namely 79%-owned BHC Communications(BHC), which in turn owns 50% of United Paramount Network, the fifth-largest U.S. television network. Viacom(VIA.B), the entertainment company that owns Paramount Communications, owns the other 50% of United Paramount. Viacom Chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone isn't expected to go head-to-head against Siegel by trying to acquire Chris-Craft, according to one stakeholder. What Viacom wants, says this pro, is to acquire BHC's nine TV stations, plus the six other stations owned by another big broadcasting company--United Television(UTV1), which is 59%-owned by BHC. The idea is to merge them with its own broadcasting units. Viacom operates 18 TV stations and owns several cable-TV shows, including MTV and Nickelodeon. Gabelli puts Chris-Craft's value at 61 a share, based on its stake in BHC and other assets. Siegel didn't return telephone calls, and Viacom spokesman Carl Folta declined comment as a matter of policy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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RELATED ITEMS Pursuing Chris-Craft CHART: Not Going Anywhere Fast INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
