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BusinessWeek: February 14, 2000 |
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In Business This Week: Headliner
Vince McMahon: Get Ready for Pigskin Smackdown Isn't "extreme football" redundant? And does America really need another league? Ted Turner and NBC together took up and dropped the idea last year. But, says Keller, "when the Super Bowl ends, there's a huge void, and so we will step in." The WWF plans to launch its XFL (get it?) in 2001 with eight teams, including New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, and cable broadcasts. The Stamford (Conn.) company is busy signing up football gladiators from NFL Europe and college teams. Says Keller: "We will not limit their desire to celebrate in the end zone." If this flies, get ready for extreme hockey. Return to top  Ford and UPS Deliver a Deal Will your next mustang convertible be delivered by a guy in brown? The logistics arm of United Parcel Service on Feb. 2 signed on to revamp Ford's rail and road vehicle-delivery network. The value of the deal was not revealed. The aim, the two companies say, is to reduce bottlenecks and delays, getting cars to their buyers up to 40% faster--and saving Ford millions by cutting the time it has to carry vehicles on its books. UPS Logistics will create a tracking system similar to the one the company uses to trace packages on its trucks and planes. Each car will have a bar-code decal to be scanned at various points between the plant and the consumer, allowing dealers--and ultimately, buyers using the Internet--to follow their car's progress from the factory to their garage. Return to top Pfizer Closes in on Its Prey The battle for Warner-Lambert may be coming to an end. As BUSINESS WEEK went to press, sources say Pfizer has agreed to up its bid for Warner to $85 billion plus, a maneuver that could clear the way for an agreement. A looming question, however, was how Pfizer will compensate American Home Products, which still has a pending merger agreement with Warner-Lambert. American Home is entitled to a $1.8 billion breakup fee. And the company could demand even more in exchange for not exercising certain options that would force Pfizer to use an unfavorable accounting treatment. Return to top Cruise Control: How NCL Was Taken After making rival bids for NCL Holding, Carnival and Star Cruises of Malaysia teamed up on Feb. 2 with a $1.1 billion joint bid for the No. 4 cruise operator, which owns Norwegian Cruise and Orient lines. The joint bid ends a bizarre takeover battle in which Oslo-based NCL, to repel a surprise bid by Carnival, turned to Star as its white knight. But when Star moved to seize control of NCL itself, NCL veered back to Carnival. Now, the rival suitors say they will use their new partnership to cross-market their cruises around the world. Return to top | |
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Hangar Time for America West? Federal aviation watchdogs are threatening to ground America West Airlines' plans to expand its fleet unless the Phoenix-based carrier cleans up its act and quickly resolves chronic maintenance problems. In a Jan. 25 letter to America West that was disclosed on Feb. 2, the Federal Aviation Administration warned that the airline's rapid expansion was straining its ability to maintain its planes, citing missed maintenance checks and a shortage of trained ramp workers. America West, the nation's ninth-largest carrier, denied the FAA's allegations. Return to top Dialing for Dollars in China Ask anybody in the telcom industry, and they'll tell you that China is the most promising untapped cellular-phone market: The number of Chinese using cell phones is expected to soar by 63% this year, to 70 million. So it was big news when Qualcomm cut a deal on Feb. 1 to license its CDMA technology to the Middle Kingdom. But the rewards will be far from immediate. "It will be at least a year before there's any meaningful revenue," says Justin McEntee, an analyst at Chase H&Q. Although the financial terms of Qualcomm's agreement with China United Telecommunications, the nation's No. 2 phone company, were not disclosed, shares of San Diego-based Qualcomm jumped 7.1%, to 136 1/16, on the news. Return to top Et Cetera... -- Amazon.com reported larger-than-expected losses, but its book biz turned a profit. -- Intel will buy a closed plant from Rockwell International to hike flash-memory capacity. -- U.S. regulators will go to court to block the BP Amoco-Atlantic Richfield merger. -- A new version of Linux software will be released by summer, its creator said. Return to top Not-So-Gray Lady For months, media circles have been buzzing about which Old Media outfit would spin off its Internet business first. On Jan. 28, New York Times Co. announced it would raise $100 million by issuing a tracking stock for Times Company Digital, which includes nytimes.com. The result: At close, the stock was down 1.5%, to 46 5/16. Perhaps the anticipated runup was already reflected in Times stock, which is up 38% over the past year. Return to top  Return to top |
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