Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, March 19, 1997
LIHUE -- One of Kauai's oldest businesses has closed its doors. Garden Island Motors, an auto dealership that has been in business since 1908, sold its assets to a new firm. Long-time Kauai
car dealership soldThe new company will sell the same auto lines as Garden Island: Ford, Lincoln/Mercury and Mazda, said Patrick FitzGerald, president and general manager of the new firm.
FitzGerald was general sales manager for 20 years at Orchid Isle Auto Center in Hilo. Its owner, Walsh Hanley, is a partner in the new firm.
NEW YORK -- Cable & Wireless, a British telecommunications company, is considering making a takeover bid for Sprint Corp., the third-largest U.S. long-distance carrier, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Report: British firm
mulls bid for SprintA takeover would give Cable & Wireless a counterpunch to rival British Telecommunications Plc's plan to acquire MCI Communications Corp. -- the nation's No. 2 carrier.
The Journal said it would cost more than $15 billion to acquire the 80 percent of Sprint that is publicly held.
A combined Cable & Wireless-Sprint would create a powerful telecommunications competitor, with annual revenue of more than $25 billion, about 90,000 employees and a growing U.S. business and fiber-optic networks. Neither Cable & Wireless nor Sprint, based in Westwood, Kan., would comment.
ST. LOUIS -- Trans World Airlines Inc. said a Saudi Arabian prince bought a 5 percent stake in the airline, according to Bloomberg News. Saudi prince buys
5% stake in TWAPrince al-Waleed bin Talal, one of the wealthiest men in the world, told TWA management that he bought about 2.1 million shares on the open market and that he had no plans to buy any more shares. He also said he hopes that airline will become profitable, TWA said.
The St. Louis-based airline reported a wider-than-expected fourth quarter loss yesterday.
MIAMI -- Pan American World Airways, a fledging carrier with a world-famous name, is talking with Carnival Air Lines about buying the carrier. Pan Am talks merger
with Carnival AirThe pair had a $100 million merger agreement last July before Pan Am resumed flying, but the deal fell apart when Pan Am examined Carnival's books and wanted to renegotiate its up-front cash payment.
The breakup may have been only temporary. A source close to negotiations said today that although there is no deal yet, renewed talks have reached an agreement on future management. Pan Am Corp. spokesman Jeff Kriendler and Carnival Air spokesman Gabriel Gabor declined comment.
Still in the start-up stage with four jets and 18 daily flights, Pan Am would add 25 aircraft and 60 flights a day by acquiring Carnival.
TOKYO -- Sumitomo Corp. plans to reduce the salaries of 46 executives for six months because of a scandal over $2.6 billion in losses from unauthorized copper deals by a rogue trader. Sumitomo President Kenji Miyahara said today his own salary will be slashed 40 percent. In other news . . .