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Business Wire
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Business New Haven
10/6/1997
By: Russell Stone
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NEW YORK - The Travelers Group (NYSE: TRV) announced on September 24 that it will purchase Salomon Brothers investment bank in order to merge it with its own Smith Barney Holdings subsidiary. Under terms of the agreement, Travelers will issue 1.13 shares of stock for each share of Salomon Inc. The total value of the deal, $9 billion, is almost twice Salomon Brothers' mid-year book value of $4.6 billion. Sanford I. Weill, chairman and CEO of Travelers, said the combination of Salomon Brothers' strengths in bonds and international name recognition with Travelers' retail network and asset base will create “a financially powerful and formidable competitor.” He expects the purchase to be accretive to Travelers' earnings, but the combination will involve at some undefined future date a $400 to $500 million charge for restructuring.
BRIDGEPORT - Southern Connecticut Gas Co., a subsidiary of Connecticut Energy Corp. (NYSE: CNE), will construct and maintain a natural gas pipeline to provide fuel for a new electricity generating plant in Bridgeport. The new facility, owned by United Illuminating (NYSE: UIL), is scheduled to begin its operations in mid-1998. As the largest non-nuclear generating plant in Connecticut, the gas turbine facility will provide electricity for up to 260,000 homes.
SHELTON - Landstar Express America, a subsidiary of Landstar (NASDAQ: LSTR) specializing in expedited shipping and express freight, continued its 1997 expansion with the opening of seven new Express Center agencies, bringing its total expansion for the year to nineteen. Three of the new branches are in upstate New York: Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse.
SHELTON - Swiss Army Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: SABI) announced on September 10 that it would continue to show a loss in the third quarter of the year, but that diversifying its product line would eventually correct that. Swiss Army lost 11 cents per share in the second quarter while pocketknife sales declined industry-wide, and expects to lose 8 cents to 11 cents per share in the third quarter. The company has, however, introduced several new styles of Swiss Army Brand watches as well as a new SwissCard multi-purpose pocket tool as part of a long-term diversification strategy.
BRIDGEPORT - Bridgeport Machines Inc. (NASDAQ: BPTM) has reached a settlement in a patent infringement lawsuit filed against it by Hurco Cos. Inc. of Indianapolis over interactive computer numerical control systems. Under terms of the settlement, Hurco's subsidiary IMS Technology Inc. will license the system to Bridgeport Machines and each party will abandon pending claims against the other.
STAMFORD - General Signal (NYSE: GSX) announced on September 17 that it has closed its deal with Emerson Electric Co. to create a joint venture called EGS Electrical Group LLC. The joint venture, combining General Signal's Electrical Group with Emerson's Appleton Electric, will provide a variety of electrical equipment and parts to the electrical distribution industry.
BRIDGEPORT - In personnel news, People's Bank's (NASDAQ: PBCT) board of directors has appointed James P. Biggs its next president, effective January 1, 1998. Biggs succeeds outgoing-president David E. A. Carson, who will remain as CEO until January 1, 1999 and as chairman until December 31, 1999. Biggs will take over those jobs as well as Carson leaves them. Biggs, who has spent 33 years at People's Bank, currently serves as executive vice-president for marketing and regional banking. Among other tasks at People's, he was project manager for the recent expansion into 45 new Super Stop & Shop branches.
ORANGE - Hubbell Incorp. (NYSE: HUBa) has formed a joint venture with Kukdong Electric Wire Co. Ltd. of South Korea to make and market high-voltage electric products intended for the generation and distribution of electric power by utilities. Hubbell will provide the technology for design and manufacture of the goods to be produced in Jincheon, Korea, while Kukdong will support sales and marketing efforts in South Korea and provide expertise in the tax system and financing practices. On September 17, Hubbell also announced its cash purchase of Vanmar/Wirecon, a Jamaican manufacturer of electrical switches and related tools for recreational vehicles and manufactured housing.
FAIRFIELD - General Electric (NYSE: GE) continues its campaign of acquisitions. In the last several weeks, GE's subsidiary GE Capital has purchased a controlling stake of 60 percent in the Stalwart Group, a British insurance company specializing in providing the elderly with income and rent-free housing for life in return for their property titles. In another European acquisition, GE Capital also announced its takeover of Ireland's Woodchester Investments Plc, a diversified financial services company valued at approximately $880 million. GE Capital also committed $470 million to a joint venture with JPI to develop and build luxury apartments and student living complexes, as well as to acquire existing properties. Shareholders of UNC Inc., an Annapolis company specializing in the repair and maintenance of jet engines and aircraft, approved its purchase by Greenwich Air Services Inc., another GE subsidiary, for $330.5 million in cash. In conjunction with the deal, UNC sold its military services business to Washington DC's Carlyle Group. Finally, GE Power Systems announced on September 22 that it had agreed to purchase the Gas Turbine Division of Stewart and Stevenson Services Inc. Valued at $600 million, the Gas Turbine Division handles the manufacture of equipment for electrical power generation as well as the operation and maintenance of power plants and off-shore oil platforms. GE expects the deal, set for closing early in 1998, to expand its oil and gas services market and its product line. GE also spun off its Capital Technology Management, a business renting computer and measurement equipment, to Electro Rent Corp. for $320 million.
CHESHIRE - Peter R. DeGeorge, chairman of DeGeorge Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: DEGE), has proposed taking the company private in a cash buy-out of outstanding stock at $1.30 a share, compared to a market value at the time of the proposal of 27/32, roughly 84 cents. Two independent members of the board of directors and an outside evaluator, the accounting firm McGladrey & Pullen LLP, will evaluate the financial fairness of the buy-out offer. DeGeorge Financial arranges financing for home building and currently manages more than $200 million in construction loans. At present, NASDAQ is reviewing DeGeorge's listing on the exchange with particular attention to NASDAQ's minimum net assets requirements and DeGeorge Financial's reported losses of $900,000 in the second quarter.
WALLINGFORD - Novametrix (NASDAQ: NMTX) reported improved earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 1998 ending August 3, 1997. Net income grew to $524,000, or 6 cents per share on sales of $7,366,000 million, compared to $362,000, or 4 cents in the first quarter of fiscal 1997 on sales of $6,422,000.
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