Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990 TAG: 9003152201
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. LENGTH: Short
The maverick Beverly Hills thrift, reeling from heavy losses in its risky junk bond portfolio, has quietly sold for an undisclosed price its interest in a Gulfstream IV jet, the Rolls-Royce of corporate air travel.
And who owns the jet now?
A trail of Federal Aviation Administration records and state documents, supplemented by interviews with sources knowledgeable about the December transaction, point to a corporation affiliated with Michael Milken, the former Drexel Burnham Lambert junk bond chief who worked closely with Columbia. Records indicate that the corporation already owned an interest in the plane and bought out Columbia's share.
The corporation, listed in documents as DWC & BV, is already trying to get rid of the plane at an asking price of $21.5 million, according to a sales listing obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
No one is implying that the sale was illegal or improper, but Gulfstream IVs don't change hands like used cars. The jet is one of the world's elite corporate planes, selling new for more than $22 million and usually including such features as plush couches, a kitchen, telephones, meeting rooms and TVs. Just 126 exist, typically owned by Fortune 500-sized companies.
Columbia declined comment on the sale. A spokesman for Milken, who is facing criminal charges of securities fraud and racketeering, also declined comment.
by CNB