IN BUSINESS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993                   TAG: 9303160270
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
IN BUSINESS
Shearson Lehman brokerage deal is on
NEW YORK - American Express agreed Friday to sell its Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc. retail stock brokerage to Primerica Corp. At about $1 billion, it is one of the biggest deals ever involving a securities firm.
Shearson, a leading Wall Street firm, will be combined with one that is a fraction of its size, Primerica's Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. Inc.
The new company, to be called Smith Barney Shearson, will have at least 10,500 brokers, 500 branch offices and at least $105 billion in assets under management at the outset. It will challenge the industry's leader, Merrill Lynch & Co.
Harvey Golub, president and chief executive officer of American Express, said it sold Shearson because the brokerage unit needed "$1 billion or more in additional equity to reach the financial goals we had established."
Under the terms of the agreement, American Express will get about $850 million in cash, $125 million in convertible preferred stock and $25 million in common equity warrants from Primerica. - Associated Press

CBS finds reasons to stay in New York
NEW YORK - Enticed by almost $50 million in tax incentives and energy cost breaks, CBS said it will keep its 4,600 workers in New York and invest in advanced TV technology.
CBS chairman Laurence Tisch said CBS would keep its news, sports, studio production center and headquarters in the city and would invest $300 million over 15 years in building improvements, enhanced production facilities and development of high-definition television.
The deal grants the network $31 million in city and state sales tax exemptions and a $6.5 million city real-estate tax credit conditioned on the development of new or renovated production facilities.
The company also will receive $12.2 million in energy cost reductions from the state Power Authority. - New York Daily News

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB