Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310099
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Medium
Cobb won the Pan Am name by agreeing to finance a $1.3 million bid by a Maryland firm that was unable to come up with the money. That arrangement enabled Rockville, Md.-based Eclipse Holdings to fulfill its courtroom commitment to buy the name, but Cobb will decide how the name is used.
Cobb, a former ambassador to Iceland and a former undersecretary of commerce, said Wednesday he has formed a Coral Gables company called Pan Am Corp. to oversee a variety of uses for the name. He also has created a Delaware subsidiary, Pan Am World Airways, that will hold the trademark.
Some of the ventures Cobb plans will include planes flying under the Pan Am name. More details will be announced next month. The former Pan Am ceased operations in December 1991.
In the past, Cobb has said he planned to use the Pan Am logo as part of a worldwide tourism business that would charter jets to ferry tourists to resorts.
Those plans appeared to fizzle when Cobb lost to Eclipse in a courtroom auction Dec. 2. Eclipse Holdings' $1.3 million bid topped Cobb's by $100,000.
But Eclipse was unable to raise the money, despite frantic efforts that included offers to sell shares to various private investors.
"Some of the people backing us to start out did not come up with the funds on the terms we had identified," said Eclipse founder David Lockwood. "It was preferable to deal with Mr. Cobb."
Bankruptcy Judge Cornelius Blackshear accepted Eclipse's bid, but the asset was immediately transferred to Cobb.
"Cobb provided the financing for Eclipse to close, and Eclipse then assigned the trademark rights to Cobb," said Neil Forrest, attorney for Pan Am's creditors.
Cobb said he already is working on two deals regarding Pan Am.
In one, he is negotiating with Flying Cloud, a group of New York investors, to become a minority partner in his firm. Flying Cloud is expected to provide about 30 percent of the cost of the name.
Cobb is also negotiating with Pan Am Charters, a joint venture formed by Eclipse and European American Travel, a Washington, D.C.-based tour operator, to operate tours from Baltimore to Europe and South America.
"They would have the rights for some international activity," Cobb said. "We're hopeful we can make a deal."
by CNB