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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 7, 1995                   TAG: 9501090023
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: DANVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

BANK HALTS SALE OF DANVILLE PAPER

American National Bank & Trust Co. in Danville is the executor of the estate of the newspaper's former publisher, the late E. Stuart James Grant, who left the paper to nine charities and schools in August 1990.

On Aug. 31, 1994, the bank agreed to sell a majority of the Register & Bee to an employee stock ownership plan and the rest to Charles Womack Jr., who publishes weekly newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina.

Womack and his investors had been expected to close on the deal Dec. 12. But Virginia Attorney General Jim Gilmore delayed the sale, questioning whether American National was acting in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the estate, which include the state-supported Virginia Military Institute and University of Virginia.

Bank President Charlie Majors declined to comment on whether the attorney general's investigation had influenced the bank's decision to reopen bids. He said the bank took the action because the Register & Bee has operated better than projected and because newspapers in general have become more valuable.

Representatives of two Virginia newspaper chains have expressed an interest in bidding for the Register & Bee: Byrd Newspapers and Media General, parent of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

- Associated Press