ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070086
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
Severance-pay suit `trivial', Disney says
LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney Co. described as ``trivial'' a lawsuit challenging the huge severance payout to former company president Michael Ovitz and vowed Monday to defend itself vigorously.
The suit said Ovitz's 14-month tenure as Disney president was ``undistinguished and unproductive'' and contends Disney should have renegotiated no-fault provisions in his contract, which gave him a cash and stock package worth ``$130 million or more.''
William Lerach, a San Diego lawyer known for lawsuits accusing businesses of misleading investors, filed the action on behalf of Disney shareholders.
Disney officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said that Ovitz, a former talent agent, never would have left his job as head of the Creative Artists Agency, where he earned a reported $25 million to $35 million a year, without huge guarantees in his five-year contract.
- Associated Press
Doubletree raises ante on hotel chain
PHOENIX - Doubletree Corp. said Monday it has raised to $890 million the price it agreed to pay for Renaissance Hotel Group. Renaissance said the earlier announcement of $850 million was rushed out because of unusual trading in Doubletree shares.
Under the new pact, Doubletree will pay 0.4342 shares of its common stock and $8 in cash for each Renaissance share. The deal values Renaissance shares at $26.67 each, based on a Doubletree stock price of $43. The purchase price also includes the assumption of $70 million of Renaissance debt.
The hotel acquisition is Doubletree's second in two months. In November the Phoenix-based hotelier agreed to buy Red Lion Hotels Inc.'s 56 hotels for $1.2 billion. Doubletree operates Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.
-Bloomberg Business News
Coal production up
U.S. coal production reached a record 1.07 billion tons in 1996, according to industry estimates released Monday.
The totals through Dec. 28, the latest available, surpassed 1994's 1.03 billion tons, the U.S. Energy Department said. Production of lignite and bituminous coal last year was 4.1 percent higher than 1995's production and surpassed 1 billion tons for only the fourth time ever, the agency said.
Virginia mines produced 434,000 tons that week, down from 707,000 the previous week but up from 405,000 in 1995.
For the week, production was down 27 percent from 21.2 million tons the week before, which included the Christmas holiday, the agency said. The industry produced 15.3 million tons in the same week last year.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB