THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 27, 1996 TAG: 9601270359
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Briefs
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Bell Atlantic Corp. said it has resolved all outstanding issues with the Communications Workers of America union after more than six months of negotiations. Both sides signed an agreement late Thursday night. Bell Atlantic said CWA members will now vote on the agreement, which covers local and common issues between the union and the Philadelphia-based regional Bell operating company. The process is expected to take about four weeks. The new contract will expire Aug. 8, 1998, and replaces the previous one that expired last Aug. 5. The CWA represents about 34,400 Bell Atlantic employees in six states, including Virginia. (Bloomberg Business News)
Supreme Court may hear Tyson Foods' appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear the appeal of Tyson Foods Inc. in its case against the tactics WLR Foods Inc. used to fend off a $330 million takeover. The U.S. District Court for Western Virginia and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond have upheld a Virginia law making hostile takeovers difficult. Tyson, the nation's leading poultry producer, argues the law violates federal law and the Constitution's commerce clause. In 1994, WLR's board of directors voted down the merger offer from Tyson. WLR, a Broadway-based poultry producer, also amended its bylaws to protect against a possible takeover attempt and acquired a turkey processing business to thwart Tyson's takeover bid. (AP) American Express stock rises after takeover talk
American Express Co. shares surged $2 5/8 a share to $43 3/8 Friday following a report in Business Week magazine that an unidentified financial services company may be targeting the charge-card company for a takeover. The magazine cited a New York investment bank source saying American Express is ```back on the buyout radar screen' of another huge financial-services company.'' Business Week cited the source as saying the buyer may offer $30 billion, or $60 a share, in a cash and stock merger. That would be the most expensive takeover offer in history. (AP)
Kmart chairman will invest bonus in troubled store
Kmart Corp.'s top executive says he will invest his $1 million bonus in the company's stock in anticipation that he will turn the struggling discount retailer around. Floyd Hall, Kmart's chairman and chief executive, already owns 500 shares of the company's stock, which was down 12 1/2 cents at $5.75 per share in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. He has a $1 million base salary and a guaranteed first-year bonus of $1 million. He plans to buy the stock in March. Kmart has endured 11 consecutive quarters of disappointing earnings or losses, which with rumors of bankruptcy have contributed to a 50 percent drop in its stock price since June. (AP) by CNB