THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150427
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 57 lines
Ford sells rental company to Budget licensee group
Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday announced it has agreed to sell its interest in Budget Rent a Car to a group of Budget licensees in a deal valued at about $350 million. The buyer is Team Rental, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., which owns and operates 13 Budget franchises in 155 locations. Team Rental also leases vans for commuter pooling in 22 states and sells used cars, Ford said. Ford Chairman Alexander Trotman had said in December that Ford was looking at the possible sale of Budget, and the deal announced Tuesday had been expected for about a week. (Associated Press)
Colonial Williamsburg gets reconstruction funds
Grants from an anonymous private Richmond foundation and the Mars Foundation of McLean will enable Colonial Williamsburg to reconstruct three of eight outbuildings at the Peyton Randolph House. The white frame Randolph House was the home of the speaker of Virginia's House of Burgesses and the president of the first Continental Congress. Funds will be used to reconstruct the dairy, smokehouse and storage building. Interpretation of the site will be expanded to include the evolution of the property and outbuildings, the daily lives of slaves, and historic foods and trades. (Staff)
Funds for atlas database also go to Williamsburg
The L.J. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation has awarded Colonial Williamsburg a $200,000 grant to develop an Urban Culture Atlas - an interactive database that brings together research. Over the past six decades, Colonial Williamsburg has cataloged reports, drawings and artifacts about people, places and events in 18th century Williamsburg. The atlas will use a geographic information system to organize the data to enable scholars, educators and, eventually, visitors to access research on a site-by-site basis. (Staff)
Guess moving assembly south of the border
Dogged by accusations of illegal labor practices, jeans maker Guess Inc. is moving most of its manufacturing south of the U.S. border, The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday. The company is reducing the percentage of its clothing sewn in Los Angeles from 75 percent five months ago to 35 percent next month, Guess chairman and CEO Maurice Marciano said. The move comes amid charges by activists that Guess products are made in sweatshops, and Marciano said various government investigations influenced the decision to move to Mexico, Peru and Chile. (AP)
CarMax IPO expected to raise $285.9 million
Circuit City Stores Inc. is preparing an initial public offering of 18.86 million CarMax Group shares that would raise $285.9 million. Circuit City will ask its shareholders to vote on an IPO for the new- and used-car retail business at a special meeting on Jan. 24, according to a Circuit City filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Circuit City will create two stocks, one for the electronics and appliance retail business and one for the CarMax Group. Richmond-based Circuit City expects to price the CarMax shares at $15 to $17 a share, the company's proxy statement filing said. (Bloomberg)