DATE: Thursday, October 23, 1997            TAG: 9710230471

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D3   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   36 lines

NATION & WORLD [BUSINESS BRIEFS]

SETTLED SUIT

FIRST UNION TO PAY $58.5 MILLION: First Union Corp., one of the nation's largest banks, agreed Wednesday to pay $58.5 million to 239 former employees to settle an age discrimination suit. The suit was filed in 1994 by former employees of First American and Meritor Savings, acquired by First Union respectively in 1992 and 1993. First Union is the nation's sixth largest bank. The employees accused First Union of firing longtime workers in Washington, northern Virginia and Maryland and replacing them with younger, less-qualified workers. First Union is in the process of acquiring Signet Bank.

BROADCASTING

LIN ACCEPTS SWEETER DEAL: LIN Television Corp. said it accepted a sweetened cash offer of $1.9 billion from Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. that tops a bid from Raycom Media Inc. Hicks Muse's offer is for $55 a share, while Raycom last week bid $52.50. The higher bid was expected because Hicks Muse covets LIN's eight stations, including Hampton Road's WAVY-TV, and management teams as part of its plan to become one of the nation's largest broadcasters. Analysts said it's not clear what the next step is for Raycom, whose backer, the Retirement System of Alabama, has aggressively expanded into TV the past three years.

SHIPYARDS

NAVY YARD DEAL INKED: Philadelphia's ship just came in. State and city leaders inked a deal in Germany yesterday with Europe's largest shipbuilder to jointly reopen the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Gov. Ridge and Mayor Rendell jetted to the German port town of Rostock to close the deal with Norwegian-based Kvaerner ASA. The deal calls for $399 million in taxpayer subsidies in return for Kvaerner's agreement to hire 1,000 shipyard workers and spend $165 million over 15 years at the shuttered yard.

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