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Show The Salt Lake Tribune BUSINESS M CONSUMER CORNER, C-40 MIDILBERT,C-40 mi BUSINESS GLANCE, C-42 MAY 22, 1999 Refineries Merger Hits a Snag Dow Industrials NYSE Officials at Flying J, Inland say they arelikely to scuttle the deal BY GUY BOULTON THE SALT LAKETRIBUNE Flying J Inc.'s proposed deal to fold someofits assets into Inland Resources Inc. probably won't take place, execu- | | Stock prices were mixedin alisless session Friday as investors, worried about theeffect rising interest rates could have on big-name stocks, movedtheir money into small-cap issues 700 American Stores Jobs To Stay in Salt Lake City in the Uinta Basin to Inland. In exchange, Flying J’s owners would have gotten $80 million in cash and a 60 percent stake in Inland Thedeal would not have included Flying J's chainof truck stops or its oil-and- current assets less current liabilities — of $145.8 million as of March 31. But Miller said Inland is working with its Dakota. The two companies ultimately could not agree on how to value the various helped. Inland’s wells produce a crude tives of both companies confirmed Fri. ay. gas properties in Wyoming and North Phil Adams, president of Flying J Kyle Miller, the president and chief assets, Adamssaid. “The merger as we envisioned[it] is probably not going to materialize,” said Utah's Top Performers ~ The Bloomberg Utah Index measuresthe stockperformance ofthe state's major publicly held companies TenFold Hit The Market executive of Inland, said the company hopes to work with Flying J on other business opportunities. Flying J, based in BrighamCity, is best knownfor its chain of truck stops. The privately held company also owns a small refinery in North Salt Lake and oil-and-gas reserves in Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota. In the past decade, Flying J’s revenue soared, increasing roughly sixfold to nearly$3 billion Inland, based in Denver, producesoil and gas in the Uinta Basin and owns a small refinery in Woods Cross. The publie company, which holds interests in about 600 wells, had revenue of $83.4 millionlast year. Under the proposed merger, Flying J would have transferred ownershipofits Therecent increasein oil prices has Running Softwarefirm excels on first day of trading oil with a high wax content that sells for BY LESLEY MITCHELL “That became the biggest issue at the end of the day,” he said. less than higher-quality oil. The compa ny’s oil production sold for about $7 a barrel whenoil prices wereat their low point than a year for Inland Prices have since increased to $14 a bai rel day oftrading following an initial 0 fering of 4.7 million shares wt $17 The Draper softs leyeloper closed refinery near Roosevelt that it planned to refurbish and expand. It also planned to build a pipeline to transport gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other with deep pockets. pany based in NewYork, owns about 53 percentof Inland. stock, which trade: Stock Market, close 3: per shar “It’s tough to make a go of the eco- In addition, Enron Corp. owns preferred stock that could be converted into a 9.45 percent stake in Inland. Citicorp. ‘The failed deal is the second in less Last’ year, the company bought a petroleum products to Salt LakeCity Thatproject waslater shelved The company also has stockholders Pengo Securities Corp., a holding com. nomics,” Miller said. The collapsein oil priceslate last year and earlier this year also stung the com- also owns about5 percentof the compa- and $6 million in the first quarter ofthis pany also expects to lose money this year. But it holds large reserves in the pany. Inland lost $23.5 million last year year. The company’s stock closed Friday at North Salt Lake refinery, 11 conve- lenders to restructure debt, converting short-term debt to long-term debt and equity. $1.75, down 13 cents a share. Early last year, the stock traded for as high as $10.50 a share. niencestoresand its oil-and-gas reserves Inland had a workingcapital deficit — ny Miller acknowledgedthe p r has beendifficult for the company. The comUinta Basin and those wells remain economical “We expect to be back next year strong.” Miller said, “and wearelaying THE SALT LAKE TRINUNI TenFold Corp. stock pained much as 54 percent Friday, tts of $26.13 It was the first initial first bi fer ing, or IPO, by a Utah-hased company this year The offering netted al 9 mil lion after brokerage [¢ tenfold plansto use its portion nearly $35 million — for capital expenditu working capital and acquisitions ible futur Of the 4.7 million shares in the of fering, TenFold sold 2.05 million shares. while a major shareholder the groundwork for that now.” See TENFOLD. Page C-10 At least 700 American Stores Co. employeeswill stayon the job in Salt Lake City when the merger with Albertson’s Inc. is completed, Albertson’s spokesman Mike Readsaid. But the final numberof workers to stay in Salt Lake City has not been determined, hesaid. American Stores employs about 1,900 workers in Salt LakeCity. Those who remain after the merger primarily will work in operations with Albertson's stores in Utah. But a large number of information-technology workers also are expected to remain. After the merger is approved, the Salt Lake City operation likely will become oneof Albertson's 30 divisions. American Stores and Albertson's, based in Boise, last summer announced plans to merge. The propos- al still needs approval from the Federal Trade Commission and authorities in California, Nevada and New Mexico. The biggest question is how many stores regulators will require to be sold because of antitrust concerns. Southern California presents the biggest challenge because Albertson's and American Stores have the largest number ofstores overlapping in that market. The companies expect approval of the merger within the next several weeks, Read said CPI Buying Power Plant Constellation Power Inc. (CPI) of Baltimore, Md., has signed an agree- mentto acquire a 51-megawatt power plant in Carbon County from Sunnyside Cogeneration Associates, which owns thefacility Constellation Operating Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CPI, will operate the plant, which re- claims wastecoal as its fuel source CPI is a member of Constellation Energy Group, a holding company whose subsidiaries include energy-re lated businesses focused on power marketing and generation in North America, plus Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, which provides service to 11 million electric custom ers and 570,000 gas customers in cen tral Maryland Phonex Enters Agreement Phonex Corp, the Midvale maker of wireless phonejacks, has entered into a technology agreement with In- tellon Corp. to develop products designed for the telephoneand Internet services promised by cable-television panes Under the agreement, Intellon will design computer chips that allow data to be moved at high speeds over a house's electrical wires. Phonex will usethose chips in a new generation of digital wireless jacks Phonex, which has revenueof about $25 million, makes wireless phone jacks that transmit voice con versations over electrical wires using an FMradio signal The new generation of digital phone jacks would enable people to connect personal computers and tele phones to a cable-television compa ny’s coaxial cable without running ad e, said Randy Mansfield. Phonex's vice president of sales Online Grocery Stores Look For Success Going for Groceries Online Amazon.com and other companies are investing more and more in online grocery shopping in hopes that consumerswill line up. HomeGrocer.com has been serving customersin the Seattle area for a year Here Big investors betting public NEW YORK — You'll buya book, balance your checkbook and even investin stocks over the Internet. But when it comes time for grocery shopping, most folks still hop in the car and head for the supermarket. That may change soon. Some of the Internet's elite, such as retailer Amazon- com and the founder of software pioneer Netscape, are betting big money Pick yourdelivery time. over the idea of buying everything from Search the site for what products you want. (You can create personal lists from previous purchases.) Onceyoufinish shopping, checkout. Punchin your credit card number and fresh tuna steaks to cereal online. ‘It's all about experience, and if you make the online experience better than what they can find themselves at the store, there's a great chance that your online grocery business will succeed.” said Michael May, an analystat Internet research firm Jupiter Communications Online grocery sales are still quite small, totaling just under $150 million last year, less than | percent of the more than $440 billion in total supermarket a pagewill pop up confirmingthe order. Compare and save? HomeGrocer.com goes head-to-head with some Seattle area supermarkets HomeGrocer.com Supermarkets Tide High Efficiency Liquid Laundry Detergent (64 oz.) $6.99 $6.99 Oreo cookies (20 02.) $3.29 $3 49 $2.59 $2 69 Products ket is developing slowly as Webgrocers Formula 409 Cleaner (22 oz.) vidual communities rather than take the riskier route of going global Sofar the biggest challenge for cyber grocers has been convincing Americans to just try them out infact: less than a million people have bought groceries online, while the aver age American visits a brick-and-mortar Pampers Newborn Diapers (40 count) geartheir businesses to the needs ofindi- supermarket 2 2 times a week Coke Classic Soda (dozen 12 oz. cans) Colgate Total Toothpaste(7.8 oz.) Tropicana Chilled Original Orange Juice (64 oz.) Cheerios Whole Grain Oat Cereal (20 oz) $10.79 $3.99 $39.02" Total “There $ a $9 95 delwery chargeonorders under $75 See ONLINE, Page C-10 $38.72 ar Calder’s SummerExit Will Leave a Big Void In Park City Effort to Market Itself to World BY KARL CATES THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PARK CITY — Loaded with ef. fervescence and a saleswoman's drive, Joan Calder was on the front lines when Park City’s mod ern business community endured its most doubtful days Resigning from her post this summer as executive director of the Park City Chamber of Com merce-Convention & Visitors Bu When she was appointed marketing director for the Chamber in 1986, the resort townwas reel. Ski Team in 1975. was a self-de scribed hippie and veteran of the psychedelic San Francisco ‘60s ing from the near-collapse of its when she arrived Today — fouryears after she be City flourishes in ski season and which attracts tens of thousands today, was little morethan a haphazard swap meet at the time bustles even this time of year Park City in the interim has when sizeable lunch crowds as semble at Main Street eateries. executed by competing interests The city’s annual arts festival overextended real estate sector came executive director — Park It’s a far cry from when Cham gone through a metamorphosis in an atmospherethat called for a ber executive committee member Jan Wilking arrived 20 years ago certain delicacy in leadership reau, she leaves big shoes behind 1 wish we could clone her. said Kim McClelland, a member and found a historic district that said Wilking “One of the things we'relooking for in replacing her with finding a replacement for It’s a big loss, seeing her go was boarded up When you'd see a car drive is someone who can deal with the car drive down Main Street — there would only be one at a ty here, from city and county gov ernment toall the different asso- merchants and resorts The search for Calder's succes. sor is national, at least, and maybe down Main Street —if you'd see a markets. The companies also vow to offer telephone service in coming curtail ber 60-hour work weeks and “do someliving I figured out I only have one day of Lodestar magazineand co- fines in only one or two rooms life tolive,” Calder said the other day over lunch at the Wasatch Brew Pub. one of the symbols of a Main Street tourist trade that has fynally come into its own owner of the Grubsteak restau: thenal coaxial cables temperature zones. While Jupiter expects sales to rise to more than $3.5 billion by 2002, the mar- Calder, who at 52 has decided to would eliminate the need to run addi delivered within 90-mr fi Your merchandiseis then loaded onto a truck, which has three different sales, according to Jupiter. of the Chamber committeetasked Phonex plans to develop a highspeed, digital, wireless jack that Yourorderis shipped directly to the warehouse, where a personal shopperfills the order Logonto the site Punch in your local zip code. that consumers will soon be salivating Cable-television companies are years. Yet most homes havecable is a look at howthis virtual supermarket operates. will start to embrace service access over their systems in some starting to offer high-speed Internet | time,” said Wilking. publisher to- rant Calder, a New Hampshire na tive who came to Park City as a marketing consultant for the U.S manydifferent areas of communi ciations to the individual international too. Whoever takes + See CALDER, Page C-10 Michel J Mien Tine Sate Lathe Trin Joan Calder resigned as director of the Park City Chamber of Commerce-Convention & Visitors Bureau |
