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Show NOBEL PRIZE: An American is chosen to share the award for economic sciences. E2 Che Palt Lake Tribune inside Your Money E2 Utah Business E2 ee THURSDAY Tradewinds E7 Ocroser 9, 2003 WWW=SLTRIB.COM YESTERDAYS Indicators * ed | Sae Sie y are By : ss fase CLOSE: 5,855.34 A shareholder vote is p 1,033.78 . at a spec Underthe terms of the sales agreement,Hire Call- ataeeae $3.4 million for the company, or Ore.-based Hire Calling for $1.37 a share, abouthalf The deal’s announcement caused SOS shares, which traded at $2.64 a dayearlier, to hit a low of $1.29 each. The lawsuit focuses in part on the share-price drop. It argues any doubts about the unfairness of the agreement were effectively extinguished the day the deal was announced. whatthe stock traded for the day before the deal was SOS Staffing Services shareholders have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in 3rd District Court to try to block the company’s plan to sell its 13-state network of temporary employee staffing offices to one of the largest privately held staffing firms in the Pacific Northwest. Salt Lake City-based SOS in early Septembersaid e sult j approved a sale of the company to Medford, its t The Sah Lake Tribune * E S »etineinsarttakecis Staffing firm seeks to buy SLC-based company _~—_— CLOSE: ers OQ r% y a ‘ SO fil ] | ] ] -\.\. A announced. The lawsuit contends the sale agreementis unfair, and asks the court to stop the transaction or rescindit if it takes place. “We see this as nothing more than a nuisance claim,” Kevin Hardy, SOS senior vice president and chief financial officer, said Wednesday. “There is no See SOS SHAREHOLDERS, 15 GE, Vivendi agree on NBC merger Poised to compete Proud as a peacock: Vivendi Universal Entertainment ANALYSIS The new concern will be 80% owned byGE and —_and General Electric's NBC will help the network Wail Street retreated Wednesday, ending a five-day winning streak, as investors refrained from making big moves ahead of third-quarter earnings reports. Technology stocks suffered some of the biggest declines, giving back someof their gains from the past week : called NBC Universal compete with ABC, CBS and Fox, which are owned by larger media conglomerates with significant Hollywood studios. Qwest executive a candidate for replacing Motorola CEO Richard Notebaert, chairman and chief executive of Qwest Communications International, is among candidates contacted in the search to replace Motorola CEO Christopher Gaivin. The job would be a homecoming for the 55-year-old telecom veteran, who led the former Ameritech Corp. until its sale to SBC Communications Inc. in 1999 before jumping to equipment makerTellabs as CEO. Denver’s Qwest recruited him 16 months ago to replace Joseph Nacchio at the troubled former Baby Bell. Spencer Stuart, the New Yorkbased firm hired to assist Motorola's board in picking Galvin’s replacement, said it does not comment on ongoing searches. Notebaert is among a number of candidates contacted near the beginning of a weekslong process that will decide whether Motorola’s board recruits an outsider or elevates the com- The merging of Vivendi’s Universal Entertainment $7,193.6 64.5% 22,146 National Broadcasting Co. inc. 2002 Sales (in millions) 1-Year Sales Growth 2002 Employees $7,149.0 23.9% 6,000 Television & Cable By KENNETH N. GILPIN The New York Times Produces shows such as “Law & Order,” “Just Shoot Me” and “Jerry Springer.” U.S. cable channels including USA than 14 company-owned or operated General Electric and Viv- Network, Sci-Fi Channel and Trio. Movies and Video stations; Telemundo (U.S. Spanishlanguage television network); Bravo Universal Pictures produces and distributes movies such as “Seabiscuit” and “The Hulk.” Universal Studios shipped over 150 million DVDs in 2001. Theme parks cata a than 70 = rays alin eae fs pstmtyan (cable jetwork partnered Microsoft). NBC Enterprise Universal's theme parks saw 28 million visitors worldwide in 2001. products. endi Universal said Wednesday that they had signed a definitive agreement to merge Vivendi’s American entertainment assets with NBC, GE’s broadcasting subsidiary, firming up a deal that was tenta- tively reached last month. The new company, to be called NBC Universal, will be 80 percent owned by: General Electric. Shareholders of Viv- NBC Television Network includes NBC Sports, News, and Entertainment. More Responsible for global distribution of NBC Sources: Associated Press; Hoover's Inc.; National Broadcasting Co. Inc. endi Universal Entertainment, the entity GE is buying, will own the remaining 20 percent of the combined company. The companies, in a joint addition, General Electric will assume $1.7 billion in Vivendi debt. Analysts said the terms an- statement, placed an estimated value of the combined entity at nounced Wednesday were not sharply at odds with what was disclosed on Sept. 2, when Vivendi announced it had entered $43 billion. Butthe actual price Gengral Electric is paying is far less than that. Under the terms of the transaction, Vivendi wilf receive about $3.8 billion in cash through a stock offering. Of that total, Vivendi shareholders will get $3.3 billion. The remainder will go to other investors in Vivendi Universal. In an independent broker-dealer and research firm. “There could be some tax benefits to Vivendi in the deal that we can’t see yet,” he said. But the “$43 billion valuation number they use is kind of a stretch, because that is more than three times 2003 pro into exclusive talks with Gen- forma revenues and more than eral Electric, ending a very public auction for its American entertainment assets that stretched through the summer. “General Electric paid a fair price,” said Tom Burnett, president of Merger Insight, an affiliate of Wall Street Access, 14 times estimated 2003 earn- ings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.” Vivendi had been seeking to unload Vivendi Universal, which among other things owns Universal Pictures, See GE, E5 The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Universal Studios Escape in Oriando, Fia., is just one of the Hollywood film studio's many assets. pany’s No. 2 executive, Mike Zafirovs- ki. Motorola’s announcement Monday that it plans to spin off its moneylosing semiconductor business as a separate public company makes the MUSLIM BARBIE Schaumburg, [1l., company more attractive to candidates, analysts said. Customer service: The rating company wants to ensure Fairbanks is keeping promises madeto settlelitigation — Chicago Tribune CTI chiefofficer resigns By Lestey MircHELL The Salt Lake Tribune Computerized Thermal Imaging, an Ogden-based makerof thermal imaging equipment used by doctors to diag- Corporate Hecited increasing personal responsi- bilities related to his wife’s health. U. applauds J.L. Sorenson Sorenson Media Chief Executive James Lee Sorensonis the inaugural winnerof the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business Entrepreneurial Achievement Award. Jack Brittain, the business school’s dean, said Wednesday that Sorenson “provides a compelling example to our students of the hard work and vision necessary to become an entrepreneur.” Sorenson Media is a video compression technology company. Sorenson is also vice chairman at Sorenson Development Inc., chairman of the board at DataChem Laboratories and CEO at Sorenson Medical. He is the son of billionaire medical devices pioneer James LeVoy Soren- son. Capital Commission and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as downgrades by rating companies such as Fitch. Oneof the changes the company pledged to make was to adequately staff its operations. That is why Fitch was surprised when Fairbanks, in an effort to handle a backlog of work in one of its departments, elected to loosen a set of quality-control standards instead of hiring more people. “We're in the process of investigating whether that was the right decision,” Fitch analyst Kathleen Tillwitz said. to people with problematic credit histories who could not qualify for standard loans. The company, which employs Can.os Osonio/TheAssociated Press Jenna Debryn shows off a Razanne doll at her home in Michigan. Razanne is ali about modesty and piety compared to the chesty and bouffant-coiffed Barbie. The doll fills not only a marketing void, but also offers Muslim girls someone with whom they can relate. See story, Page E6. about 800 Utahns, has hired a new management team and made a number of changes to settle allega- tions that the company was overly Fairbanks spokesman comment on Fitch’s investigation Wednesday. At issue is how Fair- banks handles loans that are in default. When a loan is in default, Fairbanks obtains a broker price opinion, which is basically a current value of the home. That value is put into a finan- aggressive, unresponsive and madelittle effort to correct errors on customer accounts. Those ac- cial model that helps Fairbanks cusations led to litigation and in- determine how to proceed. If the vestigations by the Federal Trade model determines there is little or By Mike GorRELL agreement expires in December 2004. That The Salt Lake Tribune sponsorship is believed to cost $60-65 mil- As the last Olympics in the United States until at least 2012 and perhaps much longer, the Salt Lake Games were considered a “very good sponsorship” for Xerox Corp. But with the Games going to Italy and China after next summer’s spectacle in Athens, Xerox has decided not to renew its Olympic Committee when its current Brian Keeter said the company had no lion over a four-year period. “Our relationship [with the Olympics] has been great for over 40 years, but we want to focus on something that reaches the customer more directly,” Xerox spokesman Carl Langsenkampsaid, Revenue in billions* | | people whoface foreclosure rather than being allowed to participate in some type of payment plan, Fitch said. Ultimately, Fairbanks’ decision raises questions about how well the company is meeting goals in areas such as adequate staffing and facilities, quality control, and performance levels, said Fitch, which pledges to closely watch Fairbanks. “We're monitoring thern on a month-to-month basis,” Tillwitz said. lesleyasltrib.com eamed $65.3 million, or 10 cents a share, from $28.2 5 cents, a yearearlier = 7 ‘oy **Costco Wholesale Corp.. The warehouse-club retailer eatned | | Earnings reports for the second quarter a Yahoo! inc.: The ownerof the most-used group of f ‘ $0.357 $239.4 million, or 51 cents a share, from $247 million, or $13.4 52 cents, a yearearlier. "Winn-Dixie Stores ing.: The supermarket operater earned $1.2 million, or 1 cent a share, from $34.8 million, or 25 cents, a Xerox has been one of 10 to 12 international-levei sponsors of the Games since 1994, handling the publication and See XEROX, £7 noequity in the property based on the home’s value and the amount owed on the mortgage, Fairbanks may be less likely to put a borrower on some type of payment plan in lieu of foreclosure. If a broker price opinion comes in significantly lower than the most recent appraisal on the property, a reviewer working for Fairbanks traditionally has investigated to make sure the current value is correct before proceeding. Fairbanks’ new system could not only reduce the numberofvalues that are checked for accuracy, but could increase the number of Quarterly snapshots ofthe Olympics after next summer global sponsorship with the International — Bob Mims Fairbanks Corp. is making changes needed to resolve customerservice problems that escalated into two government investigations and litigation initiated by angry customers. Fairbanks, which services home loans made by other companies, collects payments and handles bookkeeping for about 550,000 loans, many of which were granted tive Saturday, though he will advise — Bloomberg News company investigating whether Salt Lake City-based the companyuntil a replacementis found, CTI said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. other industrial purposes. rating Fitch Ratings said Wednesdayit is nose and treat pain, said Chief Operating Officer John Brenna resigned. Brenna’s resignation will be effec- Brenna is one of several recent departures at CTI, whose Chief Executive Richard Secord is the subject of a federal probe related to illegal insider trading allegations. Former Chief F'inancial Officer Bernard Brady and former board member Robert Simmons both resigned from their posts in July. CTI’s imaging systems are also used to examine turbine blades and for Fitch investigates Fairbanks Corp. 26 **fourth-quarter earnings eigeeehouateee aman | ~~ “first-quarterresults_ * Percentage changes compared to year-ago quarter The Salt Lake Tribune |
