Word: lings
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...only a matter of time before Government trustbusters stopped talking about cracking down on conglomerates and actually did something. After repeated warnings, the Justice Department last week singled out one of the largest of those multi-industry companies, Ling-Temco-Vought, as its first major target. The trustbusters announced that by mid-April they intend to file suit to force LTV to dispose of its 63% holding in Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp...
...possibility of a suit against LTV has been under consideration since the last months of the Johnson Administration. Under its acquisitive founder, James J. Ling, Dallas-based LTV has grown since 1957 from a $4,000,000-a-year contracting company into the nation's 14th largest corporation, with sales last year of $2.8 billion. And its takeover last summer of Pittsburgh's J. & L.-whose sales of $900 million make it the nation's sixth largest steel producer -was the biggest conglomerate merger in history. J. & L. stock was selling for about $50 before the merger...
...supposed dangers of economic concentration, no one has yet proved that industrial bigness necessarily means badness. On the contrary, the U.S. has prospered in world trade precisely because of the relatively large size and resources of its companies. The takeover of Jones & Laughlin by an aggressive outsider like Jim Ling could prove something of a welcome stimulus to the clubby steel manufacturers, who commonly follow the lead of the U.S. Steel Corp. in pricing and other policy matters. Even his critics acknowledge that Ling is certainly imaginative. One testimony to the productive efficiency of his company comes from the Government...
...Still, Ling is in trouble, and the Government's attempt to cut him down to size will only add to his problems. LTV has such heavy debts that the company faces difficulty in meeting the interest payments-about $45 million this year-out of current income. Partly as a result of the high payments, earnings are down. Excluding such special items as the sale of the LTV Tower in Dallas, profits in 1968 were off 18%, to $28 million; in the year's fourth quarter, they plunged 58%. In order to finance the takeover of J. & L., Ling...
Many deals start on the golf course. One day at a Dallas country club, Jim Ling ran across an acquaintance who was a steel-company director. The man remarked that the steel company was in trouble and should be available for a takeover. As it turned out, the company threatened to resist, and Ling backed off. But his appetite had been whetted. He started looking for other steel companies. By reading annual reports, he became interested in Jones & Laughlin. First there was a correct but tense meeting at the elegant Rolling Rock Country Club outside Pittsburgh, then a secret hotel...