Word: paramount
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...offer touched off a frenzy among Wall Street arbitragers, who snapped up Time stock in the belief that Paramount would prevail or attract other bidders into the fray. Time shares skyrocketed from 126 to 170 on Wednesday and finished the week at 170 1/4. Since Wall Street investors considered all three companies now to be in play, Warner stock jumped to 56 1/8, up 4 points for the week, and Paramount rose...
...those who admired the Time-Warner deal, an old-fashioned debt-free and tax-free stock swap between friendly companies, the Paramount bid raised disturbing doubts about whether corporate America can free itself from the frenzied deal making, staggering debt loads and ultimate dismemberment that have plagued U.S. industry in the 1980s. Among other considerations, the absence of heavy leverage in the Time-Warner arrangement was aimed at helping the merged company compete globally against such foreign media giants as West Germany's Bertelsmann and France's Hachette...
...Paramount would have to borrow some $10 billion to acquire Time at the offering price, which Davis admitted at an analysts' meeting would mean no earnings for at least two years and would be a long-term drain on operations. At the very least, the debt would impose the kind of cost cutting that has characterized Laurence Tisch's management of CBS. At worst, it could force the sale of certain assets to meet the bankers' bills. Indeed, almost any of Time's defensive strategies would require heavy borrowing that would sap profits from whatever entity results when the dust...
While Time said it would give the Paramount bid a fair hearing, as the law requires, there was every indication that Time's top executives would fight to repel the intruder. In a three-page "Dear Mr. Davis" letter, Munro chastised the Paramount chairman for breaking his spoken agreement to leave Time alone: "On a personal level, I'm disappointed that I can't rely on you as a man of your word. Live and learn." Munro said the Paramount offer consisted of "smoke and mirrors," since it was subject to several conditions that included Paramount's ability to obtain...
...else failed, Time could seek a so-called white knight to save it from Paramount's grasp. But almost any bidder with enough financial backing could jump into the fray without being invited. Moreover, Wall Street analysts believe that all three companies are now up for sale, since their stock is falling into the hands of speculators who will gladly sell to the highest bidder. "I bet none of the three companies will exist a year from now," says Ellen Greenspan, a leading Wall Street arbitrager...