Word: shearson
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...problems in Amex's core business come after a long string of mishaps in its diversified pursuits. The chief money drain has been its Shearson Lehman Bros. investment arm, which suffered mightily from its $962 million takeover of ailing and scandal-ridden E.F. Hutton in 1988. Shearson is just now starting to show signs of recovery from Wall Street's postcrash slump. Amex had hoped to flee the securities business, but after failing to find a buyer for Shearson, Amex injected $1 billion in capital to restructure the firm...
...Shearson took a direct hit in its real estate business, as did many financial firms. Shearson's Balcor subsidiary suffered $200 million in loan losses, and was liquidated by the company in 1990. Amex had done even worse in the insurance business after buying Fireman's Fund, which suffered heavy underwriting losses. In 1986 Amex sold the company, but only after pumping more than $400 million into the business. American Express suffered both scandal and loss at its Boston Co. unit, a money-management firm that was discovered to have improperly overstated its 1988 earnings by $30 million...
...aggressive p.r. tactics have sometimes misfired. In the tangled fight for RJR Nabisco, she failed to soften the reckless bravado of client Ross Johnson in his abortive attempt to buy the food and tobacco company he headed. The defeat was a setback for her husband too. American Express's Shearson Lehman unit had bankrolled Johnson, and Jim Robinson had worked closely on the deal. More recently, she sought to portray Milken as a misunderstood benefactor of the poor. But the campaign had little impact on perceptions of the junk man, who is serving a 10-year sentence for violating securities...
...breakthrough is most unwelcome news for the Big Three -- already hurting because of perceived shortcomings ranging from mileage to quality control. "It's probably giving the boys in Detroit a few sleepless nights," said Joseph Phillippi, an automotive-industry analyst at Shearson Lehman Bros. in New York City. "The Big Three say that they have similar technology, but Japan puts it in the showroom." The Japanese now command roughly 25% of the U.S. auto market, a 5% gain in three years...
...launching a hostile takeover attempt. In a face- to-face showdown with AT&T's board members in New York City, NCR management vowed to resist. But industry analysts generally believe that the big telecommunications firm will ultimately prevail, strengthening NCR in the long run. Says Maria Lewis of Shearson Lehman Bros.: "AT&T would make an ideal corporate parent." Still, the deal carries enormous financial risks for AT&T, which had tried to build a computer business from scratch, avoiding large acquisitions. "AT&T will triumph, but it may be a Pyrrhic victory," says John McCarthy, an analyst...