FORMER CIA OFFICIALS AMONG UPI BIDDERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100330003-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: September 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/25: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100330003-4 --
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WASHINGTON TIMES
17 September 1985
'Former CIA officials among
UPI bidders
By Theo Stamos
THE MMSMINOTON TIMES
Two former CIA officials, a Houston
developer and the union representing
workers at United Press International
were among bidders who submitted pro-
posals yesterday to buy the financially
strapped wire service.
Yesterday was the company's self-
imposed deadline for receiving "expres-
sions of interest" from would-be
purchasers of the 78-year-old news
organization that filed for protection
under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws
in April.
UPI's Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Luis Nogales said in a prepared
statement that the company had received
"numerous expressions of interest from
various parties. We are most encouraged
by the response and interest to date."
David Wickenden, a spokesman for the
Washington-based wire service, said that
the company would not reveal the names
of those submitting bids or the number
of bids received. "Confidentiality contin-
ues to be essential and therefore we do
not plan to make further comment until
we are further along with the selection
and negotiation process;" Mr. Wickenden
quoted Mr. Nogales as saying.
Mr. Wickenden added that the dead-
line did not represent a final cut-off point
and that.other potential investors might
come forward during the next few weeks
whose proposals could be considered.
New Hampshire businessman Max
Hugel, who served as an assistant CIA
director during President Reagan's first
term and was just named chairman of a
Republican committee called Project 88,
acknowledged yesterday that he and a
group of investors "with great knowledge
and experience in the telecommunica-
tions business" had submitted a proposal
to buy the financially beleaguered wire
service.
Mr. Hugel declined to say how much
his group had offered UPI, or to reveal
the identities of his co-investors.
The other former CIA official bidding
for UPI, Robert H. Cunningham, left the
CIA in 1964 after helping to organize the
agency's domestic operations division.
Mr. Cunningham said in a telephone
interview from his home in Pawley's
Island, S.C., that he had submitted a pro-
posal to UPI on behalf of a group of inves-
tors. He said he "couldn't divulge the
investor group but they have a lot of
money."
Mr. Cunningham said his group's bid
included the creation of an employee
trust capable of borrowing enough
money to finance an international news
supplement for daily newspapers.
Houston developer Joseph Russo,
whose interests include a financial ser-
vices network, a venture capital group,
and hotel and restaurant holdings in
'Ibxas, also submitted a bid to UPI offi-
cials yesterday on behalf of a group of
investors. Mr. Russo's spokesman, Rus-
sell Rau, said they expected to be compet-
ing with "five or six other serious
bidders:'
Meanwhile, the Wire Service Guild,
which represents about 750 of UPI's
domestic employees, yesterday turned in
its own plan to rescue UPI.
With the approval of the bankruptcy
court, the guild is allowed to submit a
plan of its own for reorganizing the wire
service, said Daniel Carmichael, the
guild's secretary-treasurer. He refused
to disclose the terms of the bid. But he
added that the proposal "was consistent
with the guild's effort to protect the
employees at UPI."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/04/25: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100330003-4