NUMEROUS POSSIBLE BUYERS SHOW INTEREST IN U.P.I.

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP91-00587R000100600013-3
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
May 3, 2011
Sequence Number: 
13
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
September 17, 1985
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP91-00587R000100600013-3.pdf144.72 KB
Body: 
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/03: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100600013-3 NE'iV YORK TIMES 17 September 1985 Numerous Possible Buyers Show In eres in . . By ALEX S. JONES Several prospective buyers have sub- mitted nonbinding "expressions of in- terest" in acquiring United Press In- tft)ational, U.P.I. executives said yes- terday. Sources close to the situation who asked not to be identified said that ariao'ttg those submitting tentative pro- posals were major communication cot panes, some significant financial aid venture capital concerns, U.P.I.'s ujtlpn a rival news agency, at least two fndlviduals with former ties to the Cen- tral fntelligence Agency, and some for- eign publishing companies. financially troubled news serv. Abo. ice had set yesterday as a deadline for expressions of interest, and it to seek firm bids for the company ~acly October. Those who indicated interest are not obliged to submit frpstal bids. A bankruptcy judge must approve s ii Cal sale as part of the reorganiza- t * of the company, and It could be aeOl months before the situation is val as News Service Sought States Bankruptcy Code last and has been seeking a buyer d assure the survival of the cp4lWny as a general news service. Ca~any officials said-yesterday's re- from prospective buyers, al- thgo8h were not firm offers, were a Wift indication that U. U.P.I. would be a to attract such a buyer. .I. had been circulating a pro- spits on the company for several +w -W, those submitting expres f interest were asked to include a lp)xfthinary estimate of how much 1.k._I. was worth, the buyer's financial Itr*& planned to operate the news agency, according to a U.P.I. spokes- man. Ray Wechsler, president of U.P.f., said-that U.P.I. would not rule out con- sid4ttion of other companies that raftW indicate serious interest in . in the next few days, even v-? Those Indicating interest to-I. would not confirm the identi- ties3f any of the parties who indicated interest yesterday, but a partial list, coolpiled through sources who asked rtoFlrs be identified, includes these con- QW. Qau.Lner Broadcasting System Inc., tral Intelligence A enc at one point the+?'Atlanta-based communication I y-- p? weelb Mr. Turner recently tried to ac- s tstano s.c, intenas to coo lee U? P.I. with a newspaper su gtril CBS Inc. but was rebuffed. Ac- element tentati eT- [it1e3 Today ~s c0lding to Arthur Sando, vice president of'; 'Corporate communications of Wor t at woo caryrynational adver- v T r Broadcasting, the company is' tisiri "re awing" the U.P.I. prospectus and Wire 750 UService.P.IGuild, the union hasaot decided whether an expression Last Thursday U.P.I. employees. Last Ty guild officials and of Brest will be submitted. U.P.I. management agreed to cooper- As Russo Companies a Houston , ate in seekin b g auyer. Dan Carmi- headed by Joe E. Russo that has chael th a u nions secretary-treasurer, is in real estate development, said that the union's proposal opened & and hotels. A sookesmskn rrnL pang, the investment banking newlservice, but did not say how much it hild offered. Uleurt SerVaas, chairman of the Curtis Publishing Company, of Indian- apolis, and his wife, Cory, editor and publliher of The Saturday Evening M Pew which was once owned by Curtis Ptihing but is now owned by the in Franklin Society, a nonprofit or tion. Mr. SerVaas said that he a s wife were part of a group he w not identify that offered $13.9 mlftbn to $17.9 million for UPI tween the union and a buyer, but added that the union would consider other proposals and its expression of interest did not mean it would fight any offer other than its own. qReuters, the British news agency that has made several tentative efforts to acquire U.P.I. but has been re- buffed, according to confidential U. P. 1. sources, because its offer included changing U.P.I. from a general agency into a more specialized one. A Reuters spokesman said that the company would have no comment. Alan Patrikof Associates Inc., a New York venture capital company. No one at the company could be reached for confirmation. QThomas H. Lee Company, a Boston investment banking concern. A spokes- ... eat r this summer, an offer that was man said that the company's policy was not to comment alloa ed to e i Th l xp re .,. e new proposal ma & on behalf of the same group, is 1 cGolder, Thoma & Cressey, a Chi- sssa"ially the same, he said. He would cago venture capital company. All not close the identities of the others company officials were out of town and in could not be reached, according to an T Hugel, chairman of a Wash- employee. in com anY that owns several Vasquez Rana, a Mexican publisher fr ses to mar t mobile cellular whose Sol chain of newspapers is one of to Te- es, an undisclosed group the !argent in Mexico. Mr. Rana could Q tors 'Mj--- lugTsaid were in- not be reached for comment. in teecom_unications. Mr.EFE. Spain's national news agen- vg Vtd H a~ormer de uty director for cy.lccordinq to confidential sources, operations o e entiaT-TnteZIigence EFE is representing a group of banks Ag~fe~_w was an adviser to Presi- and communication companies in its dens_ "Reaan's re-eIection campaign, potential bid. No representative of the worlosd in the C.I.A. for for six months company could be reached for cum- r in AU- o_~~tKat included supervi- ment. lion clandestine operations. He re CComtex Scientific Corporation, a sigtljs~ after being accused of having joint venture with U.P.I. that owns the ill _ 1 rovided insider information right to use U. P. L's news report as a to stockbrokers in the ear~s. data base for electronic publishing. No Mr. u el sued the stockbrokers for company representatives could be de lion an was awar-d`e`Udam- reached for comment. ages. cPedro Lopez, chief operating offi- ?of 31000 last vear_Mr. Hugel sal t would_ be "absolutely ridicu- cer and chief shareholder of Central loos Lo -thiriTt_ this his conngcOgn with Federal Savings and Loan Company of the C.I A_would color a decision on his I Miami, who had expressed an interest offs tJ,p.I.-executives who asked not I in acquiring U.P.I. last spring. Mr. t1f and Western Industries, ti, n mig~ suggest that _U.P.I. had widi$, among other things, is one of the inappropriate links to the intelligence trt is leading book publishers and' orga on, ut tneyidnot say that ffidhCial information companies. Its Mr. ICu e-1 w'asl ii_niTeaoutas a pos- tloitgs include Simon & Schuster, sibl6u__yyer. Paramount Pictures and Madison gRobert Cunning am former owner Square Garden. The company did not i of theatT---1 ~- j y_merican1 an Englijh ,lan- rettun calls seeking confirmation yes- guag - n we acer in Rgme From 1951 terdav. to 1964 he was an employee of the Cen- Lopez could not be reached for (om- ment. cTele-Communications Inc., of Den- ver, one of the nation's largest cabiel television companies. No one at the company could be reached for com- ment. Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/03: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100600013-3