Corporate Restructuring

Warner Bros. hopes to cure a case of superhero envy. After years of lagging rival Marvel Entertainment in adapting comic-book properties for the big screen and other media, the Burbank studio unveiled a major restructuring of its DC Comics unit Wednesday that will bring its operations under tighter control. The move is an effort by Warner Bros. and corporate parent Time Warner Inc. to implement a new strategy for DC Comics, which will face stiffer competition from a steroid-charged Marvel as a result of Walt Disney Co.'s deal last week to acquire it for $4 billion.

Freedom Communications Inc., owner of the Orange County Register along with 89 other daily and weekly publications and eight TV stations, received court approval for a disclosure statement supporting its plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday. The approval of the Irvine-based company's statement in a Delaware U.S. Bankruptcy Court gives Freedom the clearance to solicit votes on its reorganization plan from its creditors, the company said in a statement. A hearing to grant final approval to the reorganization plan has been set for March 9, the statement said.

FarWest Savings had long been a good investment for the Belzberg brothers of Canada--Samuel, Hyman and William. Acquiring FarWest in 1974 gave the Belzbergs a foothold in the United States. Then, using the Newport Beach thrift and First City Financial Corp. Ltd. in Vancouver, Canada, they became among the most feared corporate raiders and takeover strategists on the U.S. scene during the 1980s. Often acting as greenmailers, their hostile bids made them millions of dollars. But today, their U.S.

Continuing to clean house and put his own executive team in place, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross has ousted the studio's production chief, Oren Aviv, and is expected to name a successor shortly. Ross had approached Erik Feig, the production and acquisitions chief at Summit Entertainment who was the executive behind that studio's "Twilight" franchise, about the position. But Feig, who is under contract to Summit, declined the opportunity, according to Summit Chief Executive Rob Friedman.

Vans Inc. said Tuesday that it has agreed to settle a shareholders' lawsuit alleging securities violations. The footwear manufacturer also reported higher earnings and sales for the third quarter and nine months ended Feb. 24. The lawsuit, filed last June in federal court, sought class-action status to represent people who bought shares of Vans from June 27, 1994, to May 12, 1995.

It is extremely likely that in the next decade the United States will experience a period of social unrest unequaled in this century. It will dwarf the protests of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The recent strikes and other demonstrations in France are a portent of what is to come for us. Several things lead me to this dreary prediction: % The growing disparity between the nation's rich and its poor.

Emulex Corp., a manufacturer of computer products, blamed a corporate restructuring--including the dismissal of 10% of its work force--for an anticipated second-quarter loss of $14 million to $16 million. In Tuesday's announcement, the company for the first time put a price tag on restructuring efforts it announced in October. "This is not really earth-shattering news," said company spokesman Chuck McBride. "We knew this was coming."

Downey Savings & Loan, the last major thrift still operating under California authority, said Thursday it will create a holding company and convert its operations to a federal charter. Downey, with $3.9 billion in loans and other assets, expects to complete its new corporate structure by early next year, issuing shareholders stock in a new holding company called Downey Financial Corp. The charter conversion will leave only 11 thrifts still holding on to state charters.

Ending an ill-fated diversification into retailing and energy exploration, Pacific Enterprises Corp., parent of Southern California Gas Co., confirmed Monday that it will cut its 300-person corporate staff by 90%. The troubled company had mentioned possible cuts in its headquarters staff in February, when it announced that it would sell off all non-utility operations. But the extent of the job cuts wasn't disclosed until Chief Executive Willis B.

General Motors Corp. launched its Saturn division in 1985 as a "different kind of car company," one given the task to sell cars in a new way and compete with Japanese juggernauts like Honda and Toyota. The idea, simply, was to make money on the small, economical vehicles that had always been losers for the Detroit giant. Now GM may be abandoning the brand altogether.

Fourteen days after taking the helm as chief executive of General Motors, Edward E. Whitacre Jr. said the giant automaker, which went through a major bankruptcy restructuring this year, plans to repay loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments by the end of June. In one of his first face-to-face meetings with reporters at the company's headquarters in Detroit, Whitacre talked about a variety of topics, including his visit to an auto plant last week in Flint, Mich., shuffling top managers and the company's strategy of improving its vehicles, sales and brand image.

Chrysler, now known as Old Carco, filed a reorganization plan that gives nothing back to the U.S. for its $4-billion loan under the Troubled Asset Relief Program while repaying some secured lenders in full. The rough outline of a Chapter 11 plan, filed Tuesday in Bankruptcy Court in New York, said creditors classified as "other secured claims" of $20.6 million will get an estimated 100% recovery. The recovery for unsecured claims is "undetermined." The plan winds down Chrysler's 25 units that remained in bankruptcy after the sale of its most valuable assets to Fiat, which was completed June 10. The company isn't operating any businesses, and the plan would liquidate all remaining assets.

Three days after the ouster of Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, General Motors Chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr. announced a deeper management shake-up at the automaker, naming new presidents for the company's North American, European and other international divisions. The moves come as GM attempts an ambitious comeback that began in Bankruptcy Court this spring. The government-owned company has dropped or sought to sell the Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer brands, closed hundreds of dealerships and laid off thousands of workers.

If you thought President Obama moved quickly, that's nothing compared with the first 50 days of the Ross administration. In less than eight weeks, Rich Ross has swiftly stamped his imprimatur on Walt Disney Studios. The novice movie chairman and his boss, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger, want to create a new business model for Hollywood to address the sweeping changes that are roiling the entertainment industry, including slumping DVD sales and the growing role the Internet plays in movie marketing.

Signaling that infighting among creditors is bogging down reorganization efforts, Tribune Co. has asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to give its management team until March 31 to craft a plan to exit Chapter 11 without interference from other parties. If all goes according to plan and the court agrees to extend management's "exclusivity" -- scheduled to expire at the end of this month -- Tribune will emerge from bankruptcy by May 31, 2010, according to court papers it filed Friday.

A high-level executive reshuffling at the Walt Disney Co. on Thursday will give Chief Executive Robert A. Iger a deeper bench from which to choose a No. 2. The restructuring came in advance of the company's fourth-quarter earnings announcement. Disney reported an 18% bump in income, fueled by gains in the television group that helped offset a loss at the film studio and softness in the theme park business. As part of the management changes, Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs will trade jobs at the end of the year with Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo.

Global Crossing Ltd., the telecommunications firm that symbolized the industry's rise, excess and ultimate collapse, may soon emerge as a battered survivor -- a feat few thought possible when the company sought bankruptcy protection nearly two years ago. The company could wrap up its Chapter 11 reorganization as early as this week, with one man being hailed as the tough-minded executive who made it possible: Chief Executive John J. Legere.

MySpace is looking to do an about-face. The once-red-hot social networking site acquired three years ago by septuagenarian mogul Rupert Murdoch, which landed him on the cover of Wired magazine and won News Corp. praise for embracing the Internet ahead of its old-media rivals, has cooled considerably. New statistics released this week show MySpace has been surpassed by rival Facebook in the U.S. market, where it once dominated, and ad revenue for the site is projected to decline.

Just a month after being named chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Rich Ross has carried out a broad restructuring of marketing, distribution and operations to reflect a focus on cultivating entertainment franchises -- and finding new ways to reach audiences through technology. The moves underscore a new set of priorities for the studio driven by Ross and Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger, who has taken a renewed interest in the film business since ousting former Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook in September.

Chrysler has put bankruptcy behind it, but turmoil at the company continues. The troubled automaker on Monday replaced two top executives less than four months after promoting them and at the same time announced plans to split its Dodge brand in two, creating an all-truck Ram division. Although Chrysler said the departures of Peter Fong, formerly head of the Chrysler brand, and Michael Accavitti, who led Dodge, were voluntary, the moves raise questions about the focus of the company's business plan as it tries to rebuild.