Divestitures

Jacor Communications Inc.'s $620-million purchase of Nationwide Communications Inc. was approved by U.S. regulators on the condition that Jacor sell eight radio stations in California and Ohio. The Justice Department said divestitures in San Diego, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, would prevent Covington, Ky.-based Jacor from dominating the radio advertising markets in the three cities. It is the latest regulatory approval in the current round of radio industry consolidations.

California insurance companies that own stock in some multinational companies that operate in Iran soon may have to sell their holdings or face penalties. In June, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a Republican running for governor next year, ordered 1,300 California-licensed insurers to give him information about indirect investments in Iran's nuclear, oil, defense and banking sectors. About 1,100 replied, and 200 didn't. Now, Poizner, at a news conference scheduled for this morning at Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance, is expected to detail how the insurers would be required to divest themselves of stock that he estimates is worth at least $6 billion.

CBS Corp. on Tuesday posted a 14.6% decline in fourth-quarter earnings -- another wrinkle in an already tough season as the company's flagship CBS broadcast network seeks to reverse a prime-time ratings slide. CBS reported net income of $286.2 million, or 42 cents a share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That was a drop from $335 million, or 43 cents a share, during the same period in 2006. Revenue fell 3% to $3.76 billion from $3.88 billion.

Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello signed a decree Thursday putting 13 government-owned corporations up for sale under a plan aimed at privatizing most of the country's state enterprises. The sale of shares in the first 13 companies will bring about $10 billion in revenue, the official news agency Radiobras said. Privatization is part of Collor's program for eliminating government deficits, controlling inflation and stimulating economic growth.

Federal regulators late Friday closed two problem-plagued savings and loans in California and transferred their deposits to healthy institutions. Closed were Mt. Whitney Savings & Loan Assn., located in the town of Exeter in the Central Valley near Visalia, and Ramona Federal Savings & Loan Assn. in the town of Fillmore in Ventura County. Mt. Whitney will be merged into Guardian Savings & Loan Assn. of Huntington Beach. The Ramona thrift will become part of Midwest Federal Savings & Loan Assn.

The first annual report of the UC Advisory Committee for Investor Responsibility reflects some substantial accomplishments in the struggle to respond constructively to the problems of South Africa. Gov. George Deukmejian and Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles plan to suggest moving farther and faster when the report comes before the university regents today.

California insurance companies that own stock in some multinational companies that operate in Iran soon may have to sell their holdings or face penalties. In June, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a Republican running for governor next year, ordered 1,300 California-licensed insurers to give him information about indirect investments in Iran's nuclear, oil, defense and banking sectors. About 1,100 replied, and 200 didn't. Now, Poizner, at a news conference scheduled for this morning at Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance, is expected to detail how the insurers would be required to divest themselves of stock that he estimates is worth at least $6 billion.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted down a proposal calling for full divestiture of $660 million in stocks and bonds held by county pension funds in firms doing business in South Africa. The 3-to-2 vote, reflecting a conservative-liberal split, came on a resolution by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn that would have recommended speedy divestiture to the county's independent pension fund board.

Obviously, the principal victims of abuse by the Catholic clergy are the members of the faithful, many of them children, who were betrayed by wolves in shepherds' clothing. But the civil lawsuits that have provided those victims with a measure of compensation also create collateral damage, even when steps are taken to protect core church activities. Insurance policies provide the church with only some of the resources it needs to settle these claims.

The Beverly Hills City Council agreed Tuesday to review Mayor Jimmy Delshad's proposal that the city eliminate its pension fund investments in foreign companies operating in Iran. The proposal, designed primarily to back the state divestiture bill, AB 221, will be sent to a subcommittee to determine possible ramifications of its adoption, Delshad said.

Leisure and gaming conglomerate Rank Group said Tuesday that it might sell its iconic Hard Rock Cafe chain to concentrate on gambling in Britain. Shares in Rank, which last year sold its DVD business and split off its film production unit, rose 2.5% on the London Stock Exchange after it announced a review of the Hard Rock chain's "potential strategic options."

Smart & Final Inc. said Monday that its third-quarter profit soared as the warehouse retailer divested itself of its struggling food service operations. Los Angeles-based Smart & Final said net income increased to $11.7 million, or 36 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 3, up from $916,000, or 3 cents, a year earlier. Sales at the 231-store chain increased 12% to $603.2 million from $538.4 million last year.

European food giant Nestle has been asked by U.S. antitrust authorities to sell another gourmet ice cream brand and some additional retail delivery systems before completing its takeover of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc., people familiar with the discussions said Thursday. Nestle on Tuesday agreed to sell three of Dreyer's super-premium ice cream brands -- Dreamery, Godiva and Whole Fruit -- and distribution networks in seven states to CoolBrands International Inc.

Antitrust regulators on Friday finally approved the $813-million purchase of Unilab Corp. by Quest Diagnostics Inc., the nation's largest operator of medical testing labs. The decision by the Federal Trade Commission came less than two weeks after Teterboro, N.J.-based Quest agreed to sell four medical-testing contracts in California to its chief competitor, Laboratory Corp. of America.

The California State Bar, representing the state's 100,000 lawyers, has approved a policy divesting Bar funds from institutions doing business in South Africa. The decision, made during the monthly Board of Governors meeting in San Francisco, will have no financial effect since the Bar's $25 million in funds are already invested in firms with no ties to South Africa, according to spokeswoman Anne Charles.

The Federal Trade Commission said it approved the sale of ChevronTexaco Corp.'s 33.3% stake in the Discovery Natural Gas system to Duke Energy Field Services, a unit of Duke Energy Corp. The divestiture is related to the conditional acceptance by the FTC of the $39-billion merger that created ChevronTexaco in October. In March, ChevronTexaco said it reached an agreement to sell the stake, which Texaco had owned before the merger, for an undisclosed amount to the Duke Energy unit.

European antitrust regulators weighing General Electric Co.'s proposed takeover of Honeywell International Inc. have discussed requiring the divestiture of a large part of Honeywell's aerospace operation--the very business that attracted GE in the first place, according to a source close to the talks in Brussels.