Fhp International Corp

Robert Gumbiner, founder of the former FHP International Corp., and other former company shareholders filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday that accuses the managed-care company's former executives of misleading them about terms of FHP's recent merger with PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that FHP officers and directors persuaded shareholders to accept an inadequate and unfair price for their stock in the merger.

In another casualty following the breakup of FHP International Corp., an operator of two experimental clinics for the poor has sued FHP's former foundation, alleging that it reneged on promises to provide $3 million in grants to support the clinics. Santa Ana-based Health Reform Action Project filed suit Monday in Orange County Superior Court, claiming the foundation's successor, Archstone Foundation, broke its contract to support the clinics last year.

Members of FHP International Corp. could see changes in their health-care benefits as early as the end of the year following Friday's acquisition of the company by PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. The changes aren't expected to be big, though senior citizens will see more differences when they switch to PacifiCare's Medicare plan, which is called Secure Horizons, said Susan Whyte Simon, a PacifiCare spokeswoman. "It should be business as usual" for most members, she said.

In a move likely to stir further controversy over health-industry mergers, state regulators Friday approved PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.'s planned $2.2-billion buyout of rival managed-care company FHP International Corp. The two Orange County companies promptly wrapped up the deal, forming one of the largest managed-care companies in the nation with expected revenue of $10 billion a year. But within hours, they announced that 400 jobs nationwide would be eliminated from the two companies.

In a move likely to stir further controversy over health-industry mergers, state regulators Friday approved PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.'s planned $2.2-billion buyout of rival managed care company, FHP International Corp. The two Orange County companies promptly wrapped up the deal, forming one of the largest managed health-care companies in the nation with expected revenue of $10 billion a year.

FHP International Corp. reported Thursday that earnings leaped 79% for its second fiscal quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates. Analysts attributed the gains in part to the managed-care company's cuts in administrative and marketing expenses in anticipation of its acquisition by Orange County rival PacifiCare Health Systems Inc.

Snapple sales continued to drop at the end of last year, dragging down profit at Chicago-based Quaker Oats, which hopes to halt the slide and the brand's red ink this year, the company said Thursday. It declined to comment on rumors the unit might be sold. Sales volume for the iced-tea and juice-drink brand fell 9% for the final three months of 1996 and 11% for the year, while cold cereal sales rose 11% in the quarter and Gatorade gained 6% in U.S. sales. Quaker posted net income of $17.

PacifiCare Health Systems' proposal to acquire its largest managed-care competitor in Orange County struck a raw nerve Wednesday as opponents stepped forward to urge state regulators to block the deal. About 100 consumer advocates, medical professionals and patients flocked to Irvine City Hall for the first day of unprecedented state hearings into Cypress-based PacifiCare's proposed $2.1-billion buyout of Santa Ana-based FHP International Corp.

PacifiCare Health Systems' proposal to acquire its largest managed-care competitor in Orange County struck a raw nerve Wednesday as opponents stepped forward to urge state regulators to block the deal. About 100 consumer advocates, medical professionals, patients and others flocked to Irvine City Hall for the first day of unprecedented state hearings into Cypress-based PacifiCare's proposed $2.1-billion buyout of Santa Ana-based FHP International Corp.