Havas Company

Havas, the largest French media company, is considering teaming up with Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc. to make a rival bid for CBS Inc., according to several Wall Street sources. Turner, which has a joint venture with Havas in France, has apparently approached the foreign company about putting up about $1 billion to best the $5.4-billion bid for the television network by Westinghouse Electric Corp.

French firm Havas agreed to buy the consumer software division of Cendant Corp. for between $800 million and $1 billion. Havas' chief executive said he did not expect to lay off any of the unit's 3,300 employees. About 1,200 employees are based in Southern California at Knowledge Adventure and Davidson & Associates, both in Torrance, and at Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment.

French firm Havas agreed to buy the consumer software division of Cendant Corp. for between $800 million and $1 billion. Havas' chief executive said he did not expect to lay off any of the unit's 3,300 employees. About 1,200 employees are based in Southern California at Knowledge Adventure and Davidson & Associates, both in Torrance, and at Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment.

Generale des Eaux has offered $5.6 billion to buy Havas, France's biggest media company, and Havas Chief Executive Pierre Dauzier has been replaced. Generale des Eaux, a water and sewerage utility placing increased emphasis on communications, said it would move quickly to cut costs at Havas, the main shareholder of Europe's biggest pay-television company Canal Plus and publisher of weekly news magazine L'Express.

Generale des Eaux has offered $5.6 billion to buy Havas, France's biggest media company, and Havas Chief Executive Pierre Dauzier has been replaced. Generale des Eaux, a water and sewerage utility placing increased emphasis on communications, said it would move quickly to cut costs at Havas, the main shareholder of Europe's biggest pay-television company Canal Plus and publisher of weekly news magazine L'Express.

There are two running themes at the coolly elegant offices of French multimedia giant Havas, located just off the glittery Champs Elysee between a computer store and a corner cafe. Havas is big, and it has a global strategy. As the world's fifth-largest communications group, Havas did nearly $9 billion worth of business last year, yielding $1.2 billion in profit in a country often stereotyped by the small family business. Havas is anything but family, though it does boast some cozy partnerships.

* Publishing: K-III Communications agreed to sell for an estimated $20 million the monthly movie industry magazine Premiere to French publisher Hachette Filipacchi Magazines in partnership with billionaire Ronald O. Perelman's New World Communications Group Inc. The new venture, Premiere Publishing Co., will be a subsidiary of Hachette Filipacchi Presse and will manage the magazine. New World plans to use its ties to Premiere to develop TV shows built around celebrities covered in the magazine.

There are two running themes at the coolly elegant offices of French multimedia giant Havas, located just off the glittery Champs Elysee between a computer store and a corner cafe. Havas is big, and it has a global strategy. As the world's fifth-largest communications group, Havas did nearly $9 billion worth of business last year, yielding $1.2 billion in profit in a country often stereotyped by the small family business. Havas is anything but family, though it does boast some cozy partnerships.

Havas, the largest French media company, is considering teaming up with Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc. to make a rival bid for CBS Inc., according to several Wall Street sources. Turner, which has a joint venture with Havas in France, has apparently approached the foreign company about putting up about $1 billion to best the $5.4-billion bid for the television network by Westinghouse Electric Corp.