Perelman

Ronald O. Perelman isn't turning in his entertainment mogul's license. Despite the proposed sale of the television mini-empire that Perelman amassed in only seven years, the billionaire New York investor continues to be keenly interested in entertainment and could resurface in any number of mutations, Perelman watchers say. The $2.48-billion deal announced Wednesday to sell New World Communications Group to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

One of the biggest problems in our politics is that people don't think for themselves. We let radio and television hosts, pundits and politicians tell us what to believe. And one of the biggest problems in our arts is that people don't enjoy for themselves. We let museum curators, gallery owners, critics and professors tell us what to feel. A recent battle in the art world illustrates the point. The billionaire Ronald Perelman is suing the multimillionaire art dealer Larry Gagosian on the grounds, among others, that Gagosian overvalued an unfinished sculpture of Popeye (yes, the Sailor Man)

New York entrepreneur Ronald O. Perelman stole a march on the competition Monday with the surprise announcement of a definitive agreement to buy New World Entertainment for $145 million. Six weeks earlier, the Los Angeles-based television production company had signed a tentative deal to sell out to Hollywood newcomer Giancarlo Parretti for $138 million. Andrews Group, a publicly traded company controlled by Perelman, is buying New World. Andrews' chief executive, William C. Bevins Jr., said in an interview that the move is part of a plan to become "a meaningful player in the entertainment and media businesses."

Prepare to be seduced by "The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. " Those thunks you may have heard in recent days are copies of the hefty cookbook landing on doorsteps and mailboxes since its Oct. 30 release. Written by New York-based food blogger Deb Perelman, the book already hit the No. 1 spot on Amazon.com's list of cookbooks and at last check is at the No. 15 spot on the seller's top 100 overall books. To say this is one of the most hotly anticipated cookbooks of the year would be an understatement, as evidenced in part by the stellar cast of food bloggers who have written glowing reviews for the book jacket, among them: Ree Drummond (a.k.a.

Ronald O. Perelman is handing over Panavision Inc., the debt-laden camera rental company that is suffering from a steep downturn in movie and TV production, to its creditors. Perelman's holding company, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., has reached an agreement in principle with a group of creditors -- including Cerberus Capital Management, the former owner of Chrysler -- for the billionaire investor to give up his controlling stake in the camera maker that has been a fixture on movie sets for decades, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sheldon Coleman said he has been fired as president and chief executive of Coleman Co., Wichita, Kan., the maker of Coleman lanterns and other outdoor products. The company was founded by his grandfather. Coleman said Wall Street takeover strategist Ronald O. Perelman, who bought the company six weeks ago, terminated him during a meeting Monday in Houston. Coleman said Perelman's newly formed acquisition company, Lantern Acquisition Corp., hadn't appointed anyone to succeed him.

Gillette Co., which is trying to block a takeover by investor Ronald O. Perelman, said today that it has subpoenaed records of a number of Wall Street firms in an attempt to establish alleged insider trading links to Perelman. In the action at U.S. District Court in Boston, Gillette sought information from a number of arbitrageurs, which are investment firms that invest in takeover stocks. Included was Boesky & Co., whose chairman, Ivan F.

Panavision Inc., the leading provider of cameras and lenses to Hollywood, said Wednesday that it named Technicolor Inc. executive Robert Beitcher as its president, effective April 14. Panavision, based in Woodland Hills, is 84% owned by billionaire financier Ronald O. Perelman, who remains its chairman and chief executive. Beitcher, 48, succeeds John Farrand, who resigned in January amid efforts by Panavision to overcome financial losses caused mainly by a heavy debt load.

Jonathan Gold's hilarious and irreverent account makes me wonder why he isn't writing every week for Calendar about some aspect of Los Angeles. Where did you find this guy? He's terrific. Right up there with Stephen Brooks on Texas and S.J. Perelman on, well, anything. No, I don't know Gold and, yes, I still want to go to the St. James's Club. JOYCE PERRY Los Angeles

Compact Video, a Burbank-based video and film services company, wants to buy a much-larger drugstore chain as part of a shuffling of assets among concerns at least partly controlled by New York investor Ronald O. Perelman. The Rhode Island-based chain, Adams Drug, was acquired by Pantry Pride in October, 1984, for $100 million. At the time, it had 446 stores in the Northeast with annual sales of more than $300 million. Compact Video lost $4.2 million on sales of $41.

Ronald O. Perelman is handing over Panavision Inc., the debt-laden camera rental company that is suffering from a steep downturn in movie and TV production, to its creditors. Perelman's holding company, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., has reached an agreement in principle with a group of creditors -- including Cerberus Capital Management, the former owner of Chrysler -- for the billionaire investor to give up his controlling stake in the camera maker that has been a fixture on movie sets for decades, according to people familiar with the matter.

Panavision Inc., the longtime supplier of motion picture camera equipment, has replaced Chief Executive William M. Campbell -- after just 10 weeks on the job. The Woodland Hills company, controlled by investor Ronald O. Perelman, said in a statement that William C. Bevins, a longtime associate of Perelman's, had replaced Campbell, the former president of Discovery Networks USA who also had been an executive at ABC, CBS and Warner Bros. Television.

Panavision Inc. said a board committee had approved an $8.50-a-share offer from controlling stockholder and co-Chairman Ronald Perelman for all of its publicly traded stock. The offer by Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. marks an increase from $8 a share, Woodland Hills-based Panavision, a maker of movie cameras, said in a regulatory filing. Perelman controls 97% of the company, according to Bloomberg data, and Sony Corp. owns 714,300 shares, or 1.8%.

Shares of Panavision Inc., a maker of movie cameras, more than doubled after co-Chairman Ronald O. Perelman offered to buy the portion of the company that he didn't already own. In a letter to Panavision's board, Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. offered $8 a share in cash for Woodland Hills-based Panavision, the company said in a government filing.

Billionaire financier Ronald Perelman lost an appeal of a lawsuit that accused him of diverting $553.5 million in notes issued by Marvel Entertainment Co. when he was its controlling shareholder. He now faces the prospect of a trial. Marvel, the world's largest comic book company before it filed for bankruptcy protection in 1996, publishes Spider-Man, X-Men and the Incredible Hulk comics.

Morgan Stanley must pay billionaire financier Ron Perelman $1.45 billion in damages, awarded by a jury that said it found clear evidence the investment firm acted fraudulently in Perelman's 1998 sale of his Coleman camping gear company to Sunbeam Corp. The jury in West Palm Beach, Fla., deliberated for nearly four hours Wednesday before deciding on $850 million in punitive damages. On Monday, the same jury awarded Perelman compensatory damages of $604.3 million.

Revlon Group, which last week said it was determined to acquire Gillette Co., said Monday that it agreed to drop its hostile $4.16-billion takeover bid and sell back its 13.8% stake to the company for $558 million. Revlon Chairman Ronald O. Perelman, who is known for his ability to take over companies and sell what he does not want, said he is "very disappointed" that the merger with Gillette would not take place.

Billionaire financier Ronald O. Perelman is adding the Hummer sport utility vehicle to his stable of holdings. Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. is forming a joint venture with Renco Group Inc. to own AM General, which makes the Hummer for General Motors Corp., the companies said Tuesday. Terms weren't disclosed.