BUSINESS
December 18, 2012 | By Tiffany Hsu and Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Retailers are pulling back on sales of assault weapons and investors are abandoning gun makers' stocks as the nation's grief focuses on the funerals of the 20 children and six adults killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School rampage in Newtown, Conn. Calling the deadly assault "tragic and devastating," private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management said Tuesday that it will sell its 95% stake in Freedom Group Inc., which makes the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that police said was used in the attack.
BUSINESS
December 15, 2012 | By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times
Struggling Best Buy Co., hoping that the Christmas season will boost its fortunes, agreed Friday to give founder and former chairman Richard Schulze more time to make a takeover bid for the electronics chain. The announcement came amid a two-day burst of trading that ended about where it started. The stock went up nearly 16% to $14.12 on Thursday with word of an imminent bid from Schulze, only to be followed Friday with a drop of $2.07, or 14.7%, to $12.05 with news of the delay.
BUSINESS
October 6, 2012 | Shan Li
In a swift overhaul, top officials of troubled teen clothier Wet Seal Inc. - including the chairman - were ousted and replaced by board members handpicked by an activist shareholder that directed the coup. The Foothill Ranch retailer, which operates about 550 mall-based stores under the Wet Seal and Arden B. brands, has been under attack for months by its third largest shareholder, New York City private equity firm Clinton Group. "The company now has a newly formed board where the majority have specialty retail experience," Greg Taxin, managing director of Clinton Group, said in an interview.
BUSINESS
September 19, 2012 | By Roger Vincent, Walter Hamilton and Andrew Tangel, Los Angeles Times
The surprise announcement that billionaire Philip Anschutz is putting his sports and entertainment empire up for sale sent potential buyers scrambling to launch bids that insiders say could reach $7 billion or more. The big question on everyone's mind: Who can pony up enough cash to buy such marquee properties as Staples Center, L.A. Live and the Los Angeles Kings? A likely scenario is a group of investors similar to the consortium that bought the Dodgers - deep-pocketed private equity firms combined with sports and entertainment experts and a celebrity frontman.
OPINION
September 6, 2012
For all but a few years since 1922, Congress has taxed capital gains at a lower rate than wages in the hope of encouraging people to invest more of their income. The preferential rate has also encouraged some Wall Street executives to structure their pay so that the Internal Revenue Service treats it like capital gains, not salary. Now New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman is exploring whether one of those maneuvers - used typically by private-equity firms - amounts to tax fraud.
ENTERTAINMENT
August 30, 2012 | By Joe Flint
After the coffee. Before figuring out whether if I act like Charlie Sheen I can get his job security. The Skinny: FX gave an order for 90 more episodes of Charlie Sheen's new sitcom "Anger Management. " That's not a typo. Thursday's headlines include some big executive changes at Nickelodeon and Fox, and Dick Clark Productions may have a buyer. Otherwise, it is pretty slow as most of Hollywood is on vacation this week. Daily Dose: Over the last few months, ABC, NBCand Fox have all gotten new program planning chiefs.