Ronald O Perelman

Glendale Federal Bank and California Federal Bank, two of the best-known names in the California banking business, announced Thursday that they plan to merge as part of a $2.5-billion deal that would create the nation's third-largest savings and loan. The proposed deal reflects another in a wave of consolidations that is sweeping though the nation's banking industry.

Glendale Federal Bank and California Federal Bank, two of the best-known names in the California banking business, announced Thursday that they plan to merge as part of a $2.5-billion deal that would create the nation's third-largest savings and loan. The proposed deal reflects another in a wave of consolidations that is sweeping though the nation's banking industry.

Some shareholders of Golden State Bancorp are asking a Delaware judge to stop financier Ronald Perelman from taking control of the California thrift in a $2.5-billion merger, saying investors are being shortchanged in the transaction. Perelman said Thursday his thrift, First Nationwide Holdings Inc., would take control of Glendale-based Golden State, the holding company for Glendale Federal Bank, in a reverse merger to form the nation's third-largest savings and loan.

Aames Financial Corp. said financier Ronald Perelman and thrift executive Gerald Ford will buy a 9.9% stake in the consumer finance company for about $38 million, possibly signaling an eventual move to buy the company. Perelman and Ford, his partner in California Federal Bank, have agreed to buy 2.78 million newly issued Aames shares for $13.76 a share, Aames said. Ford and Howard Gittis, Perelman's lieutenant at his holding company, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.

Bondholders of Marvel Entertainment Group Inc. claimed victory Friday in the latest round of their fight with financier Ronald Perelman for control of the publisher of Spiderman, X-Men and the Incredible Hulk comics. The bondholders, led by investor Carl Icahn, said Friday that Marvel, which filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Court protection in December, agreed to consider their plan to reorganize the company. As a result, Perelman's group withdrew its competing reorganization plan for Marvel.

Spider-Man and Captain America are a powerful duo, but even they couldn't muster enough strength to save parent Marvel Entertainment Group from the clutches of Bankruptcy Court. The nation's largest comic book purveyor, also the No. 1 producer of trading cards, succumbed Friday and filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors. The underlying trouble is that collectors who bought with abandon in the late 1980s and early '90s have lost their appetite for comics and cards.

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.

Marvel Entertainment Group Inc. said financier Ronald Perelman offered to pay $350 million for new Marvel shares in a bid to keep the troubled comic book company from filing for bankruptcy. Marvel's stock tumbled because the plan from Perelman's Andrews Group Inc. means issuing 410 million shares at 85 cents each. That would sharply cut the value of existing shares to about $1.30 each. The stock is collateral for $643 million in bonds.