The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 39

Taco Bell hoax fools Liberty Bell fans. Page 5 NYSE TABLE 2 MUTUAL FUNDS 3 NASDAQ TABLE 4 TUESDAY. APRIL 2, 1996 The Indianapolis Star Daily indicators In New York trading Monday onseco omciais exercise stoc option Stephen Hilbert and 4 others may have made $45 million on 778,000 shares. fSSSSZ. i i A Jm 1 Tray ounce: $394.70 5.52 Troy ounce: unchanged than what It is trading for when they exercise the option.

Under Conseco's stock option program announced Monday, Hilbert and four executive vice presidents exercised existing options to buy about 778,000 shares of company stock. The price at which the executives bought their shares is yet to be disclosed, although It Is between $4.25 and $7.50. the range the stock traded In 1990, adjusted for stock splits, when the options were granted. That's considerably less than $64,875, which is what Conseco's stock was trading at on March 12 when the options were exercised. Under the plan, Hilbert bought 10 directors to buy more shares.

It calls for the company to guarantee around $72 million in bank loans for directors and executives to buy a total of one million pre-split shares. On Monday, Conseco's stock split two-for-one. Participants may purchase between 10,000 and 100,000 pre-spllt shares. If any of them choose to buy fewer than 100,000 shares, others in the program can buy the available stock. Executives officers and directors now own about 11.7 percent of the 20.7 million pre-split common shares.

Conseco's stock traded at a 52-week high of $75.25 per share Monday. It closed at $75,125. 400,000 shares; RoUin M. Dick, Donald F. Gongaware and Lawrence Inlow acquired 120,000 shares; and Ngaire E.

Cuneo purchased 17,896 shares, Rosensteele said. No cash changed hands. The executives paid for the options by turning in about 80,000 shares of Conseco stock they already owned. By exercising the options, the executives recognized total taxable income of $45 million. To pay federal and state income taxes, the company withheld about 321,000 shares from the exercised proceeds.

The second stock program announced Monday is designed to get its executive vice presidents and Barrel, crude: $22.26 $0.47 The stock option program is part of a two-pronged effort by the Carmel-based Insurance and financial giant to increase executives' and directors' ownership in the company. With increased ownership, the Interests of executives and directors would be more in line with other shareholders, the company said. A stock option is the right to buy a certain number of shares for a specific price within a set time period. Executives make money on options by being allowed to buy stock at a lower price By Eileen Ambrose STAFF WRITER Conseco Inc. Chairman Stephen C.

Hilbert and four top executives are about $45 million richer after exercising stock options under a new company program. The amount reflects the combined gain, before taxes, on about 778,000 shares of Conseco stock the executives received through the program. Net gain for each executive will be disclosed later this month, said company spokesman Jim Rosensteele. lYield: 6.64 Yen: 107.56 0.34 Marks: 1.4835 0.0070 I Pounds: 0.6560 0.0008 Aetna to pay $8.9 billion to buy US. Healthcare Merger with HMO will create the nation's largest health care benefits provider.

Briefly Business STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS Acordia purchases Minnesota brokerage INDIANAPOLIS Acordia announced Monday that It acquired Rothschild, Bell Walseth Agency, an insurance-brokerage firm in St. Paul, for an undisclosed sum. The firm will be merged into Acordia of Minnesota. The Indianapolis-based Acordia is a network of companies providing insurance brokering, managed-care and consulting services. Kimball purchases semiconductor firms Iff Sfexix lA: xr 7 jp JASPER, Ind.

Kimball international nas completed its purchase of ELMO Semiconductor Corp. of mimHriK. ami rtviu Semiconducteurs SARL of Ai 9 I Mantes-La-Jolie, France, for an By Peter Grant NEW YORK DAILY NEWS NEW YORK Aetna Life Casualty said Monday that it will pay $8.9 billion for U.S. Healthcare in a merger that will create the country's largest health care benefits provider. If the merger is approved by regulators and shareholders of both companies, Aetna will provide services to 23 million people, one out of every 12 Americans.

"We are here to announce creation of a new national health care company whose objective is to be a leading managed-care company, with an outstanding management team and a significant opportunity for growth, in both revenues and earnings," said Ronald Compton, chairman and chief executive officer of Aetna, as he announced the acquisition Monday. The deal is yet another sign that health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, will continue to replace traditional Insurance companies as the dominant force In health care despite the criticism they have received lately. Critics have blasted the organizations for high executive salaries and such practices as limiting hospital stays for pregnant women and not allowing doctors to disclose treatment alternatives to patients all in the name of saving money. Even so, health care experts predict that, by the year 2010, half of all Americans will belong to HMOs. Their aim is to hold down medical costs by closely controlling the doctors, drugs and hospital treatments made available to subscribers.

"It's like a steamroller," said Gary Frazier, a health care analyst at Bear Stearns. Aetna, a $13 billion giant which already has Its own managed care division, has been determined to See AETNA Page 5 Staff Photo Gary Moore ON THE MOVE: Len Bennett, president of Celadon Group, is proud of his Andy Warhol paintings. This one is in the reception area of his Eastside Indianapolis company. Celadon expanding southward undisclosed price. ELMO Is a privately held corporation with annual sales of approximately $15 million.

GM approves spinoff of EDS subsidiary DALLAS Electronic Data Systems plans to replace 5 percent of its work force as part of an effort to branch out once the company gets Its independence from General Motors Corp. GM said Monday its board had approved a plan to spin off EDS, which operates computer systems for big companies and governments, to shareholders in a deal that values the company at about $25 billion. GM may soon face new strike in Ohio KETTERING, Ohio A union local told General Motors Corp. on Monday that workers at two suspension plants are prepared to strike next week if a contract dispute is not resolved. Local 755 of the International Union of Electronics Workers, which represents 2,700 workers at two GM Delphi Chassis plants in this Dayton suburb, has authorized a strike for 12:01 a.m.

April 11, said union spokesman Ron Gilvln. needs of Arkansas-based Wal-Mart. Celsur has grown from $20,000 in revenues in its first month of operation about six months ago to $1 million monthly now. If all goes well, Bennett said Celsur could eventually generate up to $120 million in revenues annually for Celadon Group. That would add considerable bulk to the company, which in Its latest fiscal year lost $400,000 on revenues of $250 million.

"If It takes off, it's gonna be a bonanza for them," said Douglas Rockel, a trucking industry analyst with Furman Selz, a New York brokerage firm. A number of truck lines have moved into See CELADON Page 5 and then distribute it to Wal-Mart and Sam's stores in those nations. "We bring goods In from (ports), we put tax labels on them. We re-package, we relabel and we store (the merchandise)," said Len Bennett, president of Celadon Group. His company even will deliver refrigerators and washing machines to the homes of Latin American customers who buys those appliances from Wal-Mart store.

"It's total logistics distribution for them," said Bennett. Celsur, as Celadon Group's South American operations Is known, now has 300 employees. Bennett predicted that Celsur could grow to 1,800 employees within the next 18 months as it expands to meet the growing Indianapolis firm is awarded contract for Wal-Mart stores in Brazil and Argentina. By S.P. Dinner) STAFF WRITER Celadon Group already a major player In U.S.

-Mexico trucking, has expanded its international reach into South America with a pact to provide logistics for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Wal-Mart, the giant U.S. retailer, has opened stores in Argentina and Brazil to tap Into their fast-growing economies. It named Indianapolis-based Celadon Group to haul merchandise from shippers to warehouses Rival league sues Speedway over use of name 'IndyCar9 Lacy Diversified Industries buys Test Building on Circle 4 tL 1 i QFl iPi agreement assigned trademark protection to the Speedway but CART "retained the exclusive right to use the IndyCar name and logo." CART said "no questions" about the group's right to use the IndyCar rtame arose until the Speedway's March letter. As a result, the group said, "it has fulfilled all of Its requirements" under the licensing agreement.

The statement said an attempt by the Speedway to end CART's right to use the name "Is without merit." CART said it wouldn't comment further. Michigan-based CART calls itself IndyCar for marketing purposes. Also, sponsors of CART racing teams, race promoters and other businesses doing business withlCART use the IndyCar See INDYCAR Page 5 Nearly 1,400 people work for Lacy at 36 facilities in the United States and Canada. The nine-story building was! built in 1924 for Skiles Test and Included one of the first parking garages in Indianapolis. It Is registered as a local, state and national historic landmark.

Lacy plans to occupy the top two floors of the building, comprising nearly 18,000 square feet. The company plans to move In late fall. A holding company, Lacy owns four independently managed firms. They include Major Video Concepts, a distributor of pre-recorded video tapes tc rental outlets; Tucker-Rocky Distributing which distributes motorcycle, watercrafl and snowmobile parts and accessories; An swer Products which manufactures Manitou bicycle frames and forks, and Jes sup Door a producer of wooden dooi products. Lacy also manages an investment portfo lio It values at more than $125 millton.

I claims annual sales 'of more than $561 million through its holdings. By Bill Koenig STAFF WRITER Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc. filed a lawsuit Monday, saying that It is entitled to use the brand name "IndyCar." The lawsuit, filed In U.S. District Court in Michigan, is a response to a March 19 letter from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which said the Speedway is ending a 1992 licensing agreement concerning the IndyCar name. The Speedway claims that it owns the IndyCar trademark as well as other racing trademarks with the word "Indy" in them.

In the letter, Speedway officials gave CART 30 days to stop using the name IndyCar. In a written statement, CART said it applied for trademark protection for the IndyCar name In 1991, prior to the licensing agreement with the Speedway. According to CART, the licensing Staff Report Lacy Diversified Industries Ltd. has purchased the Test Building, 54 Monument Circle and plans to make the historic building its headquarters. Space In the landmark will aid expansion plans for Lacy, which owns distribution, manufacturing and other companies.

Lacy is now headquartered in Capital Center North, 251 N. Illinois St. Monument Circle Associates, a partnership headed by former F.C. Tucker Co. Executive Vice President Robert Houk, sold the Test Building to Lacy late last month for an undisclosed price.

Houk could not be reached for comment. The purchase "emphasizes our commitment to the Indianapolis Downtown area and our optimism about its future," said Andre B. Lacy, Lacy Dlverslfied's chairman and chief executive officer. He said extra room at the site would help the company as It expands. Specific plans were not disclosed.

Staff Photo Ron Ira Iteele HEADQUARTERS: Lacy Diversified Industries will move to the historic Test Building..