Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 69

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC WEDNESDAY MAY 27. 1998 Thursday MARKETPLACE Friday -DIGITAL DESERT Saturday -REAL ESTATE Sunday INVESTING 1 WORKPLACE Senior Editor, Les Polk 444-4813 les.polk(ti pni, com 1 SPECIAL TOPICS Monday -PERSONAL COMPUTING Tuesday PERSONAL FINANCE Jj i i REPUBLIC TICKER Bdf A losing office DOW JONES 8,963.73 NASDAQ 1,778.09 1,034.02 BLOOMBERG 49 AZ INDEX "5-64 Female exec opts to quit instead of move to Texas especially her husband, who is working in San Diego. BankAmerica Corp. of San Francisco is merging with NationsBank of Charlotte, N.C., in a deal valued at more man ft Vlad's new offer I Kathy 1999 to the first 24-story tower at the new Collier Center in downtown However, key bank jobs could be moved to Dallas. Munro, who has been with BankAmerica since 1980, had the option to relocate to Dallas or stay in Phoenix and run the bank's Arizona and Nevada operations.

"I am trying to combine a career with my family life," said Munro, who has been traveling a lot during the past year, i "Dallas was just too far away, and this merger seemed like the perfect chance td do something different that will give me enough flexibility to travel to San Diego Please' see BANK, Page E3 wins MoneyGram The Arizona Republic The recently revamped Ritz-Caiiton hotel on Camelback Road has been bought by Host Marriott Corp. for $75 million. Shareholders of MoneyGram By Catherine Reagor The Arizona Republic One of Arizona's few top female business executives Kathy Munro of Bank of America is taking advantage of her employer's megamerger to quit. The well-known and well-liked Valley leader, chief executive of Bank of America's Southwest operations, based in Phoenix, is leaving the bank this year to spend more time with her family, Payment Systems Inc. couldn't resist Viad sweetened offer $60 billion.

The banks announced Tuesday that the new Southwest headquarters for their combined operations would be in Dallas. The banks say the move will not cause any big layoffs in Arizona or stop the relocation of its Valley -corporate offices in for their stock. otel is sold Viad, a Phoenix-based conglomerate, said Tuesday that a majority of MoneyGram shareholders tendered their shares, completing Viad's cash offer for the Colorado company. SMALL for $75 million Ritz-Carlton price twice 19961s Viad initially offered $17 a share for MoneyGram but upped it to $17.35 when many shareholders balked. The company said that I.

If 67.6 percent of the outstanding shares were tendered. A large MoneyGram shareholder who said the offer was too low did not tender its shares. -MoneyGram, the No. 2 money wire transfer company behind Western Union, will become a part of Travelers Express, Viad's money order and financial services subsidiary. Viad has said Money-Gram fits perfectly with Travelers lineup of products and services.

Action to add apparel Action Performance a Tempe company specializing in NASCAR merchandise, is adding an apparel company to its lineup. Action said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire controlling interest of Chase Racewear LLC, a North Carolina apparel company specializing in motorsports related By Catherine Reagor The Arizona Republic Phoenix's Ritz-Carlton hotel, in the midst of the Valley's highest-priced office towers and swankiest shops at 24th Street and Camelback Road, has been sold for $75 niliion. The recently revamped hotel was bought by Host Marriott Corp. for double its sale price just two years ago, according to public records. A partnership of Phoenix-based Pivotal Group and William E.

Simon Sons Realty of Los Angeles paid $37 million for the 281 -room Ritz in May 1996. Neither group would comment on the sale, which closed late Friday afternoon. "The Ritz is part of Phoenix's golden triangle for real estate," said Stanley Paul Cook, a real estate analyst with Phoenix-based Landiscor Aerial Information. He said the Ritz's price is in line with the rest of the deals happening near 24th Street and Camelback Road. The newest Esplanade office tower next door to the Ritz recently sold for $55 million.

The opulent office buildings on the northwest corner of the intersection Biltmore Financial Center III and Northern Trust Bank Tower sold in January for $86.4 million. That was almost $30 million more than the office tower project sold for in 1996. Also, billionaire Wayne Hui-zenga recently paid $288 million for the Arizona Biltmore Resort. A $40 million expansion is planned for the Ritz-Carlton, An additional 150 rooms, 20 luxury condominiums and an ballroom are on the drawing board for the land di- Please see RITZ-CARLTON, Page Ei Vfi r. DITTOS 7 if clothing under the Chase Authen- tics brand.

Nancy EngebretsonSpecial for The Arizona Republic TimeMax's Dennis Deaton says workers who have the ownership spirit "cdn have the best of both worlds." Phoenix radio stations part of $1.15 billion sale FYI Teaching 'ownership' Company offers attitude training It will -pay $10 million in cash for an 80 percent interest, with a provision for an additional $4 million payout based on financial performance. The owners of Chase Racewear, including NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Bobby La-bonte and Terry Labonte, will retain a 20 percent interest in the company and will promote the Chase Authentics brand under an exclusive endorsement agreement, Action said. Action said it plans to boost Chase's licensing fees by lining up new retail outlets and adding apparel for women and children. Salon products firm on spree Styling Technology a Phoenix-based salon products company, said it has acquired the assets of Pro Finish USA, a nail-care products company. By Michael Clancy The Arizona Republic Radio stations KTAR (620 AM), KKLT (98.7 FM) and KMVP (860 AM) have been sold to the Hearst Corp.

as part of a $1.15 billion agreement reached over the weekend. The complex deal moves nine TV stations and five radio stations from Pulitzer Publishing Co. to Hearst-Argyle, the broadcast division of Hearst. Hearst owns 15 TV stations and two radio stations, both in Baltimore. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

Chris Gallu, vice president and general manager of the three radio stations in Phoenix, said the five radio stations the three in Phoenix and one each in Winston- Salem, N.C., and Louisville, probably were an afterthought in the transaction. "There is speculation that Hearst would divest all the radio stations," Gallu said. "The other side of the coin is that the stations are doing well, plus there's value in being in this growing market. "At this point, I don't think anyone knows what will happen." Meanwhile, Gallu said, it will be business as usual at KTAR, K-Lite and KMVP. Thomas Campo, manager of investor relations for Hearst, acknowledged that Hearst-Argyle is "primarily a TV company, but we have experience in radio." One of the two radio stations Please see RADIO, Page E3 Tips for developing "the ownership spirit" Own your thinking.

You alter your destiny by altering your thoughts. People can choose whether to think optimistically or pessimistically. Thinking like an owner leads to success and fulfillment on the job, while thinking like a victim leads to a sense of isolation and failure. Own your problems. Rather than regarding other people as the cause of your problems or the solution to them, think of what you can do to solve them.

Take the initiative, and be persistent. Own your career. Having dreams, goals and purposes helps you create your own energy and motivation. Motivation does not come from company-imposed fears or rewards as much as it comes from within. Source: TimeMax Inc.

By Jane Larson The Arizona Republic Even at big companies, workers dream about the freedom they'd have, fantasize about the time they'd have, if only they owned their own business. What too few realize, the prin-. cipals of TimeMax Inc. say, is that they can have that dream now. All they have to do is apply a sense of ownership and entre-preneurship to their jobs.

"It is a concept that is a tough sell, because what you're really saying is the attitude that your company is the great Satan and that you're a helpless victim is only going to hurt your life. It's not going to hurt your company," said Steve Chandler, one of TimeMax's two seminar presenters and author of 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself. But in fact, those who catch the ownership spirit "can have the best of both worlds. They can have all the resources and support of a large corporate partner and still fulfill a lot of their creative desires," TimeMax Chairman and presenter Dennis Deaton said. The Mesa-based corporate training company has built a business persuading workers at Please see COMPANY, Page E2 The $5 million cash deal is the second acquisition Styling has announced in a week.

The company has been on a buying spree since it went public in 1996, with the goal of becoming a one-stop salon products business. Pro Finish had sales of about $7.7 million last year, Styling Technology said. SpeedFam predicts loss SpeedFam International Inc. is If" a i Theaters get 'Oscar' for business projecting a steep drop in revenues Backbone of economy lauded SMALL BUSINESS Mi'1 and a net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ends Sunday. The Chandler company, which makes equipment used in the semiconductor industry, is projecting sales of $24 million to $26 million, down from $49.3 million generated in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997.

The company also expects to record a net loss of apolis 500, let's turn our atte'n- tion to the engines that really count. Besides making for catchy campaign rhetoric, there are good reasons why many call small businesses defined as companies with fewer than 500 employees the engine of the U.S. economy. More than half of American innovations are hatched in small companies, which also create two of every Please see FESTIVAL, Page E2 Just as Arizona Republic auto-racing writer Mark Ar-mijo is fond of telling readers and co-workers that his beat represents the fastest-growing professional sport in America, I don't miss many chances to remind people that small businesses constitute more than 97 percent of Arizona companies and employ more than half of the state's private-sector workforce. So now that our eardrums have recovered from the Indian- By Craig Anderson The Arizona Republic This year's Arizona Business Leadership Award the state's equivalent of the Academy Award for businesses goes to Harkins Theatres.

Harkins, Arizona's oldest and largest independent theater chain, will be honored by the Arizona Business Leadership Association on June 4 at the Paradise Valley Country Club, Awards chairman Dan Adler said Please see HARKINS, Page E3 1 ir-n $3.8 million to $4.3 million, or 24 to 27 cents per share. The company earned $6.5 million or 46 cents a share in the same quarter one year earlier. SpeedFam -blamed slower, than expected sales of its chemical mechanical planarization systems. JANE LARSON The Arizona Republic Tim KoorsThe Arizona Republic Dan Harkins built up his dad's seven-screen theater chain to 174 screens with 32 more to open this year. Compiled from reports by The Arizona Republic.

To submit a news item to AZ Inc, call the Business desk at 444-8142, fax us at 444-4439 or write us via e-mail atrepbizpni.com. Tussliay'si CLOSING QUOTES Get business news 24 METALS AND COMMODITIES ONE DOLLAR EQUALS: hours a day Yen Dollar N.Y. Merc "l4llJ' 1 on Arizona NYSE: MRIEX: 566.26 720.33 137.83 Composite tolume: 646,660.860 fpntrnl thn KC 1-4548 70.0049 Pound INTEREST RATES Tuesday ago Tuesday agc Prime rate 8.50 8.50 6-month T-bills 5.16 5.26 Discount rate 5.00 5.25 10-year T-notes 5.56 8.78 Federal funds 5.56 5.59 30-year T-bonds 5.83 7.02 3-month T-bill 5.02 5.03 Avg. mortgage rate: 7.1 1 .93 online service Handy jjia Dan Mark Troy oi. Troy oz.

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