The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 36

18B THE PALM BEACH POST THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1986 Lorimar drops deal for WTVJ s-f I 1 It I VV TL SS. Cfc UCA OA i a 1 i5r featuring our showroom i 1 -saKm mum Dining room 699M STUNNING HAND MADE RATTAN LIVING ROOM AND DINING ROOM COLLECTIONS COORDINATED TO CREATE A DECORATOR LOOK DESIGNED FOR SOUTH FLORIDA. Two examples Hong Kong or Baby Rattan Designs your choice $CO095 $74995 sofas 3 Matching love seats, regular $699.95 $549.95 Queen size sleeper sofas, regular $959.95 Reuters NEW YORK Lorimar-Tele-pictures Corp. said Wednesday it was ending an agreement to buy television station WTVJ-TV in Miami, in what analysts said was an effort to keep alive a major multi-television station deal with the New York investment firm Kohl-berg Kravis Roberts and Co. Lorimar Chairman Merv Adel-son said in a statement only that the exclusion of WTVJ-TV would make the previously announced deal for the Miami station and six others around the country "more economically viable." By excluding WTVJ-TV from the revised deal, Lorimar-Telepic-tures, which is based in Culver City, said it will save $405 million.

It also got some other concessions from Kohlberg Kravis that may reduce the price of the six stations by $30 million, bringing the revised deal's value to $1.4 billion. Analysts said that the weak Miami advertising market and reduced cash flow estimates for the station had forced Lorimar- Tele-pictures, an entertainment and media company whose TV productions include Dallas, to seek a new deal. The sale of WTVJ-TV owned by the Wometco Broadcasting which Kohlberg Kravis has controlled since a leveraged buyout of Wometco Enterprises in 1984 was part of a deal announced last June that also included six stations owned by Storer Communications. Kob'fcerg Kravis controls Storer through another buyout in 1985. Further reductions possible Moreover, Lorimar said the revised deal provide i for further possible reductions re purchase price if the Storer stations' operating results come in below projections.

The Storer stations are four CBS affiliates WJBK-TV Detroit, WJW-TV Cleveland, WAGA-TV Atlanta, and WITI-TV Milwaukee -KCSC-TV San Diego, an NBC affiliate, and WSBK-TV Boston, an independent station. Analyst Sharon Ambrust of Paul Kagan Associates said she was not surprised at the concessions. "There was definitely a question that Lorimar would do the (original) deal because of the slow TV market," she said, adding that Miami is particularly competitive. Ambrust pointed out that next year's cash flow from the seven stations had been estimated at $140 million but, with 1986 cash flow possibly being as low as $122 million, that could be over-optimistic. "If cash flow comes in five to 10 percent lower than projected, you can't do the deal because you won't be able to cover the interest service on the debt you raise to buy the stations," she explained.

The cancellation of the WTVJ-TV deal makes this week one of mixed tidings for Kohlberg Kravis. Tuesday, it announced the sale of its Wometco Cable TV interests for $625 million to a group of investors led by the Robert M. Bass Group. Coordinated dining rooms 5-pc. round Hong Kong group 5-pc.

round Baby Rattan group 799.95 FURNITURE DIFFERENT COVERS mil a. mm mesizb room '799" Just two of the fabulous rattan frame styles sale priced this week at our showrooms a choice of covers in sofas love seats and sleeper-sofas CHOOSE FROM 6 ESM officer says auditor falsified data FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) A former controller for now-defunct ESM Government Securities Inc. testified Wednesday that its auditor produced favorable financial statements after logging millions of dollars in losses. The testimony came in an $85 million civil lawsuit by trustees of ESM. The suit charges Alexander Grant, now known as Grant Thornton, with negligence and breach of contract for preparing false statements that said insolvent ESM companies were on firm financial ground.

ESM, which sold government securities to public agencies and other customers, failed in March 1985. Its collapse led to a run on Ohio banks and the failure of Cincinatti's Home State Savings Bank, ESM's largest investor. Henry Earl Riddel, ESM's controller from 1977 to 1981, testified that the company was losing millions, despite Grant's reports, culminating in his final year with more than $284 million in deficits. He testified that he noticed the discrepancies between his own reports and Grant's statements. When asked by Grant attorneys why he did not report the differences, Riddel said, "I did not consider that my position or my responsibility." The defense concedes that the accounting firm produced false statements, but attorney Alvin Stein contends there was no breach of contract because the company was fulfilling an obligation, understood by both sides, to produce favorable reports.

The defense also claims the false reports were the result of ESM bribes paid to Grant accountant Jose Gomez, but Riddel testified that he had no involvement with Gomel on ESM audits. in vm ST VS: lKJr Boynton Beach Mall VERY SPECIAL OFFER! PEEL FLAIR SOFAS, LOVE SEATS AND SLEEPERS Choose the cover you like to fit ofa your decor. Hand woven rattan $00095 frames. Save '350. OW Save '280 Matching love teat Sav '460 Matching 959.95 tleeper Ask about our package groups at extra savings Wl NEW MILITARY TRAIL SHOWROOM OPEN MONDAYS THROUGH FRIDAYS 'TIL 8:30 P.M., IT 9 30 a 6 00 Doily Mon Fri 8 30 Phono 587 35S9 9 30 Monday Phono North ilTT-flrm7i SATURDAYS 'TIL 6 6pm Doily 'til 8 30 J78 J837 842-4658 9 30 to -530 pm Doity Friday 'til 8 30 tit hono J86-5S99 Alto at Voro Boach CflTER'S FURNITURE Sole prict i do not apply to previous purehaiei 9 30 am 6 00 pm Doily Mon 'til 8 30 Phon.

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