The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 35

The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution BUSINESS Saturday, October 1, 1994 C3- Shaicjf deal mvm sweat mv lawyer 5 I I S. i A. --ii i- i LOUIE FAVORITE Staff David J. Harris, a partner in one of Atlanta's most prestigious law firms, saved Channel 69 in the 1980s by raising his own funds, increasing his stake in the station. Channel 69's sale to CBS may net him $16 million By Jeffry Scott STAFF WRITER David J.

Harris claims he was never really in the television business. That being the case, he's done pretty well getting out ofit The slim, silver-haired 62-year-old partner in one of Atlanta's most prestigious law firms stands to make as much as $16 million in the sale of WVEU Channel 69 to the CBS television network. It was a deal, announced a week ago, that almost nobody in the city's rumor mill of station owners and general managers really expected, least of all Harris, who is president and principal shareholder of WVEU's ownership group, Broadcast Corporation of Georgia. "If you asked somebody a year ago if we had a chance to be a CBS affiliate, they would have just laughed at you," he says, sitting in his modest office on the 31st floor of the Promenade II building in Midtown. The deal fell Harris' way the way a lot of things have fallen his way.

A graduate of Tulane University law school, he landed his job at Smith, Gambrell Russell while visiting Atlanta to work on a couple of tax cases for the firm. In 1969, on a tip from Ben Fort-son, then Georgia's secretary of state, he found out the old Governor's Mansion in Ansley Park was for sale, put in a bid and bought it for $100,000. People told him he was crazy to buy the creaky mansion with a leaky roof and in need of thousands of dol- David J. Harris said he never planned to enter the television business. lars in But when he razed the old building, moved into the carriage house Li back, parceled the two front acres into four lots and sold them making back a big chunk of his investment he suddenly looked not so off his rocker.

It was a deal not dissimilar to WVEU, which Harris fell into in 1980 when the owners of a California subscription television company contacted him for what he thought was advice on opening a station in Atlanta. Instead, they wanted him to form a group to finance and build the station. "I never had any intentions of getting into the television busi 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time since 1988, when she says her troubles began. "They built the expressway and closed my business down for three months," said Clements, describing a series of business interruptions that have put her in debt. In her petition, Clements declared $50,000 in assets and $100,000 to $500,000 in liabilities.

She wonders whether she can hold on until the 1996 Olympics, when places like the Auburn Avenue Rib Shack are expected to draw hundreds of customers. It does now, even with most of its table capacity unused. During lunch time Friday, customers were the usual mix of Grady Auburn Avenue Rib Shack files for Chapter 11 ness," says Harris. "I knew absolutely nothing about it." Ultimately, he was persuaded to put together a partnership of IS and raised $1 million, investing no more than 10 percent himself. He hired Vance Eckersley, a seasoned television executive, to run it.

But the deal that once seemed sweet went sour when the subscription TV firm filed for bankruptcy. Harris and his investors were left with a block of prime time but no programming. Banks refused to loan the station money, investors were dropping out and Channel 69 was on the verge of signing off permanently. Harris saved the station by raising his own funds (increasing his stake in the station), buying syndicated programs and cutting deals with networks and religious broadcasters to rent them air time on the station. Still, after all these years, WVEU never has turned a profit, staffers in hospital whites, people in suits and folks in work clothes.

"I used to meet people there for interviews," recalled Russ Rymer, a former Journal-Constitution magazine editor now living in Los Angeles and writing for The New Yorker magazine. "It was a place for black and white alike, and I always knew if someone suggested it as a place to eat that we were on good common ground." Whether the place will continue to live in the shadow of the freeway depends, Clements said, on whether she can get $100,000 or so in financing. That would enable her to pay off First Union bank and the Internal Revenue Service, to repair her large din Upgrade your 486bt-33 to a 486dx2-66 Intel while you wait only $219 COMPAQ AERO Docking Station t900 420 MEO WESTERN DIGITAL $23 3et Notebook 1400 IBM Color Printer $78 TOSHIBA 1910 BSW NOTE $1200 TOSHIBA 1910CS COLOR NOTE $1700 Labor Department settles bias case The U.S. agency responsible for protecting workers' rights has agreed to pay $4 million in what is described as the largest settlement of a class-action, race-discrimination suit in government history. i But the Labor Department denied any wrongdoing or liability, saying it settled the dispute brought by some of its black employees so it "could move forward." The agreement was announced Thursday.

The award will be shared by more than 350 black employees who were fired, demoted or denied promotions by the department's Employment and Training Administration in 1981 and in 1983-84, said attorney Jane Lang of Sprenger Lang, who represented the plaintiffs. 'I ATLANTA New Crescent Airways chief executive named. Crescent Airways a Lawrenceville helicopter operator, has named Gene Erskine chief executive of its Crescent Airways Inc. unit, in addition to his post as head of another Crescent unit, Papillion Hawaiian Helicopters. Erskine will continue to report to Jack Hereth, chairman and president of the parent company.

Before joining Papillion, he was senior vice president at Wells Fargo N.A. Crescent recently Said it expects to report a loss for the second quarter ended Friday, citing higher insurance expenses after an accident in Hawaii. Perma-Fix names new president. Perma-Fix Environmental Services Inc. announced Friday that Robert W.

Foster Jr. has been promoted to president. Louis F. Centofanti, who formerly held the title, will continue as chairman of the board. Foster has been serving as chief operating officer.

He was formerly president of Quadrex Environmental Services, which was acquired by Perma-Fix on June 17. Atlanta-based Perma-Fix provides hazardous waste management and environmental engineering services to industry and government Two Mitsubishi units merging. Mitsubishi Electric America said Friday that two of the company's affiliates will merge, and the resulting division' will be based in Norcross. Mitsubishi Electronics America and Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics America will combine their electronics manufacturing and marketing activities. The new company will retain the Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics America name.

It will handle audio-video products and cellular mobile telephones. "We are not anticipating any downsizing," said spokeswoman Susan Murdico. The company has about 190 workers in Norcross. Alumax to postpone stock offering. Norcross-based Alu-max Inc.

postponed a proposed offering of 8 million common shares because of market conditions, according to Lehman Brothers. The firm said the offering has been postponed indefinitely, according to Dow Jones News Service. Lehman Brothers said 6.4 million of the shares were to be sold in the United States. Ggna to open medical centers. Cigna HealthCare of Georgia wUl open three primary-care centers in metro Atlanta this year.

The first will open Monday in Snellville; the other two will open in Dunwoody and Jonesboro by the end tof the year. Cigna HealthCare, which serves more than 140,000 members in metro Atlanta, plans six more centers in 1995. Lockheed begins work on C-I30J. Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co. said it has begun assembly work on an updated version of the C-130 transport, the C-130J.

The Marietta-based arm of Lockheed Corp. said the plane will be the most improved version yet of the venerable C-130. Lockheed has developed the new version at its own cost and lacks initial orders for the plane. It hopes to sell the C-130J to the U.S. Air Force and foreign governments.

GEORGIA S.C newspaper company moving to Athens. Community Newspapers Inc. is moving its headquarters from Spartanburg, to Athens, company officials said. CNI President Dink Nes-mith said the company is moving because Athens has an appealing quality of life and the University of Georgia. The regional newspaper company publishes more than 40 weekly and biweekly newspapers in Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas.

It employs about 550 people in the four states, 40 of whom will work at the new headquarters. The nation Philip Morris negotiating sale of institutional food operation. Philip Morris Companies Inc. confirmed Friday that it is negotiating the sale of its Kraft food service business to a party it did not identify. The business, which distributes giant tubs of Kraft cheese and General Foods mayonnaise to restaurants, hospitals and universities, could sell for $600 million or more, industry analysts estimate.

The possible sale is part of a move by Philip Morris to shed its lower-earning, nonstrategic food operations, said Robert Cummins, a food and tobacco analyst for Wertheim Schroder. State Farm revises earthquake estimate. State Farm Insurance Group, the nation's largest property insurer, says its losses from January's California earthquake will be nearly $2 billion, up from the company's previous estimate of $1.5 billion. According to the latest insurance industry estimates, the quake is expected to cost the insurance industry more than $7.2 billion. New Valley reorganization plan advances.

New Valley Corp. said the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., will allow it to distribute its proposed plan of reorganization to shareholders and creditors. In addition, the court ruled against the distribution of competing plans by Chemical Banking which is trustee for subordinated debtholders, and a committee representing Class A preferred shareholders, New Valley said. A joint reorganization plan filed by New Valley and its creditors calls for both secured and unsecured creditors' claims to be paid in full.

The plan is contingent on the sale of New Valley's Western Union Financial Services unit to Atlanta-based First Financial Management Corp. for $1.2 billion. Raytheon to buy Florida washing machine firm. Patriot missile maker Raytheon Co. plans to clean up in the washing machine business.

The giant defense contractor said Friday it was acquiring UniMac a privately held maker of commercial front-loading washers based in Marianna, Fla. The company employs 530 people and expects 1994 sales of $70 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ALSO NOTEWORTHY The Daily News in New York announced it is launching a new Sunday business section this weekend with the first complete weekly stock lists in its 75-year history. Herman's Sporting Goods Inc.

emerged from bankruptcy protection on Friday, a year and a half after an investors group took over the ailing chain and began streamlining and revamping it. On or just before Nov. 27. Fox moves to WAGAChannel 5 CBS moves to WVEUChannel 69 1 WATLChannel becomes independent which makes the CBS deal all the more phenomenal. 7 "Last year was the first year we had a positive cash flow," he says.

"But we still didn't make enough to pay interest on our in- vestment. We'll probably turn a profit this year, but I'm not sure of that. We will make money next year, on the sale to Harris plays down his newp found fortune. He won't Say '6x actly how much he'll make in the sale to CBS, and emphasizes if he had invested the same amount he invested in WVEU shrewdly in the stock market over the past 13 years, he might have made more. He has no intention of getting back into television or retiring to a private paradise.

He'll keep working 7 at Jthje firm on other people's mergers and acquisitions. 0 "All this means to me'tie says, "is that if something bad were to happen to me I could pay my medical costs." .01 ing room and to spruce up the side of the place to accommodate outdoor eating. Credit Depot expects bigger loss for year DOWJONES NEWSSERVICE Credit Depot Corp. said Frida jij it expects to report a loss of about $2.5 million, or 75 cents a for the fiscal year ended June compared with a loss of or 3 cents a share, a year ago. 1 Gainesville-based Credit De pot attributed the loss to signifw cant investments made fof geo graphic expansion of its loan ination network and for improving its corporate infrastructure.

1 PENTIUM 3i Too Fast $2403 1 5" SVGA Monitor, MEO RAM, 420 meg 11 MILLISECOND HtrdDltk. ATI 04 bit PCI Video Accelerator w2 mag Matheoproeaaior, PCI Hard Disk Controller, 11 bay Full Tower, Microsoft ERGO Mouse, 101 Keyboard, 250 watt UL Power Supply, 12 Floppy Drive, DOS 6.2, Window $.11 90 DAYS SAME AS CASH FINANCING 'iJfc only 1 stereo TVs at $186 $152 CHICKEN wHs SERVED BY By Susan Harte STAFF WRITER Stroll down to 302 Auburn Ave. Stop at the Auburn Avenue Rib Shack. Recall the history of Atlanta's black entrepreneur-ship as you chew rapturously on ribs to die for. Behind the counter of this spotless, scruffy little eatery is refrigerator with a faded sign pasted to its door.

The sign reads, "I try to take one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked me at once." That's how Dorothy Clements feels now. The daughter of the founder of the 30-year-old Sweet Auburn landmark has filed for Chapter 3 Computers 486DX2-50 INTEL $1179 .28 SVGA Nl Monitor, 4 megs of RAM, 420 Meg Hard Drive, VESA Local Bua Video, Mouse, 1.44 meg Floppy Drives, Mini Tower Case, 2 Serial, 1 Parallel, 1 Game Port, 230 watt power supply, 101 Keyboard, DOS t.2, Windows 3.11, Mouse Pad 3DJH? Must move to a bigger location to handle our growth. You save even more. Three days only. Hurry! It's the buying opportunity of the year.

Caraustar buys Nashville-based carton operation By Susan Harte STAFF WRITER Caraustar Industries said Friday it acquired Mid-Packaging Group a Nashville-based folding carton manufacturer. The cash deal included $6.9 million for equity in Mid-Packaging and $2 million to assume its existing debt, said H. Lee Thrash III, Caraustar's chief financial officer. Since its initial public offering in late 1992, Caraustar has sought growth by acquisition. "This is very positive, and probably will add 3 to 5 cents a share next year," declared Mark Wilde, an analyst with Bankers Trust Securities Corp.

Wilde has a "buy" recommendation because he says Caraustar "has one of the best sales growth performances in the industry over the last 12 months." Caraustar already has four carton operations in North Carolina and has been looking to expand its geographical presence in other states. Thrash said Caraustar is talking with other potential acquisitions. In Nasdaq trading Friday, Caraustar closed up 4334 cents at Choose from twenty titles at blowout prices. Upgrades Such as SVGA 14" KB Such as brand name 20" 4HeadVCR'sat Such as 386 DX33, 2MB RAM, 1.44 FDD, 486 SX25, 4MB RAM, 1 .44 FDD, JUST A SAMPLE! HUNDREDS OF OTHER PRODUCTS. EVERYTHING MUST GO.

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