NUMEROUS POSSIBLE BUYERS SHOW INTEREST IN U.P.I.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100600013-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: September 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/03: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100600013-3
NE'iV YORK TIMES
17 September 1985
Numerous Possible Buyers Show In eres in . .
By ALEX S. JONES
Several prospective buyers have sub-
mitted nonbinding "expressions of in-
terest" in acquiring United Press In-
tft)ational, U.P.I. executives said yes-
terday.
Sources close to the situation who
asked not to be identified said that
ariao'ttg those submitting tentative pro-
posals were major communication
cot panes, some significant financial
aid venture capital concerns, U.P.I.'s
ujtlpn a rival news agency, at least two
fndlviduals with former ties to the Cen-
tral fntelligence Agency, and some for-
eign publishing companies.
financially troubled news serv.
Abo. ice had set yesterday as a deadline for
expressions of interest, and it
to seek firm bids for the company
~acly October. Those who indicated
interest are not obliged to submit
frpstal bids.
A bankruptcy judge must approve
s ii Cal sale as part of the reorganiza-
t * of the company, and It could be
aeOl months before the situation is
val as News Service Sought
States Bankruptcy Code last
and has been seeking a buyer
d assure the survival of the
cp4lWny as a general news service.
Ca~any officials said-yesterday's re-
from prospective buyers, al-
thgo8h were not firm offers, were
a Wift indication that U. U.P.I. would be
a to attract such a buyer.
.I. had been circulating a pro-
spits on the company for several
+w -W, those submitting expres
f interest were asked to include a
lp)xfthinary estimate of how much
1.k._I. was worth, the buyer's financial
Itr*& planned to operate the news
agency, according to a U.P.I. spokes-
man.
Ray Wechsler, president of U.P.f.,
said-that U.P.I. would not rule out con-
sid4ttion of other companies that
raftW indicate serious interest in
. in the next few days, even
v-? Those Indicating interest
to-I. would not confirm the identi-
ties3f any of the parties who indicated
interest yesterday, but a partial list,
coolpiled through sources who asked
rtoFlrs be identified, includes these con-
QW.
Qau.Lner Broadcasting System Inc., tral Intelligence A enc at one point
the+?'Atlanta-based communication I y-- p?
weelb Mr. Turner recently tried to ac- s tstano s.c, intenas
to coo lee U? P.I. with a newspaper su
gtril CBS Inc. but was rebuffed. Ac- element tentati eT- [it1e3 Today ~s
c0lding to Arthur Sando, vice president
of'; 'Corporate communications of Wor t at woo caryrynational adver-
v
T r Broadcasting, the company is' tisiri
"re awing" the U.P.I. prospectus and Wire 750 UService.P.IGuild, the union
hasaot decided whether an expression Last Thursday U.P.I. employees.
Last Ty guild officials and
of Brest will be submitted. U.P.I. management agreed to cooper-
As Russo Companies
a Houston
,
ate in seekin b
g auyer. Dan Carmi-
headed by Joe E. Russo that has chael th
a u
nions secretary-treasurer,
is in real estate
development, said that the union's proposal opened
& and hotels. A sookesmskn rrnL
pang, the investment banking
newlservice, but did not say how much
it hild offered.
Uleurt SerVaas, chairman of the
Curtis Publishing Company, of Indian-
apolis, and his wife, Cory, editor and
publliher of The Saturday Evening
M Pew which was once owned by Curtis
Ptihing but is now owned by the
in Franklin Society, a nonprofit
or tion. Mr. SerVaas said that he
a s wife were part of a group he
w not identify that offered $13.9
mlftbn to $17.9 million for UPI
tween the union and a buyer, but added
that the union would consider other
proposals and its expression of interest
did not mean it would fight any offer
other than its own.
qReuters, the British news agency
that has made several tentative efforts
to acquire U.P.I. but has been re-
buffed, according to confidential U. P. 1.
sources, because its offer included
changing U.P.I. from a general agency
into a more specialized one. A Reuters
spokesman said that the company
would have no comment.
Alan Patrikof Associates Inc., a
New York venture capital company.
No one at the company could be
reached for confirmation.
QThomas H. Lee Company, a Boston
investment banking concern. A spokes-
...
eat r this summer, an offer that was man said that the company's policy
was not to comment
alloa
ed to e
i
Th
l
xp
re
.,.
e new proposal
ma & on behalf of the same group, is 1 cGolder, Thoma & Cressey, a Chi-
sssa"ially the same, he said. He would cago venture capital company. All
not close the identities of the others company officials were out of town and
in could not be reached, according to an
T Hugel, chairman of a Wash- employee.
in com anY that owns several Vasquez Rana, a Mexican publisher
fr ses to mar t mobile cellular whose Sol chain of newspapers is one of
to Te- es, an undisclosed group the !argent in Mexico. Mr. Rana could
Q tors 'Mj--- lugTsaid were in- not be reached for comment.
in teecom_unications. Mr.EFE. Spain's national news agen-
vg
Vtd
H a~ormer de uty director for cy.lccordinq to confidential sources,
operations o e entiaT-TnteZIigence EFE is representing a group of banks
Ag~fe~_w was an adviser to Presi- and communication companies in its
dens_ "Reaan's re-eIection campaign, potential bid. No representative of the
worlosd in the C.I.A. for for six months company could be reached for cum-
r in AU- o_~~tKat included supervi- ment.
lion clandestine operations. He re CComtex Scientific Corporation, a
sigtljs~ after being accused of having joint venture with U.P.I. that owns the
ill _ 1 rovided insider information right to use U. P. L's news report as a
to stockbrokers in the ear~s. data base for electronic publishing. No
Mr. u el sued the stockbrokers for company representatives could be
de lion an was awar-d`e`Udam- reached for comment.
ages. cPedro Lopez, chief operating offi-
?of 31000 last vear_Mr. Hugel
sal t would_ be "absolutely ridicu- cer and chief shareholder of Central
loos Lo -thiriTt_ this his conngcOgn with Federal Savings and Loan Company of
the C.I A_would color a decision on his I Miami, who had expressed an interest
offs tJ,p.I.-executives who asked not I in acquiring U.P.I. last spring. Mr.
t1f and Western Industries, ti, n mig~ suggest that _U.P.I. had
widi$, among other things, is one of the inappropriate links to the intelligence
trt is leading book publishers and' orga on, ut tneyidnot say that
ffidhCial information companies. Its Mr. ICu e-1 w'asl ii_niTeaoutas a pos-
tloitgs include Simon & Schuster, sibl6u__yyer.
Paramount Pictures and Madison gRobert Cunning am former owner
Square Garden. The company did not i of theatT---1 ~- j
y_merican1 an Englijh
,lan-
rettun calls seeking confirmation yes- guag - n we acer in Rgme From 1951
terdav. to 1964 he was an employee of the Cen-
Lopez could not be reached for (om-
ment.
cTele-Communications Inc., of Den-
ver, one of the nation's largest cabiel
television companies. No one at the
company could be reached for com-
ment.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/03: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100600013-3