TELEVISION
Tuesday, October 10, 2006; Page D02
TELEVISION
Dolans Try to Buy Out Cablevision
The Dolan family is again trying to take its company private, offering to buy out public shareholders of Cablevision Systems in a deal that values the cable-TV operator at $7.9 billion plus the assumption of $11.3 billion in debt.
A bid from the Dolans last year ran into objections from the board. Under the terms of the new offer, the family would offer public shareholders $27 per share in cash, a 13 percent premium over the stock's closing value on Friday. The news sent Cablevision's shares soaring $2.57, or 10.74 percent, to close at $26.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Pfizer to Buy British Vaccine Firm
Pfizer, in its first foray into vaccine development, agreed to buy PowderMed, a British biotechnology company testing a needle-free flu shot, for undisclosed financial terms. The acquisition may help the New York-based drug manufacturer enter a market dominated by European competitors GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis. Pfizer said that PowderMed's vaccine works by shooting DNA-coated microscopic gold particles into the skin using compressed gas.
LEGAL
Student Sues Over Spinach
A student at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln who says she was sickened by spinach tainted with E. coli is suing the companies that produced the spinach and the store where it was sold.
According to the lawsuit, Kenzi Clark was hospitalized with gastroenteritis after eating Dole spinach bought in early September at a SunMart store in Lincoln. Clark is seeking compensation for medical expenses and pain and suffering. The total amount is undetermined because of ongoing medical tests, said Chad Wythers, her attorney.
Dole Food Company, Natural Selection Foods and Natural Selection Foods Manufacturing are named as defendants in the lawsuit, along with U Save Foods/SunMart and Gary Ebler, manager of a SunMart store in Lincoln.
BP Settles Claims From Explosion
BP reached preliminary settlements in 114 lawsuits brought by workers injured in an explosion at the company's Texas City, Tex., refinery last year.
The company still faces a trial next month in a suit by the first of more than 300 injured workers who haven't settled their claims, including one involving deaths. Tony Buzbee, a Texas lawyer representing 114 people injured by the blast, said he settled three cases yesterday and expects to complete paperwork on the rest in the next two weeks. BP has resolved almost 1,000 suits filed over the explosion, which killed 15 workers.
AIRLINES
