Business in brief

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 14, 2000

INTERMEDIA TO TEAM WITH GLOBAL ONE: Global One, a French telecommunications company planning a major expansion into the United States, signed a deal to use Tampa-based Intermedia Communications Inc.'s infrastructure. Global One, a member of the France Telecom Group, plans to open offices in 12 American cities this year as it sells its network services. Company officials wouldn't predict how the deal would increase revenues at Intermedia. Shares of Intermedia rose $3.06, or 10 percent, to $33.50.

OIL RISES TO THREE-MONTH HIGH: Crude oil rose to a three-month high on expectations that OPEC will keep output levels unchanged when it meets next week in Vienna. Crude oil for July delivery rose 82 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $32.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the highest closing price since March 7. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries blamed high U.S. gasoline prices rather than low oil inventories for a six-week, 27 percent rally.

OUTBACK TO DEBUT ON NYSE: Shares of Outback Steakhouse Inc. begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the shortened ticker symbol OSI. The company says it hopes the move will attract a broader investor base and reduce stock price volatility and trading costs for shareholders. The restaurant chain has been listed on the Nasdaq since its 1991 initial public offering. Top execs will be on the exchange floor to ring the opening bell and throw out a few boomerangs and other promotional items

SEC SETS DECIMAL SWITCH: All stocks traded on U.S. exchanges must be quoted in dollars and cents rather than fractions by April under an order revealed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The heads of the New York Stock Exchange and the rival Nasdaq Stock Market said they will begin pilot programs in decimal trading Sept. 5. NYSE chairman Richard Grasso said the stocks in the pilot program would be traded in one-cent increments.

SEAGRAM IN BUYOUT TALKS, REPORT SAYS: Vivendi SA, the French media and utility conglomerate, is in the final stages of negotiating a $30-billion-plus takeover of Seagram Co., the Los Angeles Times reported. The combined company would be named Vivendi Universal, the Times reported, adding that the parties plan to acknowledge today that they are in talks. Seagram's holdings include a stake in USA Networks Inc., parent of St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.

BREED AGREES TO ACQUISITION: Harvard Industries Inc. has agreed to buy Breed Technologies Inc. of Lakeland for about $600-million in cash and debt. The letter of intent for the purchase is subject to bankruptcy court approval and a new reorganization plan. Breed creditors would get about 45 percent of the equity of the combined company. The air-bag manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

MEDIA GENERAL MAKES ACQUISITIONS: Media General Inc., parent of the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-Ch. 8, has purchased five daily and about a half-dozen weekly newspapers from Thomson Corp. for $237-million. The daily newspapers being purchased by Media General are the 34,000-circulation Florence Morning News in South Carolina; the Dothan Eagle (36,000 circulation), the Opelika-Auburn News (14,000 circulation) and the Enterprise Ledger (9,500 circulation) in Alabama; and the 6,000-circulation Jackson County Floridian in Florida.

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