Missing fund manager sued over NFL players’ millions
Atlanta – The federal government and several professional football players want to know what happened to the hundreds of millions of dollars the players and other investors poured into an Atlanta-based hedge-fund group.
But before they can find the money, they have to find Kirk Wright. Days after Wright and his company, International Management Associates, were sued in federal and state court, neither he nor the money has surfaced.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a federal lawsuit Feb. 27 against Wright and his firm, alleging five counts of fraud. The lawsuit joined a civil complaint filed in Georgia state court 10 days earlier. The first hearing in the federal case is set for today, but even Wright’s attorney won’t say if his client will show up.
Listed as plaintiffs in the state lawsuit are Terrell Davis, Steve Atwater, Rod Smith and Ray Crockett – all current or former Denver Broncos – former Tennessee Titan Blaine Bishop, former Houston Oiler Al Smith and Clyde Simmons, a former longtime player for the Philadelphia Eagles.
DENVER
January traffic sets record at DIA
Denver International Airport passenger traffic was up 8.3 percent in January, setting an airport record for the month.
More than 3.5 million passengers used DIA in January, up from more than 3.2 million a year earlier.
The growth was in part because of Southwest Airlines’ arrival Jan. 3.
Cargo volume in January fell 8.1 percent.
DENVER
Qwest stock rides seesaw in deal’s wake
Stockholders of Qwest have been on a roller coaster ride since Sunday, when telecom giant AT&T said it plans to buy BellSouth.
As investors continued to digest the AT&T announcement, Qwest’s stock closed at $6.38 Tuesday, down 46 cents, or 6.7 percent, from Monday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped Qwest from a hold to a sell rating.
Stock at the Denver-based telecom firm ran up 3.8 percent to $6.84 Monday, riding a telecom wave that also saw advances in AllTel and Sprint Nextel.
ENGLEWOOD
Sports Authority’s quarterly earnings up
Englewood sporting goods retailer The Sports Authority Inc. reported Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings of $1.10 per share, up from 96 cents a year ago.
For the year, the company reported net income of $2.06 per diluted share, compared with $1.27 per share a year ago.
The company plans to go private under a buyout deal with Los Angeles-based Leonard Green & Partners LP. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.
DENVER
Frontier will drop “poison pill” provision
Frontier Airlines will eliminate its “poison pill” provision as part of a plan to create a holding company incorporated in Delaware. The Denver-based airline also will opt out of a Delaware anti-takeover provision.
Shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services “generally opposes” such poison pills, and Frontier said it attempted to address the issues that ISS would be concerned about. However, ISS said the change from Colorado to Delaware in the company’s state of incorporation would be adverse to shareholders’ rights.
GOLDEN
Einstein’s parent refinances debt
Golden-based New World Restaurant Group Inc., which operates Einstein Bros. and Noah’s New York Bagels, has completed a debt refinancing that it said is expected to lower its average cash interest rate by almost 4 percent and improve after-tax cash flow by more than $5.3 million a year.
The $185 million financing package includes a five-year, $15 million revolving credit facility.
CHICAGO
Boeing acquiring Carmen Systems
The Boeing Co. is acquiring Carmen Systems, an airline and railroad crew scheduling and disruption management software company, to complement Jeppesen Sanderson Inc.’s aviation portfolio. Jeppesen is a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services. Sweden-based Carmen Systems has about 300 employees and will report to Arapahoe County-based Jeppesen.
WASHINGTON
Wage pressures rise as efficiency takes dip
The efficiency of American workers declined in the final three months of 2005, the first time that has happened in more than four years, while wage pressures accelerated.
Americans’ productivity, a key determinant of rising living standards, dipped at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the October-December quarter, while wages rose at a 3.3 percent pace, the fastest gain in a year, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Both figures were slightly revised from original estimates a month ago, which had productivity falling at a 0.6 percent rate and wage costs rising at a 3.5 percent rate in the fourth quarter.
DETROIT
GM rejiggers pension plans
General Motors Corp. on Tuesday became the latest major employer to convert its traditional pension plan that gives retirees a defined payout to a system in which the company makes a set contribution that supplements workers’ savings.
Effective Jan. 1, 2007, GM will freeze the accrued pension benefits for about 42,000 U.S. salaried employees and put those employees into new plans. The change won’t affect retirees or GM hourly workers.
NEW YORK
Stock exchange closes on rival’s purchase
The New York Stock Exchange closed its $10 billion acquisition of electronic rival Archipelago Holdings Inc. on Tuesday, a move that turned the 214-year-old not-for-profit exchange into a publicly traded company.
The new NYSE Group Inc. will begin trading today under the ticker symbol NYX.
AVON
Appeal filed to halt
Vail land swap
Vail Resorts Inc. said Tuesday that a California group has filed an appeal with the U.S. Forest Service to reverse a land swap approved in January.
Environmental Advocates, an advocacy group and law firm, and Luanne Wells filed the appeal, which alleges that the exchange parcel was undervalued.
Vail Resorts plans to use the 5-acre parcel near the Vista Bahn at the base of Vail Mountain,to build 13 4,500-square-foot townhomes. The Forest Service would get 475 acres south of Eagle and 135 acres north of Min turn, according to the Denver Business Journal.
