Sports Authority sets terms for buyout
Sports Authority Inc., the largest U.S. sporting goods retailer, proposed terms on $975 million of loans to fund its buyout by a group led by Leonard Green & Partners, said a person involved in the financing.
Englewood-based Sports Authority wants a $750 million revolving credit with an interest margin of 1 percentage point to 1.75 percentage points over the London interbank offered rate, said the person, who declined to be named. The retailer will pay an interest margin of 3 percentage points on a $65 million portion of the revolving credit.
Sports Authority said in January it agreed to be bought for about $1.3 billion in cash, $37.25 a share.
Frontier passengers score Rockies tickets
As Frontier Airlines renewed its sponsorship and became the exclusive airline sponsor of the Colorado Rockies, it said Frontier passengers who fly between March 30 and Sept. 28 this year can get two pavilion tickets for the price of one by showing their boarding pass at the Coors Field ticket window.
Frontier will continue as exclusive airline sponsor of the Rockies for another five years. Wells Fargo signed on as a new sponsor of the Rockies in a two-year deal. Frontier also is in discussions with Kroenke Sports on renewal of other sponsorships.
In a related announcement, Frontier said it will broadcast a six-minute video that touts Colorado as a premier site for aerospace companies during its 260 daily flights. The video, produced by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., will begin airing Saturday on Frontier’s in-flight channel, Wild Blue Yonder.
Group sees no need for front-crash tests
Automakers score so well on a front-crash test that a safety group is doing away with it for most vehicles, saying the assessments no longer give consumers useful information.
More than 80 percent of 106 vehicle designs in the latest test got the highest grade of “good” when the front driver side was crashed into a barrier at 40 mph, said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. None got the lowest grade of “poor,” and only two got the second-worst rating of “marginal,” he said.
H&R Block counts boost in tax clients
H&R Block Inc., the tax preparer that has been struggling with a series of troubles in recent months, said Thursday that it saw an 8.6 percent increase in the number of total tax clients served in the first half of March.
In its latest update on this year’s tax season, the Kansas City-based company said it saw a 58.4 percent increase in software sales and clients filing taxes online compared with the first half of March 2005. The number of clients coming into H&R Block’s retail tax offices rose 1.1 percent for the period.
Nasdaq nips its bid for London exchange
The creation of a trans-Atlantic stock exchange will have to wait. On Thursday, the Nasdaq Stock Market withdrew its $4.1 billion preliminary offer for the London Stock Exchange, less than a month after expressing an interest.
Nasdaq did not cite a reason for its retreat, but several executives involved in talks between the two said that the London Exchange’s stock price had risen too high for Nasdaq, and that London executives had given Nasdaq a very chilly reception.
Report finds fault in TSA computer pact
Mismanagement by the Transportation Security Administration and overcharging by its contractor, Unisys Corp., led to cost overruns on a $1 billion contract to build a computer network for the agency, a government report said Thursday.
Less than halfway through the seven-year contract, $834 million has been spent, according to the report from the inspector general’s office of the Homeland Security Department, but TSA facilities still lack needed technology.
Burlington vote OKs ConocoPhillips offer
Burlington Resources Inc. stockholders approved on Thursday the proposed sale of the energy company to ConocoPhillips, the nation’s third-largest integrated oil company.
About 74 percent of outstanding Burlington shares, 280 million shares, were voted in favor of the acquisition. A majority of the company’s 375.6 million outstanding shares had to be voted in favor of the agreement in order for the deal to be approved.
Papers seek arbitrator on ending joint pact
The Seattle Times Co. and the owner of its rival, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have asked a judge to let an arbitrator settle whether they can end their joint-operating agreement.
In a statement released Thursday, The Times and Hearst Corp. said they want a speedy resolution to a court battle that began three years ago.
“Quicker resolution is by far the best option for the newspapers and for the employees of both The Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,” Frank Blethen, publisher of The Seattle Times, said in the joint statement.
Dialysis firm wins OK for takeover bid
Fresenius AG, the world’s largest provider of kidney dialysis, won U.S. antitrust clearance to complete its $3.5 billion takeover of Renal Care Group Inc. after agreeing to sell 91 outpatient clinics.
The Federal Trade Commission said it required the divestitures to settle charges that the takeover would reduce competition and result in higher prices for kidney dialysis in 66 localities.
