Viacom announced plans yesterday to purchase the
"chunk" of Infinity Broadcasting "it doesn't already own for
about" $15B in stock and take the company private again,
according to Jill Goldsmith of DAILY VARIETY. Viacom is
offering Infinity shareholders 0.546 of a Viacom share for
each Infinity share they own, which, based on Viacom's $71
closing price Monday, is about $40.04 per share (DAILY
VARIETY, 8/16)....In L.A., Leslie Earnest wrote that
sportswear designer Mossimo said Monday that it "may need
additional funds to stay in business, as it "may have
trouble collecting money that it is owed by retailers" and
"faces potential liabilities" of $3.5M to related to
"markdown reimbursements" claimed by two retail customers.
The compamy said that it "will contest" the retailers'
claims (L.A. TIMES, 8/15)....MA-based Converse announced a
net loss of $4.7M for 2Q 2000, compared to a $5.6M loss in
2Q '99. Converse's net revenue for 2Q 2000 was $56.5M, down
3% from $58.3M in the comparable quarter last year. The
company's net revenue increased by 19.8% in the U.S. to $40M
in 2Q 2000, compared to $33.4M for 2Q '99, while int'l net
revenue decreased in 2Q 2000 by 33.7%, from $24.9M in 2Q '99
to $16.5M. Converse's earnings from operations were $2.2M
for the quarter, compared to $0.7M in '99 (Converse).
