THE MEDIA BUSINESS;Murdoch Plans News Channel
Date: 29 November 1995
By Bloomberg Business News
Bloomberg News
Rupert Murdoch said today that he planned to start a 24-hour all-news cable television network to compete with the Cable News Network. "It's about time CNN was challenged," Mr. Murdoch told 250 business executives at Boston College's Chief Executives Club.
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THE MEDIA BUSINESS;A 'Superlong Debt' Offering Is Said to Draw Little Interest
Date: 30 November 1995
By Stephanie Strom
Stephanie Strom
The recent boom in "superlong debt" -- 100-year and 50-year bonds -- may be short-lived. Yesterday, News America Finance Inc.'s offering of $600 million in 50-year bonds and $150 million in 100-year bonds was a hard sell for the lead underwriter, Goldman, Sachs & Company, and its co-managers, UBS Securities Inc., Citibank and First Chicago, according to analysts and bankers who follow the market for corporate debt.
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Paper to Pay $214,285 in Singapore Libel Case
Date: 29 November 1995
By William Glaberson
William Glaberson
The International Herald Tribune agreed on Monday to settle the last of three libel cases brought against it in Singapore courts because of two opinion articles that officials of the authoritarian Government said defamed them. In the settlement, the paper agreed to pay $214,285 to Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister, who has dominated the politics of the Southeast Asian city-state for 30 years, officials of the paper said.
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Paper Evicted From Office At City Hall
Date: 29 November 1995
By Neil MacFarquhar
Neil MacFarquhar
Editors at The Star-Ledger of Newark said today that they were ordered to vacate their City Hall office just hours after they warned city officials that they planned to go to court to obtain public documents that might be related to a Federal corruption investigation. Charles Cooper, managing editor of The Star-Ledger, said the eviction notice was slipped through the mail slot in the room the bureau occupies on the second floor of City Hall about 90 minutes after the newspaper's lawyers formally notified the administration of Mayor Sharpe James that it would go to court on Friday to obtain the papers. The eviction order takes effect on Friday.
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Eerie Liberal Hush? Blame the News Media
Date: 30 November 1995
To the Editor: "Liberal Urging Has Given Way to Eerie Hush" (front page, Nov. 24) points to the absence of progressive voices in policy debates.
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Corrections
Date: 30 November 1995
An article yesterday about a Singapore libel judgment against The International Herald Tribune misspelled the given name of one of the newspaper's co-chairmen. She is Katharine Graham, not Katherine.
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COMPANY NEWS
Date: 30 November 1995
MAF BANCORP IN DEAL TO BUY N. S. BANCORP MAF Bancorp Inc. said late yesterday that it had agreed to buy N. S. Bancorp Inc. in a stock and cash transaction valued at $277.2 million. The acquisition will give MAF Bancorp 20 branches in Chicago and its western suburbs, with about $3 billion in assets. MAF Bancorp, based in Clarendon Hills, Ill., is the parent company of Mid America Federal Savings Bank. N. S. Bancorp, based in Chicago, is the parent company of Northwestern Savings Bank. Under the agreement, each common share of N. S. Bancorp will be exchanged for 0.8466 common share of MAF Bancorp, plus $20.34 in cash. Based on yesterday's closing price of $26 a share for MAF Bancorp, the deal values N. S. Bancorp shares at $42.35 each, $6.10 above their closing price of $36.25. Both companies trade on the Nasdaq stock market. (Dow Jones)
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COMPANY NEWS;AN ADDITIONAL STOCK BUYBACK IS PLANNED BY I.B.M.
Date: 29 November 1995
Bloomberg Business News
Bloomberg News
I.B.M. said yesterday that it planned to buy back as much as another $2.5 billion worth of its common shares. The International Business Machines Corporation, which is based in Armonk, N.Y., authorized a $2.5 billion buyback on Jan. 31 and a further buyback of $2.5 billion on July 25. I.B.M. said it had bought back about $4.2 billion worth of its common stock this year. The computer giant's shares were up $1.25 yesterday, at $97.125, on the New York Stock Exchange.
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