Associated Press | The private equity firm that owns Dave &
Buster’s is selling the restaurant and arcade chain to another firm in
a deal worth $570 million. The deal was announced Monday by seller
Wellspring Capital Management, new owner Oak Hill Capital Partners and
the restaurant chain.
Filed under: Entertainment
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Dave & Busters to be sold for $570M
Brunswick’s losses narrow in first quarter
From Reuters | Brunswick Corp. reports that first-quarter losses narrowed from a year earlier, to $13 million, or 15 cents a share, from $184.2 million, or $2.08 a diluted share. Sales rose 15 percent, to $844.4 million.
The maker of boats and other recreational products is optimistic that weakness in those sectors will not be as bad as forecast this year. Its stock was surging 20 percent in midday New York Stock Exchange trading.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
Spirited earnings gains for Fortune Brands
Fortune Brands, which includes Titleist among its holdings, broke par with first-quarter earnings. (Tribune file photo)
Dow Jones Newswires | Fortune Brands Inc.’s first-quarter profit
surged as sales grew on better-than-expected results at each of the
company’s brand groups.
The maker of Jim Beam whiskey, Moen Faucets and Titleist golf clubs on
Tuesday attributed the strong results to market-share gains, improving
consumer markets and channel partners’ move to rebuild inventories. The
company also lifted the bottom end of its full-year earnings target,
citing its high-return investment strategy and the stronger U.S. dollar.
Still, concerns remain about how the expiration of U.S. government
stimulus spending will affect demand for home products.
Bondholders agree on Six Flags reorganization
Associated Press | Bondholders who have been fighting over
control of Six Flags have agreed on a revised bankruptcy reorganization
plan for the theme park operator. Under the agreement announced
Wednesday, holders of junior notes issued by holding company Six Flags
Inc. will assume control of the New York company.
Redbox makes deals with Fox and Universal
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
By Julie Wernau | Redbox ended its fight with Hollywood Thursday, announcing it had struck deals with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Studios Home Entertainment that will allow $1 per night video rentals and multi-million dollar movie budgets to coexist. As part of the agreements, Redbox agreed to wait 28 days after the movies are released to DVD before placing the discs in their rental kiosks.
Redbox has been embroiled in legal battles with the studios since October 2008, when it filed its first suit against Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
April 22, 2010 at 1:18 p.m.
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Filed under: Computers, Entertainment, Internet, Technology Google opens YouTube rental store
Dow Jones Newswires | Google Inc.’s YouTube on Thursday opened a
video rental store, the company’s latest step in its effort to
transform the popular video Web site into a profitable business.
The rental store features a variety of independent movies, Bollywood
content and television episodes. Rentals cost 99 cents to $3.99, with
fees paid through Google Check-out. Customers can view their rentals for
48 hours.
P&G, Oprah Winfrey Network sign media deal
From Reuters | Procter & Gamble
Co. announced that it has signed a multiyear advertising deal with OWN:
The Oprah Winfrey Network. The Wall Street Journal reported the story
first, citing sources who said it was a three-year deal valued at more
than $25 million annually.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
City puts ‘Chicago’ back in the Taste
Jonathan Ashton of Oak Park has a beef combination sandwich from Buona Restaurant at the 2009 Taste of Chicago. Buona Restaurants is based in Berwyn and was one of the vendors eliminated this year. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
By Kathy Bergen | Taste of Chicago, the city’s annual chowfest in Grant Park, is returning
to its original mission of promoting only the city’s restaurants.
A handful of suburban-based vendors without restaurants in the city are being asked to exit this year, Megan McDonald, executive director of Chicago’s Office of Special Events, confirmed Friday. The step was first reported in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Movie futures get partial O.K. from CFTC
By Greg Burns | Faced with objections from heavy-hitters in the motion-picture industry,
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday approved
contract-market designation for Media Derivatives, Inc., a startup
exchange seeking to trade movie box-office receipts.
But it stopped short of giving an O.K. for the trading of the
organization’s planned futures and options on the movie biz.
Conan O’Brien is joining TBS
By Phil Rosenthal | Conan O’Brien’s new program will be seen at 10 p.m. here in Chicago, bumping George Lopez’ talk show to 11 p.m. on the Time Warner-owned basic cable channel. The new O’Brien show is expected to make its debut in November, it was announced Monday.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker
Midwest Gaming, Clairvest financing deal completed
From The Wall Street Journal | Clairvest Group has closed a $72 million investment in Midwest Gaming Holdings LLC, which is
building a casino and entertainment complex in Des Plaines, Ill., slated to open in 2011.
Midwest has closed on $295 million in debt financing and purchased the
land for the project. The financing package and construction project got
state regulatory approval on March 30, and Midwest paid $47.5 million
as a down-payment on a casino license.
Get the full story: wsj.com.
Movie futures: Congress may oppose ventures
By Greg Burns | Two competing ventures seeking regulatory approval for movie futures have run into opposition from Congress likely to delay a decision from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The idea of trading contracts on the box-office receipts of major motion pictures has languished for months before regulators.
Superman debut comic book sells for $1.5 million
Associated Press | The record price for a comic book, broken
twice this year, has fallen again. A copy of the 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1 sold Monday for $1.5
million on the auction Web site ComicConnect.com.
The issue features
Superman’s debut and is widely considered the Holy Grail of comic books. The same issue sold in February for $1 million. That number was quickly
bested when a 1939 comic book featuring Batman’s debut sold for $1
million and change.
The issue that sold Monday was bought from a private collector and then
sold by Stephen Fishler and Vincent Zurzolo, the co-owners of ComicConnect.com.
Fishler declined to name the buyer but said he
was “a hardcore comic book fan.”
Movie prices rise at suburban Chicago theaters
By Alejandra Cancino
| Dinner and a movie? With higher ticket prices hitting box-offices around
the country Friday, Chicago residents may want to skip dinner to pay
for the movie.
Movie theaters in the city itself aren’t affected
by the price changes yet — the Navy Pier Imax Theater, for instance,
will continue to keep its adult ticket prices at $15 for 3-D showings,
and charge $11 for traditional movies. But suburban theaters are already
showing Friday’s price changes.
Roeper to join Roe Conn show as co-host
By Phil Rosenthal
| One would think four free hours every weekday in Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper’s schedule would be as hard to come by as unobtainium, the fictional mineral in the movie “Avatar.”
But Citadel Broadcasting’s WLS-AM 890 apparently has struck the mother lode, signing Roeper (pictured right) to a two-year deal as co-host of Roe Conn’s 2-to-6 p.m. Monday-through-Friday program, beginning April 12.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker.
