Copyright 2000 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago
Sun-Times
June 17, 2000, SATURDAY, Late
Sports Final Edition
SECTION:
FINANCIAL; BREAKFAST BRIEFING; WEEKEND; Pg. 32
LENGTH: 566 words
BODY:
Bell Atlantic-GTE merger OKd
Federal regulators gave their blessing
Friday to the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE Corp., a union that transforms one
of the offspring of the old Bell system into the nation's largest local phone
company and wireless provider. The approval lets the companies complete a deal
announced almost two years ago and launch a combined business under the new name
Verizon Communications. It also brings them closer to their vision of offering a
bundle of telecommunications services -- local, long-distance,
wireless and data -- from one source. The Federal Communications
Commission signed off on the deal after accepting the companies' plan to
partially spin off GTE's long-distance assets in areas where Bell Atlantic by
law cannot yet offer that service. Old Kent buying Home Bancorp
Old Kent
Financial Corp., which operates banks in Chicago and the Midwest, agreed to buy
Home Bancorp for $ 39 million in stock to expand in the Fort Wayne, Ind., area.
Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Old Kent will pay about 1.3 million shares for Home
Bancorp, parent of Home Loan Bank FSB. This will be Old Kent's fifth purchase of
a Midwestern bank in two years. Home Bancorp, which had $ 403 million in assets
on March 31, has 10 Home Loan Bank branches.
Illinois joins airline
merger probe Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan joined at least 19 other state
attorneys general examining the proposed merger of United Airlines and
US Airways amid growing fear that the combined carrier would raise
fares and reduce service. Highest concern is coming from New York, Pennsylvania
and Connecticut, where the newly merged airline would dominate.
Grill on
the Alley opens here
Grill Concepts Inc. Friday announced the opening of
the Grill on the Alley restaurant at the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel at
Michigan and Delaware. It's the Los Angeles-based company's first entry into the
Midwest.
Spanish exchange joins Globex
Spain's futures and
options exchange, where Spanish stock and bond futures are traded, will become
the sixth exchange to join the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's interconnected
electronic trading network. Officials from MEFF, the Spanish derivatives market,
joined with their new partners in Paris in a ceremony sealing MEFF's entry into
the network, known as Globex.
Conseco credit rating slips
Shares
of insurance company Conseco Inc. fell more than 8 percent on Friday, following
news on Thursday that the target date for a potential sale of its finance
division had passed without an agreement. With help from New York investment
bank Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., Carmel, Ind.-based Conseco will continue to
look for a buyer, sources at the companies said. Conseco shares slumped 56.3
cents, or 8.6 percent, to finish at $ 6 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Acquisition talk hikes TWA shares
Trans World Airlines Inc.
shares rose 12 percent after the eighth-largest U.S. carrier held talks about a
possible acquisition by low-fare airline AirTran Holdings Inc. The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution and the Wall Street Journal reported the talks Friday.
AirTran declined to discuss specifics but said it "has held conversations with
other airlines about various forms of cooperation." TWA spokesman Mark Abels
said, "We have no story to talk about," adding that the airline talks to other
carriers continuously about marketing arrangements.
LOAD-DATE: June 21, 2000 
