Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, March 11, 1998
Kauai firm to lay off 35 workers
LIHUE - Grove Farm Co. has notified another 35 employees they will be laid off, bringing the total number of company layoffs this year to 58.In mid-January the company gave 23 landscape, security and administrative workers 60 days layoff notice which takes effect March 16, said Allan Smith, vice president and chief operation officer of Grove Farm.
The company, which owns Kukui Grove Shopping Center, will outsource security work to Royal Guard Security and landscaping and maintenance to Kauai Nursery and Landscaping.
The 35 employees who run the company's Halfway Bridge and Mahaulepu basalt and limestone quarries will be laid off April 1 when Grove Farm turns over its rock quarry operations to Jas. W. Glover Ltd., a statewide general contractor that sells concrete and rock products on the Big Island.
Smith said the new quarry operator has the ability to make capital improvements for a more efficient operation.
Grove Farm has owned the quarries since the 1930's.
Smith said the company is urging the new firms to hire former Grove Farm employees. The layoffs represent more than half of the company's 102 employees.
Diller proposes deal to get Ticketmaster
LOS ANGELES - Barry Diller has proposed a $400 million stock swap between his USA Networks Inc. and Ticketmaster Group Inc. to complete his purchase of the national ticket outlet company.Ticketmaster's board has accepted the offer but shareholders of USA Networks still must approve it, the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based media and electronic commerce company said yesterday.
Diller's offer of $340 million for Ticketmaster in October was rejected.
Diller, whose Home Shopping Network Inc. became USA Networks after acquiring the assets from Seagrams Co., purchased 50.1 percent of Ticketmaster's shares last May. He said he planned to buy the rest.
Ticketmaster, based in Los Angeles, has 3,000 outlets nationwide and sells tickets over the phone and through the Internet.
Delta Airlines buying 35% of AeroPeru
LIMA, Peru - Delta Airlines Inc. has bought 35 percent of AeroPeru and reached a 10-year agreement to share air routes with the Peruvian air carrier, AeroPeru officials said at a news conference yesterday.The two airlines will share all routes in the United States and Peru, allowing Delta to provide air service to cities across Peru, especially tourist destinations like the Incan capital of Cusco high in the Andes.
Delta is scheduled to start flights between its hub in Atlanta and Lima, Peru's capital, on July 1.
AeroPeru officials would not say how much Delta paid for the 35 percent stake.
Besides Delta's share, the Mexican company Cintra S.A. controls 35 percent of AeroPeru and the remaining 30 percent is divided between the Peruvian government, private shareholders and workers.