Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Monday, October 25, 1999

Excite acquiring Blue Mountain Arts

BOULDER, Colo. -- Excite At Home Corp., the sixth most popular Web destination, is buying the Blue Mountain Arts electronic greeting card site in a $780 million deal that will greatly boost traffic to Excite and add a popular service to its Internet offerings.

Blue Mountain Arts Publishing Co.'s Web site, ranked No. 14 with 9.2 million visitors, features free electronic cards that users personalize and send by e-mail, among other services. Adding its traffic will lift Excite's network to No. 5 in the Web rankings, usurping that spot from Walt Disney Co.'s Go Network, according to the Media Metrix research firm. Under the deal announced today, Excite is paying $350 million in cash and issuing about $430 million in stock. The deal could include an additional payment of up to $270 million in Excite stock if holiday traffic to bluemountain.com is as strong as expected. The deal is expected to be completed by year's end. Boulder-based Blue Mountain was founded as an alternative greeting card company.

UPS shareholders OK public offering

ATLANTA -- United Parcel Service of America Inc. today said its shareholders approved allowing the world's largest package-delivery company to go ahead with an initial public stock sale that could be the largest ever in the United States.

Holders of more than 90 percent of the outstanding shares voted in favor of the plan at a special meeting in Wilmington, Del., the company said. The vote lets UPS proceed with the sale of 10 percent of its shares next month. UPS intends to sell 109.4 million Class B shares, or a 9.1 percent stake, for $36 to $42 each. At the higher figure, the sale would raise $4.6 billion, which is about the size of the Conoco Inc.'s October 1998 initial public offering, the current record.

In other news . . .

NEW YORK -- AT&T Corp., the largest U.S. telephone company, said third-quarter profit fell 15 percent as acquisition related expenses rose and revenue growth slowed due to falling long-distance prices.

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Of Mutual Concern

News for mutual fund investors

Janus Fund's leader to direct firm's research

Jim Craig, portfolio manager of Janus Capital Corp.'s flagship mutual fund, will relinquish his daily duties to become the fund company's director of research.

Craig, 43, will remain Janus' chief investment officer, but he no longer will manage the $31 billion Janus Fund. Craig became manager of the fund in 1987, when its assets totaled $377 million.

Thomas Bailey, Janus' chief executive officer, said Craig's focus would be to strengthen the investment management team by recruiting, training and mentoring analysts.

Blaine Rollins will replace Craig as the Janus Fund's manager in January. Rollins, 32, has been Craig's assistant on the fund. Rollins also has been portfolio manager of the Janus Balanced and Janus Equity Income funds. Succeeding Rollins as manager of those funds will be Karen Reidy, 32. Kansas City Southern Industries Inc. is the parent company of Denver-based Janus.

Munder Capital's parent shelves plan to sell unit

DETROIT -- Comerica Inc., Michigan's biggest bank, has shelved plans to sell its Munder Capital Management fund unit and plans to install a new chief executive there.

Comerica, which had sought to reduce the majority stake in the fund company it bought last year, named its former president Michael Monahan as interim chief executive of Munder earlier this month after Paul Tobias quit the company. "The first priority at this time" is to find a permanent chief executive, said Comerica spokeswoman Sharon McMurray. Plans have been put on hold to reduce Comerica's 88 percent interest in Munder Capital, McMurray said.

Munder Capital, which manages more than $52 billion in assets for institutions and individuals, is perhaps best-known for its $3 billion Munder NetNet Fund, which is up 54 percent this year, ranking in the top 1 percent of 5,638 stock funds tracked by Bloomberg Fund Performance.

Lee Munder, 53, chairman and founder of the 15-year-old firm, will continue to be involved, working two to three days a week, said a spokesman for Birmingham, Mich.-based Munder Capital.

Gold's rebound attracts fund managers' interest

LONDON -- Gold and the companies that mine it are attracting investors' interest, prompting some fund managers to create new products, after the metal ended a three-year slide with its biggest 10-day gain since 1982.

Magnum Global Investments Ltd., a Bahamas-based hedge fund, said last week it is starting the Goodwin Gold Fund to make money from both rising and falling gold stocks, mainly in South Africa, the world's largest gold producer. Nick Goodwin, of Fedsure Asset Management, will manage the new fund. A Sept. 26 announcement that 15 European central banks will limit sales and lending of their gold reserves sent gold up as much as a fifth from a 20-year low a month earlier.

Taiwan allows Citibank unit to start mutual fund

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Citibank Securities Investment Trust Co., a Taiwan money management venture, said it received permission to set up its first mutual fund. The Securities & Futures Commission approved the company's application to establish the Citibank Taiwan Heart Securities Investment Trust Fund. The creation of mutual funds is controlled in Taiwan, and authorization procedures can take months. Taiwan has 32 fund management companies running more than 130 funds.