Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Wednesday, March 22, 2000

Krispy Kreme wants Wall Street dough

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The initial public offering by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Corp. has been tentatively scheduled for the week of April 3.

The period set for the IPO could change, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, one of the underwriters, said yesterday.

Krispy Kreme, which was founded in Winston-Salem in 1937, plans to issue 3 million common shares priced between $18 and $20 each and has applied for a listing on the Nasdaq under the stock symbol, KREM. The company hopes to raise about $51.8 million after expenses, which it said will be used mainly to repay debt and finance store expansion.

Danny Freeman, a financial adviser in Winston-Salem for Raymond James Financial Services Inc., said it would be tough for small investors to buy the stock at the opening price since most will go to large investors.

Airline threatens to stop flights

SPRINGFIELD, Va. -- Some travel agents have stopped booking tickets on US Airways for this weekend because of the airline's threat to shut down if flight attendants strike on certain routes.

"Until the situation clears up, I'm not booking US Airways," said Malal Nezam, manager of Advance Travel in Fairfax.

Customers of Alpha Travel Network in Fairfax are being told it's a bad idea to book flights on US Airways this weekend, although the agency has continued to sell tickets for flights in later weeks, manager Mazen Kassem said. Negotiators for the nation's sixth-largest airline and the Association of Flight Attendants met again yesterday, hoping to reach an agreement before the strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. EST Saturday. That deadline follows a 30-day cooling-off period called for by the federal National Mediation Board.

In other news . . .

ATLANTA -- Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. retailer of home-improvement supplies, proposed doubling the number of shares it can issue to make room for stock splits, stock dividends and other financial needs.