Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Sunday, April 1, 2001
Coke to buy Philippines concern for $141 million
MANILA >> Coca-Cola Co. last week agreed to buy the non-liquor business of La Tondena Distillers Inc. of the Philippines for $141 million.Under the agreement, expected to close late this year, the Atlanta-based soft drink maker will pay $84 million for La Tondena's bottled water and juice brands. Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. will pay La Tondena about $57 million its bottling plant.
La Tondena President Enrique Gomez said the deal would enable La Tondena to concentrate on its liquor business, which accounts for 73 percent of the company's revenue.
Japan's industrial output up 0.4 percent
TOKYO >> Industrial production in Japan rose a smaller-than-expected 0.4 percent in February from the previous month, according to preliminary data released by the government on last week.The marginal rise in output at the nation's factories and mines followed a month-on-month drop of 4.2 percent in January, proof that Japan's long-awaited economic recovery has yet to materialize.
Industrial output in Japan has fallen in recent months as a slowdown in other industrial economies such as the United States reduces demand for Japanese exports.
The seasonally adjusted figures disappointed financial markets. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected production to rise 1.7 percent from January.
Closure of Jericho cripples tourism
JERICHO, West Bank >> Buses packed with tourists used to stream into this budding desert playground. But for the past six months, the main access road has been blocked by a fortress-like Israel military checkpoint that has kept out non-Palestinians and created unemployment.Last week, laid-off waiters, souvenir vendors and blackjack dealers protested against the Israeli security closure against the backdrop of an idle casino and a fish restaurant, both damaged by Israeli shells during six months of fighting.
Jericho Mayor Abdel Karim Sidr said about 10,000 people a day used to converge on the town, posing on camels, riding cable cars to a cliffside monastery or trying their luck at the Austrian-run Oasis Casino.
The fighting that has killed 435 people since September has deprived Jericho of some $12 million in tourist revenue, said Sami Mussalem, head of the local tourism committee.
Fugitive couple admit defrauding investors
TORONTO >> A Toronto couple pleaded guilty last week to defrauding investors in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement case.Ron and Loren Koval, both 51, disappeared in October when evidence against them began to surface. They hid in the United States, agreeing to turn themselves in when police threatened to arrest their daughter.
The Kovals were accused of using false lease agreements and other methods to embezzle up to $67 million as directors of a financial company and health center in Toronto.