AMC to buy GC theaters under bankruptcy plan

NEW YORK >> AMC Entertainment Inc., the largest U.S. movie theater chain not in bankruptcy, yesterday said it plans to acquire smaller, bankrupt exhibitor GC Cos. Inc. for as much as $195 million to bolster its presence in the Northeast and Midwest.

The deal, which would be part of a reorganization plan to be filed under GC's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection case, comes as the movie theater business suffers from overexpansion. But as companies have petitioned to come out of bankruptcy, they have closed down theaters.

AMC, which has the highest revenue per screen of the movie chains, will be adding the company with the second-highest revenue per screen in its purchase of GC, said Stuart Linde, senior entertainment analyst at Lehman Brothers.

CNN cutting 3 shows, eliminating 30 jobs

Atlanta >> AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Cable News Network, the most-watched U.S. all-news cable-TV network, said it's canceling three of its shows and cutting about 30 jobs because of the move.

CNN is canceling the weekday shows "Burden of Proof" and "NewsSite" and the weekend show "Showbiz This Week," spokeswoman Christa Robinson said. About 10 on-air staffers and 20 other jobs will be eliminated.

"Burden of Proof" host Roger Cossack, "NewsSite" host Joie Chen and "Showbiz This Week" host Bill Tush will all lose their jobs, CNN spokesman Matthew Furman said.

Earlier this year, CNN cut about 400 jobs, or 9 percent of its staff, in a reorganization of its news operations.

Schwab closing brokerages in Australia, Japan

SAN FRANCISCO >> Citing weak market conditions, Charles Schwab Corp. announced yesterday it will close its brokerage businesses in Australia and Japan by the end of next month.

With the move, the San Francisco-based company will lay off all 87 employees in Australia and 40 workers in Japan, Schwab spokesman Glen Mathison said. Another 35 workers in Japan will be offered other jobs, Mathison said. Schwab will absorb a pretax charge of $35 million in the fourth quarter to pay for the cutbacks.

The streamlining continues a string of cost-cutting moves made by Schwab this year to offset a sharp drop in customer trading. Since the start of the year, Schwab has trimmed its work force by about 25 percent, or more than 5,000 employees.

Sun Country Air lays off nearly all 900 workers

MINNEAPOLIS >> Sun Country Airlines, a tiny privately held carrier, was due to lay off most of its 900 workers by midnight yesterday, as it suspends all scheduled flights beginning today, a spokeswoman said.

All jobs will be slashed except the handful involved in Saturday flights, and the six people required under the airline's certificate, said spokes- woman Tammy Lee.

On Thursday, the airline, which started as a charter company in 1983, said it would suspend all operations temporarily and go back to being a charter airline. Lee said a bankruptcy filing is an option, but the company is talking with a number of different investors.

In other news . . .

ATLANTA >> EarthLink Inc. said yesterday it has agreed to buy the assets of bankrupt OmniSky Corp. for $5 million, making the wireless services pro- vider the latest to fold under the pressure of heavy debt and a scant customer base. The deal calls for EarthLink to purchase the San Francisco-based OmniSky's 32,000 subscriber accounts, its application platform and other infrastructure needed to continue OmniSky's existing service.

LANHAM, Md. >> Lockheed Martin Corp., citing poor economic conditions in Latin America and an oversupply in the global telecommunications market, said yesterday it will get out of that industry, cutting 650 jobs and taking a $1.7 billion fourth-quarter charge.