Big events bring early Christmas to Waikiki

The Honolulu Marathon and other events temporarily boosted Waikiki's dwindling hotel occupancy to 80.6 percent on Saturday Dec. 8, the highest rate since Sept. 11, according to Joseph Toy of Hospitality Advisors.

Some 19,500 people from the United States, Japan and several countries ran during the Dec. 9 event, a lower turnout than recent years but better than some had feared.

Hotel rooms also gained from the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the 600 New York rescue workers and family members invited here by the local visitor industry, and the Dec. 8 University of Hawaii-Brigham Young University football game, Toy said.

No 2001 gains for Bishop Street Capital

Bishop Street Capital Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Hawaiian Bank, has announced it will not declare capital gain distributions in 2001.

The company operates the Bishop Street Equity Fund, Bishop Street Hawaii Municipal Bond Fund and the Bishop Street High Grade Income Fund.

Princess Cruises rejects offer from Carnival Corp.

LONDON >> P&O Princess Cruises rejected a takeover offer yesterday from the Carnival Corp., which is seeking to break up a merger between P&O Princess and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Carnival's two largest rivals.

Carnival had offered 3.2 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) in cash and stock for P&O.

P&O Princess, based in London, rejected Carnival's offer, saying there was a greater chance that regulators would block the deal on antitrust grounds and that it was inferior financially to the Royal Caribbean offer. P&O Princess agreed last month to a $2.9 billion deal to merge with the Miami-based Royal Caribbean.

Carnival's offer is conditional on the postponement by P&O Princess of an extraordinary general meeting at which investors would vote on the Royal Caribbean deal or on a recommendation by the board that shareholders reject the deal. Carnival, also based in Miami, said it would not proceed with its offer if P&O Princess shareholders approve the Royal Caribbean deal.

A date for the meeting has not been set.

Vivendi bids $10.3 billion for USA Network

PARIS >> Vivendi Universal is buying the entertainment assets of USA Networks Inc. in a $10.3 billion deal to improve distribution of the French media giant's music and movies in the United States.

The deal announced today is the latest chapter in Vivendi's remarkable transformation in just a few years from a water utility into a global media and entertainment powerhouse.

Under the deal, Vivendi will combine USA Networks' assets such as the USA and Sci-Fi cable channels and the TV production operation responsible for "Law and Order" and "Jerry Springer, with its own Hollywood-based Universal Studios.

Universal has a huge film catalogue and its Universal Studios last year produced hits like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Erin Brokovich."

For $10.3 billion in cash and stock, Vivendi will get a 93 percent stake in a new company that will be called Vivendi Universal Entertainment.

USA Networks' Barry Diller, the entertainment industry veteran who ran the Paramount movie studio in the 1970s and oversaw the launch of the Fox television network in the 1980s, will be chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal Entertainment. Vivendi acquired Universal from Canada's Seagram a year ago.