Byline: By richard siklos section: Section C; Column 5; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1 Length
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URL: http://www.nytimes.com SUBJECT: REAL ESTATE (96%); COMMERCIAL PROPERTY (91%); RENTAL PROPERTY (90%); TAKEOVERS (90%); POETRY (90%); COMMERCIAL RENTAL PROPERTY (90%); BUYINS & BUYOUTS (90%); OFFICE PROPERTY (90%); CONSTRUCTION (89%); FOOD INDUSTRY (89%); PRIVATE EQUITY (89%); LEVERAGED BUYOUTS (89%); REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (89%); MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS (89%); DIVESTITURES (79%); REAL ESTATE INVESTING (76%); REAL ESTATE AGENTS (76%); RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY (71%); PROPERTY VACANCIES (71%); INVESTMENT TRUSTS (67%); TRENDS (64%); RETAILERS (64%); HOSPITALS (50%); COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VACANCY RATES (76%) Office Buildings and Commercial Properties; Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures; Real Estate; Records and Achievements; Office Buildings and Commercial Properties; Prices (Fares, Fees and Rates); Renting and Leasing; Office Buildings and Commercial Properties; Office Buildings and Commercial Properties COMPANY: BLACKSTONE GROUP LP (85%); KRAFT NABISCO (58%); KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS & CO (50%) ORGANIZATION: Equity Office Properties Trust; Blackstone Group; Vornado Realty Trust TICKER: BX (NYSE) (85%) PERSON: STEVEN ROTH (91%); RICHARD D KINCAID (59%) Andrew Ross Sorkin; Terry Pristin; Stephen A Schwarzman; Steven Roth; Samuel Zell; Harry Macklowe; Jonathan D Gray; Richard D Kincaid GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (93%); ATLANTA, GA, USA (72%) NEW YORK, USA (93%); GEORGIA, USA (77%); CALIFORNIA, USA (76%) UNITED STATES (93%) New York City LOAD-DATE: February 8, 2007 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH GRAPHIC: Photos: Richard Kincaid, the chief of Equity Office Properties, announced the merger with Blackstone yesterday. Blackstone beat Vornado's offer. (Photo by Joe Tabacca for The New York Times) Jonathan D. Gray of Blackstone. (Photo by The Blackstone Group)(pg. C4)Chart: ''Battle for a Building Empire''Over the last month, the Blackstone Group and a group of investors led by Vornado have been bidding for America's biggest office landlord, Equity Office Properties Trust. Blackstone came out on top with an all-cash offer worth $39 billion.Graph shows EQUITY OFFICE STOCK PRICE from November 2006-February 2007.Vornado's bids were a mixture of cash and stock, which Equity Office said was a riskier proposal.Blackstone's bids were all-cash offers.Some Equity Office buildingsNEW YORK: Worldwide PlazaBOSTON: One Post OfficeATLANTA: Promenade IICHICAGO: Civic Opera BuildingSEATTLE: Columbia CenterSAN FRANCISCO: One MarketLOS ANGELES: Two California Plaza(Sources by Bloomberg Financial Markets Equity Office Properties)(pg. C4)Chart: ''Biggest One Yet''The top leveraged buyout deals announced, including debt.TARGET: 1. Equity Office PropertiesACQUIRER: Blackstone GroupVALUE IN BILLIONS: $39DEAL ANNOUNCED: Nov. '06TARGET: 2. HCAACQUIRER: Bain Capital Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Merrill Lynch Global Private EquityVALUE IN BILLIONS: 32DEAL ANNOUNCED: July '06TARGET: 3. RJR NabiscoACQUIRER: Kohlberg Kravis RobertsVALUE IN BILLIONS: 30DEAL ANNOUNCED: Oct. '88TARGET: 4. Kinder MorganACQUIRER: GS Capital Partners AIG
Carlyle Group Riverstone HoldingsVALUE IN BILLIONS: 27DEAL ANNOUNCED: May '06TARGET: 5. Harrah's EntertainmentACQUIRER: Apollo Management Texas Pacific GroupVALUE IN BILLIONS: 27DEAL ANNOUNCED: Oct. '06TARGET: 6. Clear Channel CommunicationsACQUIRER: Bain Capital Partners Thomas H. Lee PartnersVALUE IN BILLIONS: 27DEAL ANNOUNCED: Nov. '06TARGET: 7. Georgia-PacificACQUIRER: Koch Forest ProductsVALUE IN BILLIONS: 20DEAL ANNOUNCED: Nov. '05TARGET: 8. Freescale SemiconductorACQUIRER: Texas Pacific Group Blackstone Group Permira Beteiligungsberatung Carlyle GroupVALUE IN BILLIONS: 17DEAL ANNOUNCED: Sept. '06TARGET: 9. AlbertsonsACQUIRER: SuperValu CVS
Cerberus Capital ManagementVALUE IN BILLIONS: 17DEAL ANNOUNCED: Jan. '06TARGET: 10. Univision CommunicationsACQUIRER: Saban Capital Group Madison Dearborn Capital Providence Equity Partners: Texas Pacific Group Thomas H. Lee PartnersVALUE IN BILLIONS: 13DEAL ANNOUNCED: June '06(Source by Thomson Financial)(pg. C4) PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company 1159 of 1258 DOCUMENTS The New York Times
Late Edition - Final Keeping the Fruits of Research Close to Home BYLINE: By ROBERT SHAROFF SECTION: Section C; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk; Square Feet; Pg. 10 LENGTH: 1330 words DATELINE: ST. LOUIS In the late 1990s, Dr. William H. Danforth, chancellor emeritus of Washington University here, watched as a faculty member in the university's engineering department tried to market an innovative device -- a switch to speed transactions on the Internet -- that had emerged out of a research project. ''He tried for two years to get a company started in St. Louis and failed,'' said Dr. Danforth, the older brother of John C. Danforth, the former United States senator. Giving up, the faculty member then moved to San Francisco, where he quickly found financial backers, office and research space and other kinds of assistance. In less than a year, the company was sold to Cisco Systems for $350 million. That experience, Dr. Danforth said, convinced him that something needed to be done to reorient the business climate in his native city. ''We have great research here,'' he said, ''but we have not done so well with the commercialization of that science.'' In 2001, Dr. Danforth -- along with a number of other business and civic leaders -- founded the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, a nonprofit group. The goal was to jump-start St. Louis's nascent biotechnology industry by providing both new and mature companies with increased access to financing and up-to-date facilities. Dr. Danforth, a cardiologist, says that St. Louis is better positioned than many cities to capitalize on biotech because of the number of universities and other institutions in the area. The city also has a number of research sites run by large agricultural and pharmaceutical companies, like Monsanto and Pfizer. Over the last six years, the coalition has had some notable successes. On the financial side, the amount of biotech venture capital funds either invested or managed in St. Louis has climbed to $556 million. ''We've gone from virtually nothing to having structured investments and investors in place,'' said Robert T. Fraley, chief technology officer of Monsanto and a member of the coalition. Probably the most visible outgrowth of this effort, however, is the Center of Research, Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange. Known as Cortex, it is a 250-acre office and research district in a blighted neighborhood just west of downtown. The district is controlled by a nonprofit consortium formed by Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis University, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the Missouri Botanical Garden, which are all within a few miles of the area. They all also conduct research in the area of life sciences. ''The idea has evolved,'' said John P. Dubinsky, a banker and civic leader who functions as the unpaid chairman of the consortium's board. ''The original goal was to build the biotech industry in St. Louis by providing facilities for emerging companies. But as we got into it, we became intrigued with the idea of marrying that goal to a massive neighborhood redevelopment project.'' The neighborhood -- which has irregular boundaries and zigzags around various residential areas -- was once one of the city's main manufacturing and distribution districts. Today, however, Mr. Dubinsky estimates that ''10 percent of the buildings are empty, and 80 percent are either way underutilized or partially occupied.'' The consortium currently owns 30 acres of the site and is negotiating for another 10 acres. It also has development rights for about three-quarters of the district. The city is offering various financial incentives, like tax abatement, to companies that relocate to the area. The mayor of St. Louis, Francis G. Slay, says the project has the potential to reshape the city's economy. ''The idea is to pull all of these assets and institutions together and create an environment that will be attractive for biotech and life science development and will also revitalize the city and create jobs,'' he said. ''We were the fourth-largest city in America in 1910. In 2000, we were the 52nd largest. We need to create opportunities for investment in the city. Otherwise, people just won't do it.'' Cortex remained more of a concept than a reality until two years ago when Mr. Dubinsky learned that Stereotaxis, a medical device company housed in a nearby incubator facility, was looking to relocate. The prospect that the company, an example of the kind of firm Cortex was seeking to attract, might leave the city galvanized the consortium into undertaking its first development project: a 165,000-square-foot speculative office and research building on Forest Park Boulevard. Completed in late 2005, the sleek, futuristic-looking building cost $36 million and was designed by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, an architectural firm based in St. Louis. ''We cobbled the thing together,'' said Lewis A. Levey, president of development for Cortex. ''When we started, we didn't have site control, zoning, financing or complete plans. We built it in record time.'' The building, which Cortex owns, currently is 80 percent leased to two tenants, Stereotaxis and the Center for Applied Nanomedicine, a division of the Washington University School of Medicine. James M. Stolze, chief financial officer of Stereotaxis, said the building had worked out well. ''From our perspective, this was an ideal package: a building that was designed around our needs,'' he said. ''That's hard to find.'' Mr. Stolze added that biotech office space in St. Louis was generally in short supply. ''There really isn't that much to look at,'' he said. ''The two buildings we considered in addition to Cortex were both turn-of-the-century warehouses that were going to be rehabbed.'' Looking ahead, Mr. Dubinsky said the goal was to complete 1.5 million square feet of new office and research space in the district over the next five years. He also said the consortium would undertake significant street and infrastructure improvements in the area, including a new station of the St. Louis light-rail system. ''Our goal is to be the enablers,'' he said. ''We want to attract private developers by making it easy for them to come in here in terms of helping them find money and tenants and also to help them deal with the political issues.'' Late last summer, Cortex turned a significant corner when a private developer broke ground on a second building steps away from the first. The new building is expected to be 160,000 square feet and is budgeted to cost about $60 million. The developer is Robert G. Clark, the chairman and chief executive of Clayco, a local firm that specializes in structures for corporations and institutions. Mr. Clark says the opportunity represented by Cortex ''makes my eyes widen.'' ''Both Washington University and St. Louis University are major research hubs, and Cortex is located between them. We're definitely not taking a loss on this.'' Nevertheless, he says that ''it was a challenge to raise capital.'' ''We had to get financial partners to really understand Cortex and the people who are there and believe in what the area is going to be.'' The new building, which is scheduled to be finished in 2008, will be occupied by the Solae Company, a soy-based food additives company. Tony L. Arnold, president and chief executive of Solae, said the opportunity to be part of the emerging research park was an important consideration in the company's decision to move. ''We needed a location where we could combine an office and research facility with a small manufacturing operation,'' he said. ''Cortex allows us to do that while at the same time being in a location where it seems like there's going to be a substantial investment made by the city.'' Another factor, he added, was the opportunity to be part of a cluster of high-tech businesses. ''Being in an area where science and innovation are happening is important to us,'' he said. ''Our business model depends on having access to scientists and to knowledge centers like Washington University.''
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company 1160 of 1258 DOCUMENTS The New York Times
Late Edition - Final M. Lamar Muse, 86; Led Southwest Airlines BYLINE: By MATTHEW L. WALD SECTION: Section A; Column 4; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 16 LENGTH: 623 words M. Lamar Muse, the first president of Southwest Airlines and a pioneer of airline deregulation, died Monday in Dallas. He was 86. His family announced his death. He told friends in an e-mail message recently that he had ''fast growth cancer.'' Mr. Muse became president of Southwest in January 1971, when he was already a veteran of important jobs at American Airlines and four other carriers. He took the Southwest job when the airline had no planes, tens of thousands of dollars of debt and about $100 in the bank. He negotiated a purchase of three 737s from Boeing, and Southwest began flights serving Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. At the time, interstate carriers were tightly regulated by the federal government, but Southwest, operating entirely within Texas, was free to innovate. Mr. Muse cut the established fare of $26 between Dallas and San Antonio by half. He also gave travelers the option of paying $26 and getting a free fifth of whiskey. Soon the planes carried an average of 75 people, up from an average of 17, winning passengers from Braniff International and Texas International, and making Southwest profitable. Operating from Love Field in Dallas, the airline adopted the slogan ''The Somebody Else Up There Who Loves You.'' It expanded on the ''love'' theme by hiring what The New York Times described in 1971 as ''the most shapely girls in the air'' to be ''hostesses,'' now known as flight attendants. They wore tangerine hot pants and were encouraged to be friendly. According to a biography distributed by Mr. Muse's children on Tuesday, the pants were designed by his first wife, Juanice Gunn Muse. The airline also sold drinks cheaply. Offering just peanuts was an early practice, at a time when other airlines still served food. ''We're going to be a fun airline,'' Mr. Muse said in describing his fledgling company, which now carries more passengers than any other American airline. Mr. Muse was master of the gimmick. When Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport installed machines in the terminal that gave travelers change for dollar bills, but returned only 95 cents, Mr. Muse installed machines at Love Field, Southwest's base, that gave $1.05. He also developed Southwest's employee stock plan, which made millionaires of many of the company's early employees. Mr. Muse left Southwest in 1978; accounts differ as to why. According to his family, it was in a dispute over whether to expand service to Chicago. In 1980, Mr. Muse's son, Michael L. Muse, founded Muse Air, and the senior Mr. Muse came out of retirement to help run it. The airline jostled with Southwest; at one point, Muse Air said it would start service to Little Rock, Ark., but Southwest bought up the available airport facilities there, and offered a $10 fare. Muse dropped its plan. Muse Air was also notable for banning smoking, long before that became a federal requirement. The airline was bought by Southwest in 1985. In 1978 Mr. Muse testified before Congress in favor of airline deregulation. Marion Lamar Muse, who was born in Houston on June 4, 1920. In World War II, he served in the Army with the Corps of Engineers in northern France from 1943-45. Before and after the war, he worked as a certified public accountant. He entered the airline business in 1948, joining Trans Texas Airways, later known as Texas International. After the death of Juanice Muse in 1974, Mr. Muse married Barbara Deese Muse, who survives him. Other survivors are his son, Michael, and daughters, Diane Muse Kinnan and Deborah Ann Muse, both of Dallas, and Lisa Muse of Liberty Hill, Tex.; a sister, Marian Thompson of Palestine, Tex.; three grandchildren; one great-grandchild; two stepdaughters; and two stepgrandchildren.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company 1161 of 1258 DOCUMENTS The New York Times
Late Edition - Final From Lead Percussionist To Different Drummer BYLINE: By DANIEL J. WAKIN SECTION: Section E; Column 1; The Arts/Cultural Desk; Pg. 1 LENGTH: 1224 words DATELINE: CHICAGO As the principal percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ted Atkatz had reached a pinnacle in his profession. He had tenure in one of the world's great musical institutions, with a fat salary and benefits. Stagehands set up his battery of instruments. Touring meant luxury hotels and per diems. And he had, just as precious, the respect of the percussion world, a singularly obsessive group of musicians who play the triangle, the bass drum and everything between. But in May, Mr. Atkatz pulled a modern-day Don Quixote. He quit his job to devote himself full time to his alternative rock band. He now plays in joints across the Midwest, sometimes performing for the bartender or, on a good night, several hundred people. Orchestra Hall? Carnegie Hall? The Musikverein in Vienna? Forget it. Try the Mousetrap in Eau Claire, Wis., or Beaner's Central in Duluth, Minn. Mr. Atkatz says he doesn't regret his decision. ''I wanted to make sure that every time I played, I wanted to be passionate about it,'' he said. ''Based on that criterion, it was a no-brainer.'' The highway between classical music and pop is well traveled. Pop musicians like Frank Zappa, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello have made forays into the classical arena, often to a less-than-friendly reaction from critics. And many classical musicians play pop or jazz on the side. But it is rare for an orchestra musician to abandon the classical realm for a career in rock. It is even rarer for someone of Mr. Atkatz's stature to do so. Principal jobs like his seldom come up, and more often than not members of an orchestra like the Chicago Symphony stay on for decades. ''The people who don't know him personally probably think he's insane,'' said Brant Taylor, a Chicago Symphony cellist. Indeed, these days Mr. Atkatz has become his own stagehand, lugging keyboards and guitars into clubs, where the intermission drink of choice comes from a tap, not a Champagne bottle, and where the fragrance is stale Coors, not Chanel. Sometimes his nightly take barely covers gas and meals. Instead of fancy hotels, the band's red minivan is where he often sleeps. He survives on money from teaching percussion. His income is about $45,000 a year, less than a third of what he used to earn. The band is called NYCO, an acronym based on ''New York,'' where Mr. Atkatz is from, and ''Colorado,'' the home of a co-founder. It is one of thousands of little-known groups vying for recognition from risk-averse labels, corporate-owned radio stations, tightwad club owners and listeners in a world of fewer and fewer record stores. Mr. Atkatz is a slight man with a patchy beard, modestly shaggy hair and an open, mellow air. He does not like to discuss his age in a youth-obsessed industry, but he looks to be in his 20s -- a decade younger than the reality. He is well aware of the difficulties ahead, admitting: ''There's always some doubt that creeps in: 'Is this long shot really possible? Can I make the N.F.L.?' Those are the kind of odds that you are up against.'' His first album, mysteriously named ''Two'' (it's about relationships, often troubled ones), has received modest play on local radio stations and some reviews. ''This is some seriously well-crafted rock music,'' Chicago Social Magazine wrote. It has sold about 1,800 CDs (many in clubs after shows), and Mr. Atkatz counts 3,400 individual downloads. The songs are all original, with Mr. Atkatz, who sings and plays keyboard, as writer or co-writer. He is at work on a second album, which he hopes to release in April. Mr. Atkatz has key friends helping out. Jon Seymour, an Internet entrepreneur with a Web advertising and local search site, fave.com, helps with marketing. Carlos Segura, a former neighbor and prominent graphic designer, has lent a hand with logos and album production. The veteran producer Jim Tullio, who worked with the Band, Mavis Staples and Aretha Franklin and whose albums have twice won Grammys, said he took on Mr. Atkatz after listening to a demo tape sent out of the blue. ''I loved the music,'' he said. During a typical day in late January, Mr. Atkatz met with Mr. Segura and later a fave.com producer to discuss ideas for a music video to post on the site. Next up was a rehearsal at a North Side studio, followed by a drive to Winnetka, Ill., for a mixing session with Mr. Tullio. At the rehearsal, Mr. Atkatz sat at the keyboard. He sang, often in falsetto, with his lips nearly touching the microphone. His head rocked back and forth atop his hunched shoulders. He yelled out instructions -- ''D sharp!'' -- and asked his bandmates to ''rock out more'' at one point. He gave frequent encouragement -- ''Awesome!'' -- and had a firm grasp of what he wanted but was open to ideas. ''I'm cool with that,'' Mr. Atkatz said about a proposed guitar solo. Mr. Atkatz's decision to walk away from the Chicago Symphony shocked some colleagues, particularly the old-timers ''who hold on to the orchestra as if it's their lifeblood,'' Mr. Atkatz said. ''They're looking at me like I've committed adultery.'' One longtime member even stopped speaking to him, he added. But others cheered him on, including Daniel Barenboim, then the music director. Many fellow players admired him for such a gutsy move. ''He made the only choice he really could make,'' said Mr. Taylor, the cellist. ''He probably always would have regretted it if he said, 'I'll forget the band and do the orchestra because it's the safe way to do it.' That's not his M.O., to do it the safe way.'' Jim Ross, another percussionist in the orchestra and a good friend, said he missed Mr. Atkatz's mischievous streak. Once, during a rehearsal of Ravel's ''Bolero,'' Mr. Barenboim came over to the snare drum and began tapping out the solo with his finger. Mr. Ross said, ''Ted runs up to the podium and starts conducting the orchestra.'' (''Bolero'' was Mr. Atkatz's last Chicago Symphony performance, at the Ravinia festival last summer.) In truth, classical music was not Mr. Atkatz's first love. Growing up in Fresh Meadows, Queens, he studied drumming at a community music school, where his teacher began slipping in orchestral excerpts. He played in his first rock band in sixth grade. He grew serious about percussion at the Manhattan School of Music preparatory division, graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo High School and received a music degree from Boston University. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and began taking auditions seriously. In 1997 he won a job in the Chicago Symphony percussion section, moving up to principal three years later. All through his college and graduate years, he played in bands. At the symphony he found a fellow traveler, Robert Kassinger, a bass player and active jazz musician. They formed NYCO and worked on the first album. Soon, Mr. Atkatz said, the sense of routine clock-punching that afflicts many orchestra players began creeping in. ''It's easy to lose sight of the big picture of what music is about,'' he said. ''It's kind of liberating to escape from that world.'' Mr. Atkatz said he was approaching his new career in the same spirit that won him his Chicago job: performing with utter conviction, as if he belonged. ''Something is going to happen,'' he said. ''I actually think the music is going to reach people.'' Directory: ~hesterj -> Entrepreneur Entrepreneur -> Byline: By armand limnande section: Section mm; Column 0; T: Men's Fashion Magazine; Pg. 76 Length Download 4.36 Mb. 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