| Fresh off New Orleans meeting, Disney execs to build playground
Along with news about its first black princess and return to hand-drawn animation, the Walt Disney Co. last week told shareholders gathered in New Orleans that its executives would be back in Louisiana next month to lend a helping hand. Fifty execs will build a playground, refurbish a basketball court and donate sports equipment to the Slidell Boys & Girls Club, which was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The announcement was made during the company's annual shareholders meeting. The company said it has donated more than $3 million to Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts, including $1 million to rebuild 16 Boys & Girls Clubs that were destroyed. Disney chief executive Robert Iger told shareholders that the company decided to hold the meeting in New Orleans to show support for the city.
Retail News Roundup: Week of March 26 - March 30
CoStar News is expanding its retail real estate coverage under the direction of Senior Editor Sasha Pardy to bring you a weekly feature covering the gamut of retailer expansion plans, new store openings and closings, shopping center trends, and current deals in the works. Among the news items reported this week, we provide updates on Apollo's acquisition of Claire's Stores; the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger; Tiffany's targeting Natick; expansion plans for Dick's Sporting Goods, Muvico Theaters, Meijers, Cheesecake Factory and Roosters; and Hancock Fabrics' plans to shutter 104 of its stores. MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Another Private Equity Buyout: Claire's Stores Pembroke Pines, FL-based Claire's Stores, the teen jewelry and accessories retail chain we see in almost every mall across America, announced an agreement to be acquired by New York-based Apollo Management, the huge private equity firm whose retail portfolio also includes AMC Theatres, Linens-N-Things, and Jacuzzi Brands.
Disney clears executives in Pixar probe
Walt Disney Co. cleared Pixar's Steve Jobs of wrongdoing after a probe revealed his animated-movie studio backdated stock-options grants before selling itself to Disney. No one currently associated with Disney "engaged in any intentional or deliberate acts of misconduct," Chairman John Pepper said Friday. Jobs became a director of Disney after the $8.06 billion transaction last May. Jobs did not receive the options grants. They were given to John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and other executives. Lasseter and Catmull took on important roles at Disney after the acquisition. Disney's statement absolved Jobs less than three months after Apple Inc. did the same in a probe of its own options grants.
Wal-mart drops bank plans
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. scrapped plans to open its own bank, ending a two-year controversy that roiled financial-services companies that feared direct competition from the world's largest retailer.
Finance Chiefs To Survey Robust World Economy
Global financial chiefs gather in Washington this week to take stock of a world economy that appears to be shrugging off a housing-led slowdown in the United States. However, currency rates will again stoke debate among finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven nations, who meet Friday ahead of the annual spring gathering of the IMF and World Bank at the weekend. "Discussion on exchange rates is likely to include the yen, the dollar, the euro and the (Chinese) yuan," Japanese Finance Minister Koji Omi said last Friday. But the G7 industrialized nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- "will not particularly focus on the yen" at their meeting, Omi told reporters in Tokyo. The G7 ministers opted for a relatively soft line on the sliding Japanese yen at their February meeting in Germany despite European concerns about the currency's weakness, which is hurting eurozone exporters.
Evans promoted
Danny Williams, Chief Executive Officer of First National Bank and Trust recently announced that Janet Evans was promoted to Assistant Vice President. Evans currently serves as a Trust Officer and manages the investment portfolios for all trust accounts. Evans is a native of Mountain Home and has been employed at First National Bank and Trust for nine years. Evans graduated from Arkansas State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and is a graduate of the Cannon Financial Institute. .
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