BURBANK POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY; SCORES FOUR; BANKS GIVE FIRM $200 MILLION COMMITMENT.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer Four Media Co., already on the prowl for deals to increase its size, has received major endorsements of its strategy to become the dominant player in the highly fragmented frag·ment n. 1. A small part broken off or detached. 2. An incomplete or isolated portion; a bit: overheard fragments of their conversation; extant fragments of an old manuscript. 3. industry of post-production. Four major banks - BankAmerica, Canadian Imperial Bank, Societe Generale and Union Bank - agreed this week to a $200 million commitment to Four Media, which has already completed eight acquisitions since its founding in 1993 by Chairman Robert Walston and Wall Street investor Michael Steinhardt Michael Steinhardt (born 1940) is an American businessman and was a one of the first prominent hedge fund managers. He founded Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Co. . Additionally, high-profile British fund Fleming Capital Management announced this week it will buy $15 million in preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. , convertible to common stock at $10 a share. That's a price well above the recent range of Four Media, which closed Thursday at $8.125, off 12.5 cents. ``The investment is a significant vote of confidence by a sophisticated investment group, and the banks have clearly made a significant commitment,'' Furman Selz analyst Stewart A. Halpern said Thursday. And in interviews this week with the Daily News and CNBC/Dow Jones Business Video in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Walston said the level of financing and quality of backers are unprecedented in the industry. ``This is a real breakthrough for the company,'' he said. ``These are the premier entertainment industry banks, and with this in place we can take advantage of obvious consolidation opportunities.'' The 15-minute interview Wednesday night on CNBC/Dow, formerly MSNBC MSNBC Microsoft/National Broadcasting Company Business Video, is expected to be available early next week through the site at www.cnbcdowjones.com. Specifically, Walston said, Four Media is likely to step up its pace of acquisitions and buy four or five more post-production concerns in the Los Angeles market within 12 months. It is also exploring starting operations in other world media centers such as New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and London. Walston said the company's basic strategy remains the same: Offer studios and other major producers a ``one-stop shop'' to handle the myriad Myriad is a classical Greek name for the number 104 = 10 000. In modern English the word refers to an unspecified large quantity. The term myriad is a progression in the commonly used system of describing numbers using tens and hundreds. of complex feats required to move programming into homes and theaters without any glitches. In its first four years, Four Media spent more than $70 million on infrastructure, most of it on high-powered digital equipment at its Burbank headquarters for editing, mixing, language translation and conversion to technical standards used in overseas markets. ``Our customer base is increasingly looking at outsourcing (1) Contracting with outside consultants, software houses or service bureaus to perform systems analysis, programming and datacenter operations. Contrast with insourcing. See netsourcing, ASP, SSP and facilities management. ,'' Walston said. ``We can go to a studio and propose a global solution.'' He contends the approach makes sense because the post-production world is still largely composed of hundreds of small, independently owned operations at a time when worldwide demand for American programming is soaring soaring: see flight; glider. soaring or gliding Sport of flying a glider or sailplane. The craft is towed behind a powered airplane to an altitude of about 2,000 ft (600 m) and then released. . Annual service revenues are as high as $5 billion, Walston estimates; he believes Four Media, on track to take in $150 million in revenue this year, can eventually obtain a 20 percent share. However, Four Media continues to be punished pun·ish v. pun·ished, pun·ish·ing, pun·ish·es v.tr. 1. To subject to a penalty for an offense, sin, or fault. 2. To inflict a penalty for (an offense). 3. on Wall Street. It went public a year ago at $10 a share and lost nearly half its value during the early spring as part of a massive sell-off of small-capitalization issues. Since October, four analysts have issued ``buy'' recommendations, and Halpern has a 12-month target of $14, saying the price has ``significantly underperformed'' the stock's value. ``Since Four Media has become a public company, they've shown strong internal growth and the ability to execute significant transactions,'' he said. ``But they're also operating within an industry segment that markets have not looked upon positively.'' For Walston, who owns 15 percent of the company, the lagging Lagging Strategy used by a firm to stall payments, normally in response to exchange rate projections. stock price has been a frustration but not a distraction Distraction Divination (See OMEN.) Porlock a “person from Porlock” interrupted Coleridge while he was recollecting the dream on which he based “Kubla Khan”. [Br. Lit.: Poems of Coleridge in Magill IV, 756] . He welcomed the interview on CNBC/Dow, which offers a financial news service targeted at professionals and investors for $25 a month. ``This is one of the tools we have to use, and I probably should have done it sooner,'' he said. ``Public equity markets are driven by information, stories and performance, and you can't have one without the others.'' FOUR MEDIA AIMS HIGH Four Media has been aggressively expanding its post-production services business since its creation July 1993 - Company founded by Robert Walston and Michael Steinhardt August 1993 - Acquires AME See AIT. Inc. and Compact Video, both of Burbank October 1994 - Acquires Digital Magic of Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. January 1995 - Forms Asian subsidiary to operate in Singapore February 1997 - Goes public at $10 a share; stock hits high of $10.50 in March and low of $5.25 in April March 1997 - Acquires Anderson Film Industries of Universal City December 1997 - Agrees to buy Pacific Ocean Post of Santa Monica; quarterly revenues up 43.9 percent to $27.3 million February 1998 - Receives $200 million credit line from four banks SOURCE: Company documents CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, box PHOTO (1 -- color) Four Media Chairman Robert Walston, left, is interviewed by a CNBC/Dow reporter. (2 -- color) CNBC/Dow's Internet site offers interviews with top CEOs. David R. Crane/Daily News (3 --color) no caption (Four Media Co. logo) Box: Four Media aims high (see text) |
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