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Laurence Alan Tisch (born March 5, 1923, died November 15, 2003) was a Jewish American businessman, Wall Street investor and self-made billionaire. He was the CEO of CBS television network from 1986 to 1995. With his brother Bob Tisch, he was part owner of the Loews Corporation.
Tisch was widely criticized for his mismanagement of the CBS network and his involvement in the Brown and Williamson scandal (later portrayed in the film The Insider). Many journalistic veterans at CBS News, including Walter Cronkite, accused Tisch of degrading journalistic standards in pursuit of higher profits. Critics have pointed out that Tisch's efforts to prevent the Brown and Williamson story from appearing on 60 Minutes were likely driven by the financial windfall he stood to receive from the company's 1995 sale to Westinghouse Electric Corporation (and his unwillingness to jeopardize the sale, which ultimately netted him $2 billion), as well as the fact that Tisch's Loews Corporation owned a major tobacco company, Lorillard Tobacco.
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The New York Giants are getting into the publishing business, "with a cause," to motivate men and their families to see their doctors and be proactive about their health. . . .
Stand Up To Cancer with Steve Tisch
The New York Giants and Health Monitor Network incorporated "Cancer" as a theme and special section in the new publication. The two groups also partnered with Stand Up To Cancer, (SU2C) a new initiative that aims to rally the public around the goal of putting an end to cancer.
So many people are affected by cancer in some way, including New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch. On Nov. 15, 2005, Steve's father and former Giants co-owner Preston R. Tisch lost his battle with brain cancer -- a personal connection that has increased Mr. Tisch's desire to support SU2C.
Loews Corp. Chairman Jonathan Tisch paid a record $48 million for a co-operative apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Tisch purchased a unit on the 11th floor at 2 East 67th St., according to the document posted yesterday on the New York City Department of Finance Web site. . . . Loews spun off Lorillard, the oldest U.S. cigarette maker, into a separate public company in June. It had owned the tobacco company for more than 30 years.
Lorillard, the third-largest American cigarette company, had a net income of $898 million last year. Of that amount, $363 million was carried as part of Loews $2.5 billion net income, with the rest credited to the Carolina Group, which until Tuesday had been a tracking stock for the tobacco business. Over the years, Loews has also relied on its cigarette business for a substantial amount of its cash flow, a reliance no longer necessary because of the company’s increasing success in other areas.
The shares that began trading on Tuesday ended their first day up about 6 percent, closing at $76.63.
The Loews chief, James S. Tisch, has said that politics had nothing to do with the company’s decision to spin off Lorillard. And yet the 163-page prospectus for the new Lorillard shares warned investors that company’s heavy reliance on the Newport group could potentially have a negative impact on Lorillard, noting that federal health officials had raised concerns about menthol’s effects. Analysts have said that by removing tobacco from its portfolio, Loews will find borrowing money cheaper.
Lorillard, which is being spun off from Loews Corp., will make its debut at a time when the U.S. tobacco industry is selling fewer cigarettes because of bans on smoking in public places and higher cigarette taxes.
But Lorillard does have one ace up its sleeve: it dominates the market for menthol cigarettes, which have been gaining market share and declining more slowly than other types of cigarettes.
"It's going to be a tough market for all the domestic cigarette companies," says Morningstar analyst Gregg Warren. "Lorillard is on the positive end of the industry dynamics because of the menthol offerings."
Break-ups are never easy as Loews and Lorillard discovered when the divvying up of shares got a little messy.
On Tuesday, Loews said its share exchange offer with former subsidiary, Lorillard, has been oversubscribed. Loews, a conglomeration that operates offshore drilling rigs, hotels and an insurance company, among other ventures, said it would accept 93.5 million shares of Loews stock in exchange for 65.4 million Lorillard shares, reflecting an exchange ratio of 0.70.
Greensboro tobacco company Lorillard Inc. began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol "LO" today as its own independent company.
Lorillard had been a wholly owned subsidiary of Loews Corp, based in New York, since 1969. Loews issued a tracking stock, Carolina Group, in 2002 tied to the performance of Lorillard in preparation of spinning the company out on its own.
Loews Corporation (NYSE:LTR) today announced the preliminary results of the offer to its stockholders to exchange shares of Loews common stock for shares of Lorillard, Inc. common stock (NYSE: LO) held by Loews. The exchange offer expired at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on June 9, 2008.
According to the exchange agent, Mellon Investor Services LLC, a total of 173,449,763 shares of Loews common stock were tendered for exchange and not withdrawn prior to the expiration of the exchange offer, including 76,032,420 shares tendered by guaranteed delivery procedures. Loews will accept 93,492,857 shares of Loews common stock in exchange for 65,445,000 shares of Lorillard common stock, reflecting an exchange ratio of 0.70.
Forty years ago, the New York business magnates Laurence Tisch and Preston Robert Tisch capitalized on growing public health concerns over smoking by buying a cigarette company at a bargain price.
It proved a good investment - even if the Tisch name has sometimes been stigmatized, as when an airplane once trailed a banner over Long Island, New York, beaches reading "Larry Tisch sells cancer sticks." The tobacco company's flagship Newport brand flourished, becoming the leading menthol cigarette and No.2 over all, after Marlboro, in large part because Newports are enormously popular among black smokers.
Now, the next generation of Tisches has removed tobacco from the portfolio of the conglomerate they lead, the Loews Corp., spinning it off as a stand-alone business, with the Newport brand representing more than 90 percent of the new company's revenue.
The new stock began trading Tuesday following overwhelming enthusiasm for the offer to trade Loews shares for the new stock. Analysts have said the new standalone company might be a takeover target.
Loews Corp. Tuesday said it will accept 93.5 million shares of its common stock in exchange for 65.4 million shares of Lorillard Inc. common stock, reflecting an exchange ration of 0.70.
Lorillard Inc., the cigarette producer being spun off by Loews Corp., may attract takeover bids from Reynolds American Inc. and Imperial Tobacco Group Plc as shrinking U.S. cigarette demand forces manufacturers to combine, according to reports from two analysts.
Lorillard will be spun off June 10 and trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Investors should buy the stock to take advantage of a potential merger, a possible share buyback and its addition to the Standard & Poor's 500 index, Erik Bloomquist, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd., said today in a research note.
``It's very clear the industry will see more consolidation,''
Loews Corp., the holding company run by New York's Tisch family, and its CNA Financial Corp. insurance unit reported first-quarter earnings that fell short of analysts' estimates as policy sales shrank.
Net income at Loews declined for the third straight quarter, falling 14 percent to $662 million, or $1.05 a share, from $768 million, or $1.20, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Revenue fell at CNA, sending the stock of both companies tumbling the most in three months. . ..
Profit at Lorillard, Loews's tobacco unit, fell 20 percent to $67 million on a decline in revenue. Loews is preparing to spin off the cigarette business, which includes the Newport brand, and said it had $13 million in administrative expenses in the period tied to the transaction.
Carolina Group, a tracking stock for Loews Corp's Lorillard Inc cigarette business, posted a lower quarterly profit on Monday, hurt by lower investment income and costs related to the proposed spin-off of Lorillard.
First-quarter net income fell to $171 million, or 98 cents per share, from $189 million, or $1.08 per share, a year ago.
Net sales rose to $921 million from $913 million a year ago, due mostly to price increases.
Selling, advertising and administrative expenses rose to $100 million from $82 million a year ago, due to costs related to the proposed spin-off of Lorillard from Loews and higher legal expenses.
Loews Corp. (LTR), a commercial property and casualty insurance provider, reported a decline in its first-quarter profit, reflecting lower results from CNA Financial and Lorillard, and net investment losses compared to prior year's gains. The company also said that Carolina Group's (CG) first-quarter net income declined on higher expenses related to the proposed spin-off of Lorillard, and lower investment income.
The company's first-quarter consolidated net income, including both the Loews Group and Carolina Group, was $662 million, lower than $768 million in the previous year.
Loews Corp. Monday reported first-quarter income from continuing operations of $474 million, or 90 cents a share, compared with $645 million, or $1.19 a share, in the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue for the three-month period ended March 31 slipped to $4.54 billion from $4.61 billion a year ago.
Carolina Group, a subsidiary and tracking stock of Loews Corp., posted first-quarter net income of $171 million, or 98 cents a share, compared with net income of $189 million, or $1.08 a share, in the first quarter of 2007.