AMERICAN FILM TECHNOLOGIES RECEIVES $500,000 BRIDGE LOAN FUNDING AS
FIRST STEP IN REORGANIZATION
SAN DIEGO,--Aug. 1, 1995--American Film
Technologies Inc.(OTC: AFTC) announced today the funding of a bridge loan to the
company in the amount of $500,000. The loan is the first step in
the corporate reorganization of the company, which creates digital
colorization of black and white films and television programs for
use in broadcast television, cable and satellite television.
American Film Technologies, which has been operating under
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has filed an Amended Plan of
Reorganization and, subject to completion of its equity financing,
expects to complete its reorganization by Sept. 30, 1995.
/CONTACT: Jerry Wetzler, Chairman/CEO of American Film
Technologies, 212-751-7880/
(AFTC)
SPORTSTOWN ANNOUNCES APPROVAL FOR SALE OF 14 STORE LEASES
ATLANTA,GA,--Aug. 1, 1995--SportsTown,
Inc. (SPTN) announced today that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the
Northern District of Georgia has approved the sale of 14 of the Company's 23
store leases in hearings held on July 27 and 28, 1995. Pursuant to
separate lease purchase agreements, SportsTown will sell 7 stores in
Texas and Oklahoma to Oshman's Sporting Goods, Inc. and will sell 7
stores in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to The Sports
Authority, Inc. Closings of the sales of leases to Oshman's Sporting
Goods, Inc. and The Sports Authority, Inc. will occur as inventories
are transferred from, or finally liquidated at, such stores.
In connection with the sales of these 14 stores, the Bankruptcy
Court also approved of the Company's liquidation of all existing
inventory at all of its 23 stores. "Going out of business" sales
will be held at certain stores to liquidate all existing inventory.
Inventory at stores where such sales will not be held will be
transferred to stores where "going out of business" sales will be
held. The offers made by Oshman's Sporting Goods, Inc. and The
Sports Authority, Inc. were linked to the liquidation of inventory
with respect to the region where the leases were acquired by each
purchaser. Accordingly, with respect to the Texas and Oklahoma
region, the Company has retained Gordon Brothers Partners, Inc. and
Hilco Trading Company/Garcel, Inc. d/b/a Great American Asset
Management to act as its agent conducting the liquidation of the
existing inventory, and with respect to the Virginia, Atlanta and
Carolina region, Nassi Bernstein, Inc., Alco Capital Corporation and
Jubilee Limited Partnership will act as the Company's agents in
conducting that liquidation.
The Company will seek buyers for the 9 stores that are not
subject to lease purchase agreements, and any such sale will be
subject to the approval of the Bankruptcy Court.
In addition, the Company announced that on July 31, 1995 it
filed with the Bankruptcy Court a Plan of Reorganization that
contemplates the use of the proceeds of the lease sales and the
inventory liquidation to pay creditors of the Company. The Plan of
Reorganization also contemplates that holders of the Company's
common stock will receive no distribution of cash, securities or
otherwise in the reorganization proceeding.
/CONTACT: Thomas K. Haas, Chairman and Ceo or Clyde Fossum, Chief
Financial Officer, 404-246-5300, both of SportsTown, Inc./
COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION FILES GENERAL RATE CASE
CHARLESTON, W.Va.,--Aug. 1, 1995--
Columbia Gas Transmission Corp., the principal pipeline subsidiary of The
Columbia Gas System, Inc. (NYSE: CG), today filed a general rate
case with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that will produce
additional annual revenue of approximately $150 million.
The new rates are expected to become effective, subject to
refund, Feb. 1, 1996. The company's filing proposes a 14.5 percent
rate of return on equity.
The increase would be partially offset later in 1996 upon
expiration of $90 million in annual surcharges being collected in
current rates to reimburse the company for restructuring and other
costs being paid to upstream pipelines under FERC Order 636.
Columbia Transmission's Chairman, James P. Holland, said that
even with the filing, rates would remain competitive for the wide
array of firm and interruptible transportation and storage services
Columbia Transmission provides local distribution companies, end
users, and other customers throughout its 14-state market area.
Holland said the new rates reflect increased construction,
operating and maintenance costs incurred since the company's last
rate case was filed in 1991. The filing does not include any costs
associated with the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.
"The rate filing is necessary to reflect Columbia Transmission's
ongoing cost of providing reliable service to its customers,
including a reasonable return on its investment," Holland said.
"While rate filings by their nature initiate a formal regulatory
process, our goal is to work with our customers and other interested
parties to resolve the proceeding in a consensual, business-like
manner."
In the filing, the company proposes to recover over a five-year
amortization period its approximately $60 million investment in
Appalachian area gathering and products extraction facilities. The
proceeds of any future sales or transfers of these facilities will
be credited against such recoveries.
The facilities are being treated as stranded costs under the
FERC's Order No. 636. That order transformed pipelines from
merchants of natural gas to providers of transportation services and
required the unbundling of services such as gathering.
The company said its proposal is generally consistent with
recent FERC guidelines regarding the treatment of gathering
facilities by Appalachian area pipelines.
The filing also includes a proposal for implementing market-
based pricing for interruptible capacity and short-term firm
capacity offered by Columbia Transmission and temporarily released
capacity offered by its customers. Market-based pricing would
permit shippers to bid for available capacity without the rate caps
that now exist. The bidding procedure will help allocate capacity
to shippers who value it the most, an objective supported by the
FERC.
The company supports the FERC's development of a new incentive-
based rate policy and leaves the door open to pursue incentive rates
in the future.
In addition, the filing provides greater flexibility for firm
storage customers by allowing them to have more gas in storage as of
Feb. 1 each year for use if severe cold weather develops late in the
heating season.
Columbia Transmission operates a 19,000-mile interstate natural
gas pipeline network and one of the nation's largest underground
natural gas storage operations. The company delivers more than a
trillion cubic feet of gas annually.
Columbia Transmission and its parent have been operating as
debtors- in-possession since seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection on July 31, 1991. Both have filed reorganization plans
with the Bankruptcy Court and expect to emerge from Chapter 11 by
the end of 1995.
/CONTACT: News Media, D.R. Dodrill, 304-357-2257, or
E.K. Merritt, 304-357-2283; Switchboard, 304-357-2000; or Analysts,
T.L. Hughes, 302-429-5363, or K.P. Murphy, 302-429-5471, all of
Columbia
Gas/
(CG)