Montgomery Ward Ends Talks With HFS
On Acquisition of Signature Direct Marketing Business
CHICAGO, IL - July 18, 1997 -
announced it has rejected a revised offer from HFS, Incorporated
to purchase Ward's $800+ million revenue direct marketing unit,
The Signature Group.
Ward's filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy
Code on July 7, when it was unable to reach a satisfactory
agreement with all of its lenders. The Signature Group is not
part of that filing.
Montgomery Ward's Board of Directors was unanimous in
rejecting the July 11 HFS offer for Signature because it is
significantly lower in value, highly conditional and stipulates
an impossible deadline for closing.
"Signature is an extremely valuable business," said
Roger Goddu, Chairman of Montgomery Ward. "The offer from
HFS is wholly inadequate and unreasonable on several levels -
there's no reason whatever to consider an offer that doesn't
maximize the value of Signature. It's also our belief that the
new offer would likewise be a non-starter with our
creditors."
Signature has ample cash to operate its business. Montgomery
Ward has not made any draws on its $1 billion DIP facility. Ward
now has the time and financial resources to complete its
turnaround plan, which has been presented to lenders and
employees.
The Signature Group is a $830 million a year market leader in
providing value-driven consumer products and services through
direct response marketing. Primarily through telemarketing,
Signature offers a complete array of consumer membership
programs, services and insurance plans on behalf of over 200
clients that include retailers, financial institutions and oil
companies. These include Dining a la Card, the largest Auto Club
in the U.S., Dental/Vision/Pharmacy Plans, Legal Service Plans as
well as supplemental insurance products.
The Signature Group has continued to be one of the most
rapidly growing companies in the direct marketing industry,
operating 36 telemarketing call centers in the U.S. with more
than 5,000 teleservice representatives. Within the last two
years, The Signature Group has completed a number of
acquisitions, including Prudential LegalCare, Emanacom Date
Services, The Amoco Motor Club and Credit Card Sentinel.
Montgomery Ward, the largest privately held retailer in the
United States, operates a chain of 400 value-driven specialty
stories in 43 states.
SOURCE Montgomery Ward /CONTACT: Judy L. Gustafson, Director -
Corporate Communications/Training and Development, 312-467-2025,
or fax, 312- 467-3975/
HFS Terminates Discussions to Acquire
Signature
PARSIPPANY, N.J.--July 18, 1997--HFS Inc. (NYSE: HFS)
announced today it has terminated its discussions to acquire
Signature Financial/Marketing Inc. from
The company stated, "Since Montgomery Ward's filing for
bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the United States
Bankruptcy Code, we have been unable to structure a purchase of
Signature which meets our acquisition criteria. As we have
previously stated, the strategic objectives of HFS in direct
marketing will be fulfilled through our pending merger with CUC
International (NYSE: CU)."
HFS Inc. is a global provider of real estate and travel
services. The company is the world's largest franchisor of
residential real estate brokerage offices, provides mortgage
services to consumers and is a global leader in corporate
employee relocation. Within the travel sector of the economy, HFS
is the largest franchisor of hotels and rental car agencies and
the leading provider of vacation timeshare exchanges. HFS is also
the second largest vehicle management company worldwide. HFS and
CUC International recently announced a merger of equals expected
to close in the fall of 1997.
CONTACT: HFS Inc., Parsippany Elliot Bloom, 201/952-8414
ACT Networks Offers to Purchase Assets From
CAMARILLO, Calif.--July 18, 1997--ACT Networks Inc.
(NASDAQ:ANET) today announced that it has entered into an
agreement to acquire all the assets of SourceCom Inc., based in
Westlake Village, Calif.
SourceCom filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code on July 16, 1997. The closing of the transaction
is subject to a number of contingencies, including bankruptcy
court approval. There can be no assurance that the transaction
will be consummated as anticipated. No further details of the
transaction were disclosed.
SourceCom is a high technology company specializing in the
development of high density xDSL systems and has developed two
high performance platforms to address the broadband access
market. ACT believes that SourceCom's products and technology can
be adapted to serve ACT's current markets and customers. During
fiscal 1996, SourceCom generated approximately $6.1 million in
revenues.
If this transaction is completed, ACT intends to expend
significant resources in developing products and the marketplace,
which would negatively impact the Company's financial results for
the current fiscal year.
ACT Networks Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets Frame
Relay wide-area network access products which support a broad
range of voice, data and integrated network applications. The
Company is focused on three strategic markets: enterprise
networks (ACTnet and NetPerformer), satellite networks (SkyFrame)
and carrier networks (FrameXchange and DynaStar). End users and
service providers worldwide use the Company's products to build
cost-effective, bandwidth efficient, easy-to-manage wide area
networks (WANs). The Company's products incorporate advanced
voice and data compression algorithms, switching capabilities and
proprietary integration technologies.
CONTACT: ACT Networks Inc. Martin Shum or Melvin L. Flowers,
805/388-2474 or Morgen-Walke Associates Chris Danne/Alex
Williamson/Doug Sherk, 415/296-7383