Briefs
Staff -- Multichannel News, 7/7/2002 8:00:00 PM
St. Louis–Charter Communications Inc. chairman Paul Allen bought 5 million shares of Charter stock between June 27 and June 28, further boosting his position in the St. Louis-based MSO, according to a securities filing late Monday.
Allen increased his holdings of Charter Class A stock to about 18.4 million shares. He controls more than 90 percent of the vote of Charter's Class B super-voting shares.
According to the filing, Allen bought blocks of Charter stock as large as 3.1 million shares between June 27 and 28, at prices ranging from $3.14 to $4.25 each. He invested a total of $20 million in Charter stock during those two days, the filing said.
Allen's investment was seen largely as a show of confidence in the company, which has seen its share price drop 75 percent since the beginning of the year. Earlier in the day, Charter CEO Carl Vogel revealed in a similar filing that he purchased 50,000 shares of Charter stock on June 21 at prices ranging from $4.45 to $4.65. Vogel also purchased $470,000 in bonds.
Other executives, including CFO Kent Kalkwarf and executive vice president and chief administrative officer Steve Schumm made smaller purchases during the month — 6,000 shares and 6,500 shares respectively.
The Allen purchases were revealed after the market closed, so they had no impact on the stock. Charter shares closed at $3.98 each on July 1, down 10 cents each.
New York–NTL Inc., the bankrupt United Kingdom cable and telephone company, said it will keep beleaguered CEO Barclay Knapp on board after it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Knapp, who was blasted by shareholders — some of whom called for his resignation — as NTL slipped into default on its debt, will lead the company after it is split into two entities, NTL Euroco and NTL U.K. and Ireland.
Also under the restructuring, NTL chief financial officer John Gregg will become co-managing director and CFO of NTL Euroco upon its emergence, and will also serve as CFO of NTL UK and Ireland until a permanent CFO is named.
"During this process we have been working closely with Barclay Knapp and know him well," said Brad Eric Scheler, counsel to the creditors' committee and a senior partner with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, in a statement. "His determination to ensure that NTL continues to prosper and grow is evident in everything he does, and we are confident that he is the right man to lead the company going forward. NTL's management team has performed admirably throughout this difficult process, and we believe they will deliver great things for NTL's future."
Stamford, Conn.—Citizens Communications vice chairman Scott Schneider has added president and chief operating officer to his responsibilities, the company said in a statement Monday. Schneider will replace Rudy Graf, who will remain on the telco's board of directors.
The company also named John Casey III its executive vice president. He will continue as president and COO of Citizens' telecommunications segment.
Schneider, who has been with Citizens since 1999, had served 18 years with Century Communications Corp. as chief financial officer and a director. Citizens' chairman Leonard Tow also was chairman of Century.
Tow and Schneider had been in the news recently, fighting to gain board seats at Adelphia Communications Corp. Tow had sold Century's cable properties to Adelphia in 1999 for $5.2 billion in stock and assumed debt. After gaining those seats in May, both Schneider and Tow resigned, citing unreliable financial information at the company that prevented them from performing their duties.
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