California company at center of listeria probe
WeWork founder wants to buy company back
Adam Neumann and other investors, including Dan Loeb's Third Point, are exploring an offer to buy WeWork Inc. out of bankruptcy.
Neumann and his real estate startup, Flow, have been trying to get information from WeWork necessary to formulate a bid since December, according to a letter sent to WeWork's lawyers seen by Bloomberg News. More recently, they've worked to put together a bankruptcy financing package for the co-working firm.
The bid would be for the entire company or its assets, according to the letter. It did not include details of how much Neumann, who co-founded WeWork, stood ready to offer for the firm. He stepped down as chief executive officer in 2019 after the company's initial botched attempt at going public.
In the letter, a lawyer for Neumann said efforts to compose a bid have so far been stymied by a dearth of information from WeWork.
“We write to express our dismay with WeWork's lack of engagement even to provide information to my clients in what is intended to be a value-maximizing transaction for all stakeholders,” Alex Spiro, an attorney with Quinn Emanuel representing Neumann, wrote.
Disney should weigh spinoffs, activist says
Blackwells Capital, an activist investor seeking three board seats at Burbank-based Walt Disney Co., called on the entertainment giant to consider spinning off its famed theme-park properties and splitting into three companies.
The investment firm believes Disney's real estate, centering on its park and hotel operations in Florida, is worth $77.5 billion, or 44% of the company's market value, according to a research paper the firm released Tuesday.
Blackwells also said Disney should consider breaking up into three companies focused on sports, entertainment and resorts. Such a move could boost the share price by 68%, the firm said.
Among the three directors Blackwells is proposing is Craig Hatkoff, a board member of SL Green Realty Corp., a New York-based real estate investment trust.
The group holds 157,131 shares of Disney stock, according to a filing Tuesday. That's a tiny fraction of the total and far less than Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management, which is seeking to elect two directors and force changes at Disney.
A Modesto-based cheese and dairy company is the source of a decadelong outbreak of listeria food poisoning that killed two people and sickened more than two dozen, federal health officials said Tuesday.
New lab and inspection evidence linked soft cheeses and other dairy products made by Rizo-Lopez Foods to the outbreak, which was first detected in June 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Since then, at least 26 people in 11 states have been sickened. They include a person who died in California in 2017 and one who died in Texas in 2020, CDC officials said.
Monday, the company recalled more than 60 soft cheeses, yogurt and sour cream sold under the brands Tio Francisco, Don Francisco, Rizo Bros, Rio Grande, Food City, El Huache, La Ordena, San Carlos, Campesino, Santa Maria, Dos Ranchitos, Casa Cardenas, and 365 Whole Foods Market.
The recalled products were distributed nationwide at stores and retail deli counters, including El Super, Cardenas Market, Northgate Gonzalez, Superior Groceries, El Rancho, Vallarta, Food City, La Michoacana, and Numero Uno Markets.
Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.