| Israeli art goes global
Soon after Israeli photographer Adi Nes completed his 1999 work "Untitled (The Last Supper)," a staged image of Israeli soldiers positioned to evoke Leonardo da Vinci's painting of the same event, a collector paid him $1,000. A few weeks later, a second collector offered $1,500. So when the picture sold in February at Sotheby's annual auction of Israel and Jewish art for $264,000 - more than triple the high estimate in the auction catalog, and more than double what it sold for in a 2005 auction - more than a few eyebrows raised. Though it didn't even fetch the highest price at auction - that honor went to the late painter Reuven Rubin, two of whose works sold for $324,000 each - the Nes sale is viewed by many in the art world as a milestone in the emergence of Israel as a global artistic force.
Little red truck sold — again and again
The auctioneers weren't the only ones who showed up night after night at the 40th annual Rotary Radio Auction in Cadiz last week. A 3-inch-tall toy Coca-Cola truck donated by Lou Stea recently was bought and donated back 12 times in the final two nights of the auction. The annual event funds scholarships and grants for students as well as various community projects. People have donated and bought everything from bales of straw to wall hangings. Most items brought at least $100, and many brought much more. Little red Coca-Cola truck, sold: $250. A guest spot on the WKDZ afternoon show "Bill Booth Live Afternoon Drive" sold for $450, a large disappointment to Sheila Harris who originally bid $325 and raised it to $405 before getting outbid. "It's a big deal for me to bid $325," the single mother said.
Bidding War Brews for Tribune
Tribune Co. (TRB) shares rose on Mar. 30 amid reports that the Los Angeles-based billionaires Eli Broad and Ron Burkle are battling the Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell's offer for the Chicago media giant. Two days before the board expects to decide on a deal, Broad and Burkle offered $34 per share for Tribune, according to news reports. This potentially values the media company at more than $8 billion. Zell had offered $33 per share, according to earlier media reports. Investors bid up the stock 1.7% to $32.05 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange Mar. 30. The headlines hit as Tribune grapples with the question of how to best revamp its ailing business. After the struggling media company said it would take on $2 billion of debt to buy back up to a quarter of its stock, its major shareholder the Chandler family objected, saying in June that Tribune should separate its newspaper and TV businesses and explore other options [see BusinessWeek.com, 6/20/06, "The Trouble at Tribune"].
ProLogis Bids A$1.24 Billion for Macquarie ProLogis (Update3)
ProLogis will pay A$1.43 per share, 12 percent more than the last price before trading was halted yesterday, according to a statement from the Denver-based company today. ProLogis will add A$2.1 billion of real estate assets owned by Sydney-based Macquarie ProLogis, which counts Unilever Plc and Black & Decker Corp. among its U.S. tenants. The deal comes after Blackstone Group LP bought Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 billion in February as rents rise and vacancies fall. ``Explosive demand for real estate in the U.S. has hurt the trust's ability to buy assets,'' said Justin Blaess, who manages $2 billion of property stocks at ING Investment Management in Sydney. ``Investors have also been wary because the stronger Australian dollar has cut local dollar-denominated returns.'' The Australian dollar has increased in value by 4.6 percent against the U.S.
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