Benequity Holdings of Los Angeles said it...
Benequity Holdings of Los Angeles said it was evaluating an unsolicited, conditional tender offer for approximately 25 percent of its outstanding units of limited partnership interest from Renouf Corp. Terms were not disclosed . . . Businessland said it intends to make a public offering of $40 million in convertible subordinated debentures . . . JWT Group Inc. announced that Don Johnston, chairman and chief executive, has reassumed the position of chief executive of J. Walter Thompson Co., its major advertising subsidiary, replacing Joseph W. O’Donnell, who has left the company . . . Placid Oil Co., Penrod Drilling Co. and the Hunt-related interests served amended pleadings to 23 major banks targeted in two lawsuits . . . The United Auto Workers strike against financially hamstrung Deere & Co. entered its sixth month amid reports that there may be some movement toward settlement . . . French and Soviet officials ended two days of trade talks with both sides expressing commitment to increased efforts to reduce France’s large trade deficit with the Soviet Union . . . The Agriculture Department selected the New York investment banking firm of Kidder, Peabody & Co. to help sell the government’s rural housing loans to private investors . . . General Electric is closing its robotics plant in Plymouth, Fla., putting 118 employees out of work . . . The Japanese government, in what it called an effort to chip away at the country’s huge trade surplus, is providing European chocolates for Valentine’s Day giving at about half the normal price . . . The Bank of Canada rate tumbled to 7.74%, and major Canadian banks reduced their prime rate one-half percentage point to 9.25%.
