Yosemite Makes a Nice Christmas Gift

Here’s the problem: Yosemite National Park may soon fall to the Japanese. Not the park exactly, just everything inside the park that makes money: the hotels, restaurants, pony rides and fresh-fruit gelato stands. The rangers and bears, which do not make money, will remain American.

As you likely know, Yosemite’s prospective fall is a side effect, a byproduct, of a much larger corporate maneuver. The Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. wants to acquire MCA Inc. and its major subsidiary, Universal Studios. But MCA also just happens to own the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. Thus, if Matsushita captures MCA, Yosemite comes with it.

You might argue that, in fact, this constitutes no problem. What does it matter if some accountant in Tokyo is scrutinizing the Yosemite Park Co.’s balance sheets? Matsushita’s deep pockets might even buy some new nags for the pony rides and spiff up the greens at the golf course.

All true, all true. But it won’t wash. There are a couple of good reasons why Matsushita should never usher its first tourist around Yosemite.

Number one, the hounding from the ladies and gentlemen of the press would be relentless. Yosemite is the most jealously guarded park in the nation and currently stands at a crossroads. A Japanese company’s every move would be suspect, its motives always questioned. The grief would far outweigh any reward. Just witness the carping over MCA’s reign at Yosemite, and it’s an American company.

Number two, there is the matter of Matsushita’s much-discussed and ongoing participation in the economic boycott of Israel. Whether or not this posture would create legal problems with the Yosemite franchise, it would certainly create political ones. Can a company that refuses to do business with Jews in Israel expect to serve as the official host in a national park? Picture the hearings before Congress.

So let’s assume that Matsushita sees the wisdom of avoiding this unpleasantness. The question is, how?

Well, completely pro bono to Matsushita, I have a suggestion: Make a gift of Yosemite Park Co. Find the right party and give it away. No charge, no strings attached. America would love it.

To understand why this largess is feasible, consider a few of the numbers in play here. The sale price of MCA has been estimated at $7 billion. Matsushita is a company with annual revenues of $44 billion. Together the two companies have combined revenues of $47.5 billion.

Keep in mind those are billions. The revenues of the Yosemite Park Co. last year were $85 million. In other words, the operations at Yosemite amount to approximately 0.02% of the total revenues of a combined Matsushita-MCA octopus.

Even if you look at the capital costs involved, this donation looks cheap. The company owns no land, only the buildings that house its operations. And many of those buildings are World War II vintage.

In the past, MCA has wildly exaggerated the value of this “possessory interest,” with figures ranging from $100 million to $360 million. These estimates are generally regarded as laughers, and the real value is probably closer to $50 million to $60 million.

Hey, Matsushita, this is a gift you can afford. Figuring the usual tax write-offs, the whole thing might cost you less than $25 million. The lawyers’ fee alone for the MCA deal will be 10 times that much.

And it turns out there is a perfect recipient for this gesture to America. Up in San Francisco sits the Yosemite Restoration Trust, a nonprofit organization formed this fall with the specific goal of becoming the main concessionaire at Yosemite. The directors of the trust include some of the most respected names in conservation, along with some pretty good businessmen. They would do well by Yosemite.

Originally, the trust planned to submit a competing bid for the concession when the current contract expires in 1993, hoping to take the business away from MCA.

But if Matsushita grabs MCA, there’s no need to wait for ’93. The franchise could be turned over to the trust at any time.

There is one potential wrinkle in all this. Matsushita has suggested there’s a possibility it might not acquire the entire corpus of MCA. What if Yosemite is among the parts not acquired?

If so, no real problem. A dismembered MCA must do something itself with the remnants of the corporation. Having already received some $7 billion, why not show a little generosity with what’s left? After all, Messrs. Wasserman and Sheinberg, Americans can still take tax write-offs, too.