Lujan Pressures Matsushita on Yosemite Pact

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan Jr., angry that Yosemite National Park’s accommodations will soon be owned by a Japanese firm, took the first step Monday toward trying to cancel the government contract with the Yosemite Park & Curry Co.

MCA Inc., the Curry Co.’s parent firm that is being purchased by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., had promised to put the Yosemite concession into escrow and sell it within a year to an American buyer. The Park Service praised the move at the time.

Since then, the government repeatedly has tried to squeeze out more from the deal. The Park Service refused to approve the escrow arrangement pending a review, and Matsushita on Saturday completed its $6.59-billion tender offer for MCA without that approval. The sale is expected to be final within two weeks.

“I thought that was very arrogant of them,” Lujan said in an interview Monday. “They have the attitude that they are bigger than the government.”

Lujan contended that the transfer of ownership without government approval may warrant cancellation of the concession contract, and he has asked the Interior Department’s attorneys for a legal opinion on revoking the agreement.

The secretary of the Interior has long expressed concern about foreign ownership within Yosemite, one of the nation’s great natural treasures. He previously has made it known that he will not stay in foreign-owned hotels or purchase a foreign automobile.

“Right now, this Japanese company has exclusive right to do business in Yosemite,” he complained Monday. “I don’t want foreign ownership.”

Lujan’s threat is part of an escalating drive by the Interior Department to force Matsushita to sell or donate the Yosemite assets to the government.

An adviser to MCA described Lujan’s refusal to approve the escrow agreement as “a calculated attempt to pressure MCA into handing over a major subsidiary of the company.”

The adviser, who spoke only on the condition that he not be identified, said he doubted that the Interior Department had legal grounds to cancel the Curry Co. contract.

The Curry Co.’s holdings at Yosemite have been estimated at between $50 million and $300 million and include buildings that house most of the hotels, restaurants and stores within the park. The National Park Service owns all the land.

The Curry Co.’s contract with the Park Service expires in 1993, and under current law, the contract holder has precedence in the bidding for the next contract.

If Lujan revoked the contract, bidding would open for a new agreement. A spokesman for Lujan said it was not clear who would have authority over the Curry Co. holdings if the contract were canceled.

MCA and Matsushita initially favored giving the Curry Co.’s holdings to a national park foundation. Instead, the entertainment conglomerate and Japan’s largest electronics company decided to sell the Curry Co. within a year and donate the profits earned in the meantime to the foundation.

Despite the Park Service’s early favorable response to that plan, Lujan insisted Monday that he has never favored it.

“Our objective is to own the (concession’s) buildings,” he said.

Lujan’s attempts to get more out of the deal may be hindered by precedent. A spokesman for the Park Service confirmed that concessions at several other parks were sold about a year ago without prior Park Service approval.

Coniston Partners, a New York-based investment firm, purchased concessions at the north rim of Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion and Everglades national parks from TW Services Inc. of South Carolina a year ago, according to the Park Service spokesman.

A spokesman for Lujan said he was unaware that permission had not been granted for that sale but insisted that the change of ownership of the Curry Co. nonetheless requires Park Service approval.

“Under the law, we are able to require approval,” the spokesman said.

Lujan said the Park Service raised several questions about the proposed escrow agreement and received replies from MCA on Dec. 26. The Park Service refused to approve the agreement because “the department did not think it was in the best interest of the government to have foreign ownership” in a national park, he said.

Christine Hanson, a spokeswoman for MCA, refused to say what Matsushita might do if the Park Service failed to approve the escrow agreement.

“We have submitted (the escrow agreement) to them, and we’re still waiting for their reply,” Hanson said.

She maintained that Park Service approval was “not a condition to the closing of the tender offer pursuant to the merger agreement.”

MCA said in a statement that a special committee, which will include MCA Chairman Lew R. Wasserman and MCA President Sidney J. Sheinberg, will have full authority to negotiate the sale of the Curry Co. to an American buyer.

“Matsushita has agreed it will not interfere, in any way, with the special committee’s work or authority,” the statement said.

Lujan insists that he will continue to press for negotiations to acquire Yosemite’s buildings for the taxpayers--if he can determine whom he should call.

“At the moment, I don’t know who I’m supposed to deal with,” Lujan said. “What do I do? Call Tokyo?”