MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

Animator Reportedly Settles Debt: DIC Enterprises has retired a large portion of its $90 million in debt to Prudential Insurance Co. of America, shifting control of the Burbank TV animator to its president, Andy Heyward, the trade publication Daily Variety reported. The deal would remove the prospect of Prudential forcing DIC into bankruptcy and would alleviate the debt concerns that have plagued DIC since Heyward and Prudential joined in a leveraged buyout in December, 1986. DIC, once the leading supplier of children’s cartoons to the networks, has been hurt recently by NBC’s departure from the children’s market and the growth of major studios in TV animation. Company officials declined to comment on the Daily Variety report.