COMPANY TOWN ANNEX

Sony May Sell Part of Movie Business: Sony Corp. has retained Furman Selz Inc. to sell a portion of its U.S. studio operations, according to investment bankers close to the transaction. Principal Roy Furman is personally helping the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate seek a buyer, a person at the investment firm said. New Yorker magazine said in this week’s issue that Sony hopes to sell about 25% of its motion picture division for $3 billion, valuing the entire division at $12 billion. That price would represent a massive premium to the $3.4 billion Sony spent when it purchased Sony Pictures and TriStar Entertainment from Coca-Cola Co. in 1989. Analysts expressed doubt that Sony could get that much.