THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501070214
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Pat Robertson is leading an investment group that is interested in acquiring the Houston Post and one other newspaper, a spokesman for Robertson confirmed Friday.
``This is Pat's private business dealings,'' said Gene Kapp, a spokesman for Robertson. He said that neither the Christian Broadcasting Network nor International Family Entertainment Inc., two Virginia Beach-based entities that Robertson heads, are involved in the deal.
Robertson was approached by the group interested in acquiring the newspapers within the past few months, Kapp said. He said Robertson spent Thursday and Friday in Houston and held ``preliminary discussions'' on behalf of the group to purchase the newspaper.
But Houston Post officials said Friday that the paper is not for sale.
``A friendly meeting was held, and afterward . . . Robertson was informed we have no interest in selling The Post,'' said William Dean Singleton, chairman of The Houston Post Co.
The newspaper, with a daily circulation of about 280,000, is owned by the Media News chain, which controls more than a dozen othernewspapers in the United States, including The Denver Post.
Kapp, who declined to identify the other investors or the other newspaper, said Robertson's interest in newspapers is ``natural.''
``He's had a lifelong interest in the news and the news media,'' Kapp said, ``and I think you're seeing it exhibited here in another fashion.''
Kapp said the investment group has other publishing and investment interests. He said he didn't know how large an ownership role Robertson would have in any newspapers acquired by the group.
Robertson got his start in the media business in 1960 with the purchase of an independent Portsmouth TV station. From that, he built the global CBN television ministry and The Family Channel.
In 1990, The Family Channel was sold by CBN for $250 million in cash and securities to a company led by Robertson and his son, Timothy. That company, International Family Entertainment, is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has expanded its holdings to include MTM Entertainment, creator of such popular TV shows as ``Lou Grant'' and ``Hill Street Blues.''
Outside of IFE, Robertson's business record has been spotty. He made and then aborted an attempt to buy the struggling United Press International news service in 1992. A year later, an investor group he headed signed a preliminary agreement to buy a controlling interest in American Film Technologies Inc., the nation's largest colorizer of black-and-white films. That deal was canceled, however.
Last year, after persistent losses and controversy over its sales practices, the Robertson-headed KaloVita cosmetics and vitamin company was sold to a Dallas company. KaloVita's Virginia Beach headquarters was shut down.
Robertson had invested $2.5 million of his own money into the company, and said he repaid CBN for millions more that it invested in KaloVita. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Pat Robertson
KEYWORDS: NEWSPAPERS M.G. PAT ROBERTSON by CNB