Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

Dole acquisition complete

Billionaire David Murdock completed his acquisition of Dole Food Co. yesterday, paying $2.5 billion to acquire the 76 percent of the company's stock he didn't already control. Dole shares ceased trading.

Murdock, Dole's chairman and chief executive, said he planned no major changes for the company and there would be no reduction in the workforce, which includes 280 employees in Hawai'i.

The deal makes Murdock the third-largest private land-owner in Hawai'i — behind Kamehameha Schools and Parker Ranch. He controls 123,715 acres in Hawai'i, including most of Lana'i.

Outrigger gets Sydney contract

Outrigger Hotels & Resorts said it secured a contract to manage the $47 million Outrigger Ettalong Beach Resort on New South Wales' Central Coast, its first hotel in the Sydney area. The 236-unit hotel is scheduled to be completed late next year by Australian developer Multiplex.

Outrigger operates nine resorts in Queensland, Australia. The Australia division management portfolio includes 2,000 rooms operating or under construction.

Amfac settles pension dispute

The state Employees' Retirement System has reached an agreement with Amfac Hawai'i and its subsidiaries to foreclose on two Maui golf courses to resolve a dispute over $66 million that Amfac borrowed from the pension fund in 1991.

The agreement was reached earlier this month and filed last week in a Chicago bankruptcy court where Amfac is trying to reorganize its debts.

Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval, the pension fund is expected to acquire the north and south links at Ka'anapali Beach Resort at foreclosure auction. Amfac also will pay the pension fund $250,000 in addition to an $11.3 million partial payment made earlier for loan delinquencies.

The settlement ends more than two years of state efforts to foreclose on the courses, which Amfac used as collateral for the loans.