BUSINESS BRIEFS
Wedding firm nears milestone

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Watabe Wedding Corp. said it will top 300,000 weddings this week as the Kyoto, Japan-based company marks 30 years of organizing weddings in Hawai'i, mostly for Japanese couples.

Watabe brings about 15,000 weddings a year to the state. The company started 50 years ago as a kimono rental shop in Kyoto.

Deal struck for Makaha resort

The Makaha Resort Golf Club will be sold to a Canadian resort operator who plans to rehire "significant numbers" of the current 143 employees and make "extensive investments in staffing and facilities," said Mike Mervis, vice president at Towne Realty Inc., the property's current owner.

"The employees are highly regarded by both the current ownership and the prospective new owners," Mervis said. He added that the sale is expected to close in January.

NATION & WORLD

Music deal worth $2.6B

A consortium of investors led by former Universal Music chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. said it struck a $2.6 billion deal to buy Warner Music Group from Time Warner Inc., edging out Britain's EMI Group PLC, which withdrew its bid at the last minute.

The deal, which also includes Time Warner's Warner/Chappell Music publishing business, would create one of the world's largest independent music companies and include some of the industry's biggest artists, such as Madonna, R.E.M. and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Duties on TVs upset China

China said it regretted a U.S. decision to levy duties of as much as 46 percent on color television imports and the country's manufacturers called for their government to intervene.

The U.S. Commerce Department ruled that Chinese TV makers are "dumping," or selling sets at below market value. The ruling adds to growing tensions between the two trading partners after the United States said last week it would place restrictions on some Chinese textiles.