BUSINESS BRIEFS
Four Seasons to run 2 hotels

Advertiser Staff and News Services

The Manele Bay Hotel and The Lodge at Koele on Lana'i will join the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts family later this year.

Matthew Hart, executive vice president of Castle & Cooke Resorts, said his company has signed a letter of agreement to have the Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels operate and manage the 249-room Manele Bay and 102-room Lodge at Koele.

The properties will be re-branded the Four Seasons Lanai at Manele and the Four Seasons Lanai at Koele. The Manele Bay just completed a $3.5 million renovation.

Dollar recovers from new low

The dollar rebounded sharply yesterday after hitting new lows against the euro and the pound earlier in the day, when the European common currency pushed above $1.29 for the first time in its five-year history.

The dollar was at $1.2706 per euro in late trading in New York, down from $1.2839 late Tuesday. Earlier, in European trading, the euro hit a five-year high of $1.2927.

David Gilmore, partner at Essex, Conn.-based Foreign Exchange Analytics, called the rebound a technical correction. "Everyone is on the same side of the ship — long euros, short dollar — and when the dollar hits new lows, the correction happens quickly," he said.

Steel company takes a big step

International Steel Group Inc. struck a $255 million deal for bankrupt Weirton Steel Corp. yesterday, giving the 2-year-old company a chance to surpass U.S. Steel as the nation's largest steel producer.

ISG, based in Cleveland and built from the remains of other struggling or bankrupt steelmakers, would acquire one of the nation's largest tin-plate mills if its offer for Weirton wins approval from a bankruptcy judge.

Surrender likely in Enron case

Jeffrey Skilling, the former Enron Corp. chief executive who resigned less than four months before the company imploded in scandal, was expected to surrender today on criminal charges related to the energy-trading company's collapse.