BUSINESS BRIEFS
Decision delayed on HawTel TV
Advertiser Staff and News Services
A state deadline to decide whether Hawai'i's major telephone company can offer TV services has been delayed until June 30.
The original deadline was yesterday. Hawaiian Telcom requested the extension — its eighth.
Hawaiian Telcom is seeking a cable franchise license from the state, which would give the company the right to offer video service in Honolulu over its phone lines in competition with Time Warner Oceanic Cable. The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is reviewing the company's application.
Hawaiian Telcom has said it plans to launch the Internet-based television in early 2008.
RESORTQUEST SALE DONE FOR $109M
Gaylord Entertainment Co. said it had completed its previously announced sale of its ResortQuest Hawaiian unit to Interval Acquisition Corp. for $109 million.
The buyer is a subsidiary of IAC/InteractiveCorp., a New York-based Internet and media company headed by media mogul Barry Diller. Gaylord kept an 18.1 percent interest in a joint venture of the ResortQuest Kauai Beach at its Makaiwa property as well as its 19.9 percent stake in the ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel.
Gaylord also announced its sale of the ResortQuest business on the Mainland to a subsidiary of Leucadia National Corp. for $35 million.
ISLE FIRM GUIDES BRIDAL MAGAZINE
www.Wincubic.com Inc. — a Honolulu-based multimedia company — is now providing sales, planning and production for Zexy Overseas Wedding Perfect Guide, a bridal magazine in Japan.
Zexy is published in April, August and December to a circulation of 32,000, mostly through retail sales at bookstores and newsstands.
A survey by Recruit Co. Ltd. found the top two reasons Japanese couples planned to marry abroad are a wedding in the Islands is more economical than at home; and they can plan their honeymoon at the same destination.
Hajime "Jim" Ueno, president and chief editor of Wincubic, said he works with clients to create attractive plans for couples before and after their weddings.
Visit the company on the Web at www.wincubic.com.
STARWOOD SHARES RISE AS CEO STAYS
NEW YORK — Shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. rose for a fifth straight day yesterday after interim Chief Executive Officer Bruce Duncan extended his contract by a year, fueling speculation the company will be bought.
Duncan's new contract means the Starwood won't be distracted by a search for a permanent chief and "allows the company to negotiate with potential buyers," William Truelove, an analyst at UBS Securities LLC, said in a note to investors. Speculation that the company may be bought began after the ouster of CEO Stephen Heyer on April 2.
