Business Notes

SMITHFIELD, N.C.— Satellite antenna maker Channel Master filed Chapter 11 early this month in order to complete a "going concern" sale of company assets and continue as an ongoing business. The asset purchase agreement with an unnamed buyer is subject to bankruptcy court approval. The filing will allow Channel Master to transfer its core businesses to the buyer, while preserving existing customer, vendor and employee relationships. Adverse impact on day-to-day operations is not expected. The sale process should be completed by the end of November, and the buyer will continue operations here for the foreseeable future. Channel Master, which blamed an industry-wide slowdown for its financial situation, said it expects the buyer will retain a large majority of the current 400 employees worldwide.

MINNETONKA, MINN.— Musicland will close 150 underperforming Sam Goody and Suncoast stores by year's end and plans to open 50 new locations next year. The one-time Best Buy subsidiary will lay off 900 largely store-based employees as a result of the closings — part of a sweeping effort to return the chain to profitability. The company has also hired music industry veterans Lew Garrett and Danny Yarbrough as president of Musicland Purchasing Corp. and vice chairman of Musicland Group, respectively.

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS— Royal Philips Electronics has been ranked No. 1 by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for corporate sustainability, among companies from the consumer electronics, leisure goods, home construction, apparel and airlines sectors. The index tracks financial performance of leading sustainability companies globally, measuring economic, environmental and social criteria and providing asset managers reliable and objective benchmarks to manage sustainability-driven portfolios.

SUNNYVALE, CALIF.— SanDisk is conducting a public offering of 8 million shares of common stock, at a price of $65.25 per share. The offering is expected to yield net proceeds to SanDisk of about $504.8 million. Underwriters for the offering have an option to purchase an additional 1.2 million shares. SanDisk, which supplies flash memory data storage card products, anticipates using net proceeds from the sale to invest in new flash memory fabrication and test capacity, working capital and other capital expenditures. The company anticipates that its NAND flash supply availability will improve considerably in the fourth quarter, in time for an expected strong year-end sales season.

PARSIPPANY, N.J.— Emerson Radio is repurchasing up to 2 million shares, or about 7 percent of its outstanding common stock. The repurchases will be made from time to time in open-market transactions in such amounts as determined by management, and will be funded out of the company's working capital. Emerson said the recent trading price of its common stock doesn't adequately reflect the company's intrinsic value and, accordingly, offers an excellent opportunity to increase stockholder value through reduced share dilution stemming from the buyback.