Friday, April 24, 1998

Rangers, Stars owner's company to buy former Mavericks' owner's company

DALLAS (AP) -- Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, whose principal owner also owns the Texas Rangers baseball team and the Dallas Stars hockey team, is buying most of Home Interiors & Gifts, primarily owned by former Mavericks basketball team owner Don Carter.

Completion of the $920 million deal, which is subject to shareholder approval, is expected by summer.

Under terms of the transaction, Hicks Muse will own about 65 percent of the company, several family members and a longtime employee at Home Interiors & Gifts will own about 15 percent of the company, and the remaining 20 percent will continue to be owned by existing shareholders.

Home Interiors & Gifts, founded by Carter's mother Mary Crowley, is one of the nation's leading direct selling businesses and among the largest private companies in the United States.

The Dallas-based company specializes in the production and distribution of decorative accessories and gift items and expects sales to exceed $500 million in 1998. It employs more than 1,240 people in the Dallas area and also has a workforce of 210 people in Grand Island, Neb.

"I want to ensure that the legacy created by my mother more than four decades ago will carry on to the next generation," said Carter, who will become chairman emeritus of the company.

Carter's son Joey, who has been in the company's management since 1984, will succeed his father as chairman and chief executive.

Carter said that with Hicks Muse assistance, "we are confident that Home Interiors will achieve our goal of becoming a public company with a broad ownership base."

Dallas-based Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst has completed or currently has pending more than 200 acquisitions with a total capital value of approximately $28 billion.

The business deal is not the first considered by Hicks and Carter. In 1996, Hicks had negotiated to buy the Mavericks from Carter, but lost out on the team to a group of investors led by land developer Ross Perot Jr.

"I think it just continued a communication with the two families," Joey Carter said about earlier negotiations. "Sports interest by both families have kept a lot of communications lines open."