News In Brief

February 29, 2000

A series of leadership changes loomed at Citigroup Inc. after co-chairman and co-chief executive John Reed announced he'll retire in April, leaving his partner in those posts to take full control. But then Sanford Weill, who shares the senior positions, said he also planned to leave the company within two years. Together, they oversaw the $70 billion merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group two years ago, which in 1999 resulted in $9.95 billion in profits from operations - up from $6.34 billion the previous year. The announcements came less than a week after Citigroup's chief financial officer, Heidi Miller, said she was leaving to take a job with an Internet company.

Another chunk of the US electric-utility industry was sold to a foreign company in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.2 billion. In London, Power-Gen Plc. said its purchase of Louisville, Ky.-based LG&E also would include the assumption of $2.2 billion in debt. The deal was the third of its type in the loosely regulated US electric power market in a little over a year. In November, Scottish Power Plc. bought PacifiCorp of Portland, Ore. On Jan. 2, 1999, National Grid of Coventry, England, said it would buy Westborough, Mass.-based New England Electric System.