LargeCap Stocks to Watch Today

Tomahawk, WI 4/9/2012 (StreetBeat) -- Sony (SNE) is cutting 10,000 jobs, or roughly about 6% of its global work force, according to a report.

The layoffs will come by the end of 2012, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported Monday.

Sony's new CEO Kazuo Hirai will hold a briefing on Thursday.

Sony has posted four straight years of losses, hurt by weakness at its LCD television unit.

Talks are continuing between AT&T (T) and about 40,000 AT&T landline workers, the Communications Workers of America said Sunday.

The union contracts expired over the weekend. A strike was a possibility, but both sides said they would keep working on a new deal.

A CWA spokeswoman said the employees would report for work without a new contract, but still retain the option to call for a walkout.

At issue in the negotiations are job protection clauses and health care premiums and co-payments, according to The Associated Press.

Yahoo!'s (YHOO) head of products, Blake Irving, is leaving the company following an announcement the Internet company would be slashing 2,000 jobs.

Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson will hold an all-staff meeting Tuesday to brief employees on the company's new management structure, a source told Reuters.

Morgan Stanley CEO Gorman's Pay Drops 25%

Great Wolf Resorts (WOLF) received a sweetened takeover bid of $7 a share in cash from KSL Capital Partners.

Great Wolf, an operator of indoor water parks, rejected an earlier bid of $6.25 a share from KSL, the private investment firm.

The latest bid from KSL tops an agreed-to bid from Apollo Global Management (APO) of $6.75 a share.

Great Wolf said Sunday it would evaluate the bid of $7 a share from KSL.

Earnings are expected Monday from Greenbrier (GBX), a supplier of transportation equipment and services to the railroad industry, and Zep (ZEP), a maker of cleaning products.

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Great Wolf (Nasdaq: WOLF) Gets Offer from KSL, Topping Apollo’s (NYSE: APO) Bid

Orlando, FL 4/5/12 (StreetBeat) -- Great Wolf Resorts Inc. (Nasdaq: WOLF), which runs 11 resorts with water slides and pools in the U.S. and Canada, said it has received an offer from KSL Capital Partners LLC, topping a proposed buyout by Apollo Global Management LLC. (NYSE: APO).

KSL Capital is offering to acquire the company for $6.25 per share in cash, Great Wolf said in a statement yesterday. The price is a 9.6 percent premium to the closing price of $5.70 yesterday. The Madison, Wisconsin-based company will consider and evaluate the proposal and has no further comments, it said.

Great Wolf was sued by shareholders following the March 13 bid by New York-based Apollo, which offered $5 a share in a deal valued at $703 million, including the assumption of Great Wolf’s debt. The lawsuits claimed Great Wolf didn’t obtain the highest possible offer, saying its own financial adviser, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., valued it between $3.74 and $7.98 a share.

In its deal with Apollo, run by Chief Executive Officer Leon Black, Great Wolf was required to adopt a shareholders’ rights plan to thwart hostile acquirers and agreed not to solicit other interested parties. It will also pay the buyout firm $5.3 million, and as much as $1.7 million in Apollo’s expenses, if the company accepts a superior offer.

The company owns, manages and licenses family resorts featuring indoor water parks, suite-style rooms, restaurants, spas and arcades. The company started its first Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, in 1997, and the chain has expanded into eight other U.S. states and Canada.

The company had more than $143 million in cumulative federal tax losses as of Dec. 31, which equate to $1.62 a share of potential future tax benefits.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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NASDAQ Stock Alert: Great Wolf Resorts (NASDAQ: WOLF) Soars on Acquisition News

Orlando, FL 3/14/12 (StreetBeat) -- www.InvestorIdeas.com, a global investor research portal for independent investors, reports on one of the top NASDAQ percentage gainers in yesterday’s trading session, Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF). The stock was trading up at $5.23, up 1.04(24.82%) 1:33PM EDT on over 8.6 Million shares. The stock soared on acquisition news and closed at $5.32.

An affiliate of Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) and Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement with Apollo will acquiring Great Wolf, North America’s largest family of indoor waterpark resorts, for approximately $703 million, including the assumption of the Company’s outstanding debt.

The news was followed by the usual flow of press releases by law firms questioning the deal.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. ® (NASDAQ: WOLF )is North America’s largest family of indoor waterpark resorts, and, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge® brand. Great Wolf Resorts is a fully integrated resort company with Great Wolf Lodge locations in: Wisconsin Dells, Wis.; Sandusky, Ohio; Traverse City, Mich.; Kansas City, Kan.; Williamsburg, Va.; the Pocono Mountains, Pa.; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Mason, Ohio; Grapevine, Texas; Grand Mound, Wash.; and Concord, N.C. Great Wolf’s consolidated subsidiary, Creative Kingdoms, LLC, is a developer and operator of technology-based, interactive quest adventure experiences such as MagiQuest®. http://www.greatwolf.com

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Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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Great Wolf Resorts (Nasdaq: WOLF) Stock Up 27% on Takeout

ShawShank, VA March 13,2012 (StreetBeat) -- Apollo Global Management is taking a dive into the world of indoor water parks. The investment manager is buying Great Wolf Resorts (Nasdaq: WOLF) for about $167.1 million, or roughly $5 a share, which is a 19% premium over the Madison, Wis.-based company’s closing stock price yesterday.

The news sent Great Wolf’s share price soaring 23% to $5.12 a share in morning market action.

Apollo valued the deal at $703 million including the assumption of debt. The offer was unanimously approved by Great Wolf’s board, which is advising the company’s shareholders to tender their shares.
Great Wolf operates 11 properties across the country.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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Great Wolf Resorts (Nasdaq: WOLF) Sees Growth in 2012

Orlando, FL 12/16/11 (StreetBeat) -- Great Wolf Resorts Inc. (Nasdaq: WOLF), the Madison operator of Great Wolf Lodge water park resorts, said Thursday that its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings are expected to be at the top end of the company's guidance on same-store revenue per available room growth of about 8.5 percent.

The company said adjusted earnings for the year ending Dec. 31, 2012, are expected to be more than $80 million, with fourth-quarter earnings of about $12.5 million.

Great Wolf also introduced earnings guidance for 2012, predicting an increase in adjusted earnings of about 4 to 11 percent to $83 million to $89 million. Adjusted earnings exclude a variety of expenses including taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Revenue per available room, a key lodging statistic, is expected to grow by 3 percent to 7 percent in 2012, based on a current assessment of business conditions, including a forecast of consumer demand and discretionary spending trends.

"Our operating performance throughout 2011 has been extremely strong, which should result in significantly better results than we had anticipated as we entered the year," said Great Wolf CEO Kim Schaefer.

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Great Wolf Resorts (WOLF) Technical Stock Chart Video

The WOLF stock chart has been making a solid climb on a great technical chart. Technical traders are encouraged to watch the video to view a classic reversal bounce and possible continued uptrend.

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