Marvel Gets Credit

Marvel Enterprises has secured a $60 million credit line from Citibank. This lends credence to rumors that it is interested in taking over Harvey Entertainment which owns the rights to many animated and comic book characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich. Three years ago, Marvel Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy. Toy Biz, which had been a subsidiary, acquired the bankrupt Marvel Entertainment Group, then created Marvel Enterprises as the umbrella company. More recently, Marvel announced it had resolved the legal problems that had prevented it from making and profiting from a Spider-Man film. Other Marvel film projects, most prominently X-MEN and FANTASTIC FOUR, are nearing production start-ups. Harvey Entertainment, meanwhile, suffered financial setbacks last year, posting a third quarter loss for 1998 of $2,006,000, making it ripe for takeover.