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At the shareholders meeting last month approving the takeover of Walker-Scott Corp., several people were surprised to see Stan Foster in the audience.
At that time, it was revealed that Foster had invested through Ratner Corp., of which he is president, in the Desmond's and Associates partnership that bought the department store chain. Although one observer noted it was Ratner's cash that made the $5 million deal feasible, he downplayed his role.
"It is definitely not true," he said of the assessment. "We are certainly not the ones who made it go. Harold Kapelovitz is the largest single shareholder (in the partnership), not us."
Nevertheless, the purchase highlighted Ratner's quiet evolution from a clothing manufacturer into what Foster called a "very small holding company." The company still stitches men's clothing at its Chula Vista plant, but the volume has fallen substantially during the past decade, while real estate development and investment activities, such as Walker-Scott, have increased.
A private company since 1978, Ratner will not disclose financial details of its activities. The Dun & Bradstreet $1 Million Directory listed Ratner's revenues at $25 million, but Foster said, "That kind of revenue figure is meaningless because of various activities."
For the past five years, Ratner has selected investment opportunities, primarily in California. "It's really a question of seeing the right situation, with a...