Special to the New York Times
NEW YORK, Jan. 19—Robert A. Goldsmith is riding high these days. The slack sale Tuesday of Old Masters at Sotheby's, the auction house, has not dampened his spirits. Shrugging aside worries over tomorrow's Old Masters sale at Burghley's, Inc., the 61-year-old retail and investment billionaire said yesterday that he plans to form a new global company by merging four diverse companies.
The new company, GoldGlobe International Holdings, Inc., would be formed by combining four companies in which Mr. Goldsmith holds controlling stakes—GoldMart, Inc., Burghley's Holdings, Inc., the Home-on-the-Range restaurant chain, and Mystique Cosmetics.
"Today's market is definitely global, whether you're selling dungarees, million-dollar art, or fast food," Mr. Goldsmith said in yesterday's news conference in Manhattan, citing planned expansion to new overseas markets, including former Soviet republics and South American and Eastern European countries.
"This merger will enable us to put four different companies into each new market we enter."
Shares in GoldMart, Inc., rose nearly 4 percent yesterday to $25.85. Burghley's stock was up 40.5 cents to $18.25, and Home-on-the-Range closed at $12.20.
Mystique Cosmetics is privately owned. Plans for offering equity in the company were suspended last year because of investor resistance ...