The Justice Department says it will sue real estate developer Donald Trump for allegedly violating federal notification provisions in his purchases of stock in Holiday Corp. and Bally Manufacturing Corp. At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, the department said it will file a lawsuit accusing Trump of violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act fro Aug. 22 through Nov. 9, 1986 when he bought stock in Memphis, Tenn.-based Holiday without complying with reporting and waiting-period requirements. The suit also will accuse Trump, an operator of hotels and casinos, of violating the act from Nov. 13, 1986 through Jan. 22, 1987 when he bought stock in Bally without complying with the law's requirements. Discussions are under way to determine if a settlement can be reached, the department said in a statement issued Tuesday. The act imposes notification and waiting requirements on companies and people over a certain size that are contemplating mergers or purchases of stocks or assets. The law is intended to improve antitrust enforcement by ensuring advance notice to the government of significant mergers and similar transactions. Trump sought control of Bally, a Chicago-based hotel and amusements company, in 1987 but ended the attempt after Bally agreed to buy 2.6 million shares back from him. Holiday disclosed in September 1986, amid unconfirmed takeover rumors, that Trump had purchased between 2 percent and 5 percent of its stock. Holiday later underwent a recapitalization and adopted a ``poison pill'' takeover defense to thwart potential suitors. Separately, the Justice Department said it will sue Wickes Companies Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif., accusing the company of violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in its purchase of stock in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corp. of Toledo, Ohio in late 1986. But the department will file a proposed consent decree under which Wickes, which sells lumber and other building materials, would pay $300,000 to settle the matter. Sanford C. Sigoloff, Wickes chairman and chief executive officer, issued a statement saying his company did not believe it violated the disclosure requirements but settled the matter to avoid litigation costs. Sigoloff also contended Wickes had filed under the law in connection with the stock purchase and the FTC initially had cleared the filing. ``This settlement involves a long-standing technical dispute between the FTC and the investment community over the use of option agreements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Rules,'' Sigoloff stated. In a third case, the department said it will accuse Roxboro Investments Ltd. and a subsidiary, First City Financial Corp. Ltd., both of Vancouver, British Columbia, and three officers of the companies, with violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. They will be accused based on their purchase in early 1986 of stock in Ashland Oil Inc. of Russell, Ky. The three officers are Samuel Belzberg, president of Roxboro and First City, and Hyman Belzberg and William Belzberg, vice presidents of the two companies. The complaint will accuse the two companies and the three officers of violating the act from Feb. 19 through April 2, 1986 when they bought Ashland stock without complying with some of the law's requirements. First City attorneys issued a statement late Tuesday saying they had been discussing a settlement with the department and believed a final agreement would be reached soon.
