Why "Mr. Spud" is eyeing Morrison Knudsen

J. R. Simplot stepped down as chairman of his $2 billion agribusiness, J. R. Simplot, in May 1884, but that has not slowed the 82-year-old Idaho billionaire. On May 15, Simplot met with Morrison Knudsen's (MK) new chairman, R. Steve Miller, Jr., to discuss a reverse merger plan cooked up in February by former MK executive Jack K. Lemley. Lemley proposed that he and Simplot invest in MK and merge it with another publicly trade construction and engineering company. In the confusion after William J. Agee's ouster as MK's CEO in February, no one responded to the Simplot-Lemley proposal at first. The May 15 meeting, while upbeat, was inconclusive. No one doubts that Simplot possesses the cash to rescue Morrison Knudsen and keep it in Boise. Despite a May 31 deadline to repay loans, MK executives believe that their banks will give them some breathing room to avoid bankruptcy. Nonetheless, MK is starting to sell at a discount.