SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13D
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No.__15__)
News Communications, Inc.
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(Name of Issuer)
Common Stock, $.01 par value ("the shares")
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(Title of Class of Securities)
652484601
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(CUSIP Number)
David Selengut, Esq. at Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP
370 Lexington Avenue NY NY 10017 212-370-1300
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(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person
Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)
October 17, 2000
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(Date of Event which Requires FIling of this Statement)
If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report
the acquisition which is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this
schedule because of Rule 13d-1(b) (3) or (4), check the following box [ ].
*The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person's
initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and
for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter the
disclosures provided in a prior cover page.
The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed
to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 ("Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act
but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the
Notes).
Page 1 of 7 pages
<PAGE>
CUSIP No. 652484601 13D Page 2 of 7 pages
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSON
J. Morton Davis
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) [ ]
(b) [x ]
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3 SEC USE ONLY
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4 Source of Funds
See Item #3 herein.
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5 Check Box if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings is required pursuant to
Items 2(d) or 2(e)
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6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
United States
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NUMBER OF 7 SOLE VOTING POWER
SHARES 3,455,277
BENEFICIALLY --------------------------------------------------------------
OWNED BY 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
EACH 0
REPORTING --------------------------------------------------------------
PERSON 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
WITH 3,455,277
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10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0
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11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
3,455,277
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12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES*
[X] (1)
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13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
38.7%
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14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
IN
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*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT
(1) The beneficial ownership of J. Morton Davis excludes shares owned by
parties to a Stockholders' Agreement as defined in Item 6 below other than
the Reporting Parties.
<PAGE>
CUSIP No. 652484601 13D Page 3 of 7 pages
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSON
D.H. Blair Investment Banking Corp.
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) [ ]
(b) [X ]
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3 SEC USE ONLY
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4 Source of Funds
See Item #3 herein.
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5 Check Box if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings is required pursuant to
Items 2(d) or 2(e)
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6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Delaware
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NUMBER OF 7 SOLE VOTING POWER
SHARES 0
BENEFICIALLY --------------------------------------------------------------
OWNED BY 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
EACH 2,665,105
REPORTING --------------------------------------------------------------
PERSON 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
WITH 0
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10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
2,665,105
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11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
2,665,105
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES*
[X] (1)
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13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
29.8%
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14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
BD
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*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT
(1) The beneficial ownership of D.H. Blair Investment Banking Corp excludes
shares owned by parties to a Stockholders' Agreement as defined in Item 6
below other than the Reporting Parties.
<PAGE>
CUSIP No. 652484601 13D Page 4 of 7 pages
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1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSON
Rosalind Davidowitz
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2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP*
(a) [ ]
(b) [X ]
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3 SEC USE ONLY
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4 Source of Funds
See Item #3 herein.
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5 Check Box if Disclosure of Legal Proceedings is required pursuant to
Items 2(d) or 2(e)
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6 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
United States
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NUMBER OF 7 SOLE VOTING POWER
SHARES 790,172
BENEFICIALLY --------------------------------------------------------------
OWNED BY 8 SHARED VOTING POWER
EACH 0
REPORTING --------------------------------------------------------------
PERSON 9 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
WITH 790,172
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10 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0
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11 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
790,172
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12 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES*
[X] (1)
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13 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11)
9.2%
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14 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON*
IN
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*SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT
(1) The beneficial ownership of Rosalind Davidowitz excludes shares owned
by parties to a Stockholders' Agreement as defined in Item 6 below other than
the Reporting Parties.
<PAGE>
Page 5 of 7 pages
Form 13D is hereby amended as follows:
Item 2. (a) J. Morton Davis, D.H. Blair Investment Banking Corp. ("Blair
Investment") and Rosalind Davidowitz, (together, the
"Reporting Parties").
Item 3. Source and Amount o fFunds or Other Consideration:
Blair Investment purchased a $150,000 8% Convertible Note, due
the earlier of (a) December 31, 2001 or (b) the date Issuer
consumates its next round of equity financing. The Note is
convertible into shares of issuer at a conversion price of
$1.00 per share. The source of funds were the personal funds
of Blair Investment.
Item 4 Purpose of Transaction
None of the purposes set forth in (a) through (j) of Item 4,
apply to this transaction.
Item 5. Interest in the Securities of the Issuer is amended in its entirety:
(a) As of October 17, 2000, Mr. Davis may be deemed to beneficially own
3,455,277 shares or 38.7% of the Issuer's shares issued and
outstanding as follows: (i) 2,297,405 shares owned by Blair Investment
(ii) Warrants to purchase 207,867 shares owned by Blair Investment
(iii) 9,833 shares issuable upon exercise of 1,967 shares of $10
convertible preferred stock (1) owned by Blair Investment, (iv)
150,000 shares issuable upon conversion of 8%
Convertible Note, (v) 41,006 shares owned by Rivkalex Corporation (2)
and (vi) 790,172 shares owned by Rosalind Davidowitz.
As of October 17, 2000, Blair Investment may be deemed to
beneficially own 2,665,105 shares or 29.8% of the Issuer's shares as
indicated in (i) - (iv) above.
As of October 17, 2000, Rosalind Davidowitz may be deemed to
beneficially own 790,172 shares or 9.2% of the Issuer's shares as
indicated in (v) and (vi) above.
(b) See numbers (7) - (10) on the cover page, of this form for each
Reporting Party.
The beneficial ownerhsip of the Reporting Parties excludes shares
owned by parties to a Stockholders' Agreement as defined in Item
6 below, other than the Reporting Parties.
Item 6. Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships with
respect to the securities of the Issuer.
(a) On July 28, 1999, the Reporting Parties entered into a certain
Stockholders' Agreement (the "Stockholders' Agreement") by and among the Issuer,
Jerry Finkelstein, the Finkelstein Foundation, Inc. and Shirley Finkelstein
(collectively, the "Finkelstein Group"); Melvyn I. Weiss and M&B Weiss Family
Partnership (the "Weiss Group"); Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. ("Ross"); J. Morton Davis,
Blair Investment, Rivkalex Corporation and Rosalind Davidowitz (collectively,
the "Davis Group"); and Steven Farbman (each member of the Finkelstein Group,
Ross, the Davis Group and the Weiss Group and Farbman, individually, a
"Stockholder" and collectively the "Stockholders"). The Stockholders' Agreement
is listed as Exhibit A to Item 7, filed with Amendment No. 13, and the terms
thereof are incorporated herein by reference.
Under the terms of the Stockholders' Agreement, for so long as
Farbman is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Issuer, the Stockholders
have agreed to act to reduce the size of the Issuer's Board of Directors to, and
to maintain the size of the Board at, 9 members. The Stockholders have also
agreed to vote their Shares so as to elect as directors of the Issuer (i)
Finkelstein; (ii) two persons designated by Ross, one of whom shall initially be
Ross and the other of whom shall initially be Robert Nederlander; (iii) three
persons designated by Farbman, one of whom shall be Farbman, one of whom shall
initially be Steven Price and one of whom shall initially be Michael Schenkler;
(iv) one person to be designated by the Weiss Group who shall initially be Gary
Weiss; (v) one person to be designated by the Davis Group who shall initially be
Martin A. Bell; and (vi) one person to be designated by the Davis Group, the
Weiss Group and the Finkelstein Group acting jointly who shall initially be
Martin Mendelson. As a result of the Stockholders' Agreement and the collective
ownership by the Stockholders of more than 66% of the Issuer's Common Stock,
upon the receipt of resignations from the existing Board members who are not
being designated for election as directors of the Issuer as described above, the
Stockholders will control the election of the members of the entire Board of
Directors.
<PAGE>
Page 6 of 7 pages
In addition, the Stockholders' Agreement provides for the disposition of
shares of the Issuer's Common Stock under certain circumstances in a specified
manner. The Stockholder may not sell, other than in open market transactions,
20% or more of the Issuer's Common Stock on a fully diluted basis unless the
shares are first offered to Farbman. Farbman was also granted Tag-a-long rights
in the event that he does not exercise his right of first refusal. Conversely,
subject to Farbman's first refusal right, if the Stockholders individually or as
a group seek to sell shares representing 50% or more of the Issuer's outstanding
Common Stock on a fully diluted basis, such Stockholders may force Farbman to
sell some or all of his shares in the disposition.
(b) Blair Investment has granted Mr. Finkelstein an option to
purchase 100,000 shares of the Issuer's Common Stock at $2.25 per share
exercisable for a period of five years from the date of the grant. The
foregoing is qualified by reference to the actual agreement attached as Exhibit
B to Amendment No. 13.
Item 7. Material to be Filed as Exhibits.
NONE
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(1) Each share of $10.00 Convertible Preferred Stock is convertible into five
Shares.
(2) Rivkalex Corporation is a private corporation owned by Rosalind Davidowitz,
Mr. Davis' wife. Filing of this statement shall not be deemed an admission that
J. Morton Davis or Blair Investment beneficially own securities attributed to
Rivkalex or Rosalind Davidowitz for any purpose. J. Morton Davis and Blair
Investment expressly disclaim beneficial ownership of all securities held by
Rivkalex and Rosalind Davidowitz for any purpose. Rosalind Davidowitz expressly
disclaims beneficial ownership of all securities owned by Mr. Davis or Blair
Investment for any purpose.
<PAGE>
Page 7 of 7 pages
SIGNATURES
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, we certify
that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.
/s/ J. Morton Davis
Date: October 23, 2000 ________________________
New York, New York J. Morton Davis
D.H. BLAIR INVESTMENT BANKING CORP.
by: /s/ David Nachamie
Date: October 23, 2000 _____________________________
New York, New York David Nachamie
Treasurer
Date: October 23, 2000 /s/ Rosalind Davidowitz
New York, New York ____________________________
Rosalind Davidowitz
