Business Notes Bankruptcies

In the past two decades, Victor Posner, 66, the Miami Beach financier, has corralled major stakes in more than 40 companies, including control of Atlanta-based Royal Crown, the soft-drink maker, and a 37% interest in Chicago's National Can. Last week, though, key parts of Posner's billion- dollar empire were staggering. Evans Products (1984 sales: more than $1 billion), a Posner-controlled company that sells building materials and railroad cars, filed a bankruptcy petition in Miami. Posner's Sharon Steel seems shaky; it is more than two weeks late with a $23 million payment on its $330 million debt. Neither firm has ever recovered from the 1981-82 recession.

Despite the stumbles, Posner shows no signs of slowing down--or running out of money in other parts of his realm. He has offered about $400 million, or , $40 a share, for the 63% of National Can that he does not already own. The company and its employees are also offering a $40-a-share price for a majority of the Na- tional Can stock in an effort to keep from becoming Posner's next possession.