CONNEAUT LAKE — The future of a historic amusement park was cast into doubt Monday as its court-appointed custodian laid off employees after a loan fell through.

Leroy Stearns, custodian of Conneaut Lake Park, halted work on preparing the park for the 2006 season and said the park does not have the money to open.

A $250,000 loan sought to finance the park's opening was not approved and without it the park does not have the money to meet payroll or to pay other expenses necessary to open. A decision on whether the park will open will be made by May 12, Stearns said.

The 114-year-old park will operate Hotel Conneaut for scheduled high school proms and a fundraiser on Monday, but it will otherwise be closed until further notice.

PHILADELPHIA — A group of investors led by Aramark's chairman and chief executive on Monday offered to buy out the company, the world's third-largest food service provider, for nearly $5.8 billion.The offer of $32 per share, a 14 percent premium over the Friday closing price, sent Aramark Corp. shares soaring Monday. The company's shares rose $5.79, or 21 percent, to close at $33.90 on the New York Stock Exchange.Aramark said its board has formed a special committee of independent directors to consider the offer, which was made by a group led by Joseph Neubauer.The group also included funds managed by GS Capital Partners, J.P. Morgan Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Warburg Pincus LLC, according to a letter written by Neubauer.Neubauer said he and the rest of the senior management team would continue to lead the company.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — In another sign of consolidation in the telecommunications industry, network operator Level 3 Communications Inc. agreed Monday to acquire privately held TelCove Inc. for about $1.08 billion in cash and stock.The deal is the fourth acquisition in nine months for Broomfield, Colo.-based Level 3, which saw its shares jump nearly 6 percent in Monday trading.Level 3 will pay $637 million in shares and $445 million in cash for Pittsburgh-based TelCove, a regional telecom that has 22,000 miles of local and long-haul routes across the Eastern United States. It also has licenses for microwave spectrum that could be used for fixed wireless links in areas that cover 90 percent of the U.S. population.Level 3 would assume $155.5 million in TelCove debt in the deal.