FRANK CARLUCCI GOES HUNTING
By MARK M. COLODNY

(FORTUNE Magazine) – Malcolm Gambill, CEO of conglomerate Harsco (1990 sales: about $1.7 billion), recalls meeting Frank Carlucci, 60, at a Washington embassy party, but doesn't think the former Defense Secretary remembers him. Well, at least his company made an impression. Over the past year the Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C., merchant bank whose vice chairman is Carlucci, has spent $63 million for almost 10% of Harsco's stock. Now the largest shareholder, Carlyle in January demanded representation on the board of directors. Harsco is holding out for a standstill agreement. ''We all agree the stock ((recently $25 a share)) is undervalued,'' says Gambill. After several down quarters in its defense business -- it makes howitzers and trucks -- Harsco posted record sales and profits for the first nine months of 1990. The Gulf war should bring an additional lift: Harsco's five-ton ''Big Foot'' trucks, whose tires can partially deflate for sand travel, are already in Saudi Arabia with more on the way. The real standouts are Harsco's nondefense businesses, a gallimaufry of profitable but less glamorous operations like metal slag reclamation. This isn't Carlucci's first sortie. Last fall Carlyle lost a bid for Ford Aerospace but picked up BDM International, which does defense consulting. Other holdings: Coldwell Banker and Caterair International, the world's largest in-flight caterer.