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InTech, Jan 2001

Pepsi looks to close $13.4 billion Quaker Oats deal by June

Purchase, N.Y-based PepsiCo Inc. expects to close on its $13.4 billion deal to buy Quaker Oats Co. by the end of the second quarter next year. The combined company should have a market value of more than $80 billion, which will place it among the world's five largest consumer products companies, officials said.

Fisher-Rosemount in deal for MDC Technology

Fisher-Rosemount will purchase MDC Technology, a supplier of software and services for real-time process optimization, equipment performance monitoring, advanced control, and process information management. The deal boosts Fisher-Rosemount's plan to provide solutions that go beyond its traditional process control market. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Schneider eyes automation expansion after Steeplechase deal

In a move that will expand Schneider Electric's offerings in automation technologies, the Paris-based company will acquire industry software developer Steeplechase Software Inc. Future plans include Steeplechase's development of a service offering aligned with PC-based control, officials said. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Dow looks to grow biopharm presence

Dow Chemical Co. will now integrate the Collaborative Group's Biotechnology Services division into the fold since the two companies closed on their merger deal. The deal includes all assets of Collaborative BioAlliance, Inc., and Collaborative Smithfield Corp.

Alliance will form microsystems for biotech, telecom industries

In an effort to prototype micromanufacturing technologies, Standard MEMS Inc. and the Center for Automation Technologies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will join to create a micropackaging research and development program. The initial emphasis will be on microphotonic and microfluidic systems because of their role in the telecommunications and biotechnology industries.

Willamette mulls Weyerhaeuser hostile takeover bid

Willamette Industries Inc. advised its shareholders to reject a $5.2 billion hostile takeover bid from rival Weyerhaeuser Co. The hostile bid came after Willamette rejected Weyerhaeuser's earlier merger offer. Weyerhaeuser's chairman, Steven Rogel, vowed to move forward with the deal whether it was friendly or hostile. The hostile bid expires early this month.

Shire makes $4 billion bid for Canadian drug company

British specialty drug maker Shire Pharmaceuticals Group PLC will buy out Canadian drug company BioChem Pharma Inc. for $4 billion. The move broadens the U.K. company's product range into HIV and cancer drug therapies.

Swiss chemical company to buy rest of Axantis

Ems-Chemie Holding, a Swiss chemical maker, will buy the remaining three-quarters of cellulose maker Mantis Holding that it did not own for about $252 million. Ems will offer $195 for each Mantis share. The bid values Mantis at $335 million.

International Paper to sell off its pine chemical business

International Paper plans to divest its Arizona Chemical property. This decision comes following a previous plan to divest over $3 billion in assets. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based pine chemical firm has eight manufacturing plants in the U.S. and seven in Europe.

Goodrich to sell off its chemical business unit

A closely held group of investors will purchase the chemical business unit of Charlotte, N.C.-based aerospace company BFGoodrich in a deal valued at $1.4 billion. AEA Investors Inc. will purchase the unit, which makes chemical products as textile coatings, pigments, colorants, lubricants, and additives for adhesives.

Danaher makes move into power market

Danaher Corp. will acquire United Power Corp., a subsidiary of Delta PLC, for $100 million. United Power designs and manufactures electrical power distribution units and other products to regulate and condition power in data, telecom, and factory applications.

Phelps puts chemical, wire and cable units on the block

The world's No. 2 copper producer, Phelps Dodge Corp., wants to sell off its chemical and wire and cable groups to focus on its mining business. The Phoenix-based company retained J. P Morgan to handle the sale of its Columbian Chemicals Co., which produces carbon black. Goldman Sachs will evaluate the sale of its PD Wire & Cable Group.

Rockwell to roll out avionics, communications units

Rockwell International Corp. will spin off the Rockwell Collins avionics and communications business unit to shareowners while maintaining its automation business with Rockwell Automation.

BP Amoco to ink joint natural gas deal in Vietnam

BP Amoco of London and Statoil A.S. of Norway will sign a $1.5 billion agreement to explore for natural gas in Vietnam. The companies want to tap the Lan Tay and Lan Do gas fields in the Nam Con Son basin, 248 miles southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

Novartis eyes purchase of generic drug operation

Basel, Switzerland-based pharmaceuticals giant Novartis wants to purchase the European generic drugs business of German chemicals group BASF for $102 million. The deal will give Novartis Generics "rapid entry into new markets," said the unit's chief, Oswald Sellemond. The deal should close this month, officials said.