Ford expects losses in Spain this year: Ford Espana SA, the Spanish unit of Ford Motor Co, expects to make a loss again in 1998, managing director Mathew Taylor said in an interview published in the business daily Expansion. "The crisis at our Almussafes plant will prevent Ford Espana returning to profit," the report quoted him as saying. The Spanish company made a loss of 8.2 billion pesetas($54.05 million) in 1997. Production margins had risen in the early months of this year, but the cost of remodelling the Almussafes plant to produce the new Focus model and the recent strikes have begun to slow this rise in profitability, Taylor added.Elan to sell Vanguard migraine drug in US: British drug development group Vanguard Medica Plc said that the Irish pharmaceuticals group Elan Corp Plc had licensed exclusive North American sales and distribution rights to its new migraine drug, Frovatriptan. In a statement, Vanguard said Elan would invest $10 million in the company in the form of new ordinaryVanguard shares at 625 pence per share, taking a stake of around 3 per cent in the group. Elan will also pay Vanguard up to $50 million in milestone payments when set targets are achieved. First payment will be triggered by US regulatory approval of the deal.
Dentsu announces reorganisation: Dominant Japanese advertising agency Dentsu Inc announced a reorganisation of its head office designed to meet foreign competition and help it respond more flexibly to client demands and new media trends. The shake-up follows a period of growing interest by overseas companies in Japan where Dentsu, the fourth largest advertising organisation in the world, controls an estimated 50 per cent of prime-time TV slots and accounts for 22 per cent of ad billings across the industry.
Pioneer, Philips to cooperate on display panels: Pioneer Electronic Corp and Philips Components International BV, a unit of Royal Philips Electronics, said that they had agreed to work together to develop plasma display panels. Thetwo companies said in a statement that they would collaborate until January 2002 to develop affordable display panels for professional and mass-market uses. They said the joint work would include improving optical output power, developing phosphor materials and cutting manufacturing costs. Cooperation in manufacturing and selling plasma display panels could also be possible.
Inacom to acquire Vanstar in share swap: Inacom Corp on Friday said it agreed to acquire Vanstar Corp in a deal that would create a technology services company with revenues of about $7 billion and more than 12,000 employees. The share-swap deal values Vanstar at about $465.5 million, based on most-recent share prices and 43.26 million outstanding shares of Vanstar, according to S&P MarketScope. Each Vanstar share would be exchanged for 0.64 shares of Inacom, the two companies said in a statement.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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